Electric car and space entrepreneur Elon Musk recently announced that Tesla vehicles capable of handling 90% of driving duties will be on the market within three years.
Musk’s company, Tesla Motors, has already leapt ahead of automotive giants General Motors and Nissan with its brand of ultra-efficient electric cars. The company will now attempt to add a robotic version of vehicle to its lineup, setting its sight on overtaking Google which has been at this project for three years now.
“We should be able to do 90% of miles driven within three years,” Musk said, citing the company’s need to address some “internal development” issues before getting fully underway with the project.
“It’s not speculation,” he added.
Musk’s three-year timeframe is more ambitious than what his company’s competitors have planned, and faster than the 10-15 years many industry analysts predict being realistic.
In the announcement, he pointed out that 100% autonomous vehicles are a long way away, saying that the last few percentage points are incredibly hard to achieve. Until the technology is ready, Musk said there is a plan in place to include an option that would allow drivers to turn on a form of auto-pilot driving that would allow the vehicle to fully take over control of the car at different parts of the commute.
A quick review of the Tesla website shows a listing on the company’s careers directory for an Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Controls Engineer “responsible for developing vehicle-level decision-making and lateral and longitudinal control strategies for Tesla’s effort to pioneer fully automated driving.”
This announcement marks the latest attempt by Musk to gain a technological jump on the rest of the automotive industry, and follows news that the company’s luxury sedan, the Model S, became the first profitable electric vehicle this year.
Story via: ft.com
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