Tesla Starts Enabling Self-Driving Features For Enhanced Autopilot

Tesla has started enabling some of the self-driving features for its vehicles outfitted with the latest Autopilot hardware improvements.

In late October, the automaker announced that all of its models would be outfitted with new cameras, sensors and a forward-facing radar to support fully autonomous driving.

However, the company said that the Autopilot functions customers have become accustomed to would be disabled to allow the new hardware to be calibrated via real-world driving.

Now, Tesla has enabled the Traffic Aware Cruise Control, Forward Collision Warning and Autosteer features of Autopilot to the first 1,000 Tesla models installed with the new hardware. As Electrek notes, the features are only available at low speeds and are still in their beta phase.

In the release notes sent to these 1,000 owners, Tesla says: “These features operate on a new hardware and software platform. Therefore, their rollout will be measured and cautious until we have generated confidence across several hundred million miles of real-world usage. Enhanced Autopilot will become better over time as this experience is gained and corner cases are addressed. In the meantime, it is particularly important that you remain vigilant and in control when using driver assistance features.”

Tesla intends on enabling further self-driving functions every few months until its vehicles achieve full autonomy.