After recently announcing that all Model 3 variants will feature Autopilot technology as standard, Tesla has now come out with a demonstration video, showcasing the system’s prowess in its most recent iteration, on both freeways as well as urban roads.
Tesla’s goal is of course full autonomy, which the EV-maker has already announced for the Model 3, and judging by this footage, we’re not far off from being able to trust the system to navigate most, if not all main roads.
The video is sped up, by the way, so that it doesn’t take up too much of your time. It also goes to show how well the Model 3’s self-driving tech can handle bends, stop signs, junctions, merging, exits and so on – although to be fair, the traffic was pretty “compliant”, which as you know isn’t always, if hardly ever the case.
Aggressive mode
At an event earlier this week, Elon Musk told investors that Tesla will someday allow drivers to select more aggressive modes for the Autopilot system, modes that have a “slight chance of a fender bender,” reports The Verge.
“Do you want to have a nonzero chance of a fender bender on freeway traffic?” he said, while dubbing it “LA traffic mode”, adding that “unfortunately [it’s] the only way to navigate LA traffic.”
Current Tesla owners can already select a ‘Mad Max’ setting for Autopilot, allowing for quicker lane changes on the highway compared to ‘Mild’ or ‘Average’ modes.