Tesla 'Full Self-Driving' tech to go fully autonomous in 2025 without human supervision, Musk claims

10/13/2024 04:00 PM

Tesla may become the first car maker to sell a truly autonomous vehicle – without the need for human supervision – if the latest claims by CEO Elon Musk come to fruition.

The current version of Tesla’s so-called ‘Full Self-Driving’ software available in the US allows the vehicle to drive itself in certain conditions – but a human must remain behind the wheel, ready to take back control at any moment.

From 2025, the need for human supervision is planned to be dropped in certain US states – and the technology will become fully autonomous – Tesla CEO Elon Musk has claimed.

MORE: Tesla Cybercab autonomous electric robotaxi revealed

After an initial launch in Texas and California, the unsupervised autonomous driving software is planned to go global – but it will be a number of years away from Australia.

Autonomous vehicles are not yet legal to sell and operate on Australian roads, and even the supervised version of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving tech is unavailable to use on local roads.

Musk is known for making bold claims about launch dates for Tesla’s autonomous driving technology that do not eventuate, admitting on Friday he is “a little optimistic with timeframes”.

And he has made the same claim about all-autonomous functionality for Full Self-Driving as long ago as 2019, saying that by the end of 2020, owners will able to fall asleep inside their cars and and wake up at their destinations.

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However, if Tesla can deliver autonomous driving software that can control a vehicle in all conditions without human supervision in 2025, it will be the first car maker to reach this milestone.

It will be needed to power the Cybercab, a two-seat, two-door autonomous electric taxi planned to hit US roads in 2026 priced less than $US30,000 ($AU44,000).

The unsupervised version of Tesla Full Self-Driving may initially be classed as a ‘Level 4’ autonomous driving system, as it is limited to certain US states, and would not be able to cross state borders without handing back control to a human.

Once unsupervised driving is made available across the US, it would guarantee a ‘Level 5’ rating – the highest classification available for an autonomous driving system, which indicates it can drive autonomously everywhere in all conditions.

The current iteration of ‘Full Self-Driving’ offered in the US is considered a ‘Level 2’ system, as the human is still legally in control of the vehicle – and must keep their eyes on the road, ready to take control at any moment.

Level 3 technology splits the pair, allowing drivers to take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road in specific locations, but they must be ready to retake control if the car enters an area where this level of autonomy is not approved.

Mercedes-Benz offers Level 3 semi-autonomous driving technology in its EQS and S-Class models on select highways in California and Nevada, as well as parts of Germany, at speeds below 60km/h – while a similar system is offered by BMW in Germany.

MORE: Mercedes-Benz receives landmark approval for autonomous driving technology in California

Musk said the camera technology needed to enable unsupervised Full Self-Driving possible is already fitted to every car the company makes.

“We do expect to start fully autonomous, unsupervised FSD in Texas and California next year,” the executive said.

“The Model 3 and [Model] Y will achieve unsupervised Full Self-Driving with permission where regulators approve it, in the US and then following outside the US.” He confirmed it will also be offered on the Model S, Model X and Cybertruck.

The CEO said data collected from Tesla’s global fleet of vehicles trains its autonomous driving technology.

“One of the reasons why the computer can be so much better than a person is that we have millions of cars that are training on driving,” he said.

“It’s like living millions of lives simultaneously, and seeing very unusual situations that a person in their entire lifetime would not see, hopefully.

“With that amount of training data, it’s obviously going to be much better than what a human can be, because you can’t live a million lives.

“And also it can see in all directions simultaneously, and it doesn’t get tired, or text, or any of those things, so it will naturally be 10, 20, 30 times safer than a human.”

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