Can you trust Tesla’s autopilot system blindly: We explain [Video]

The name Tesla has become synonymous with electric vehicles and innovations in the modern world. The US based company, founded by Elon Musk, was also in news lately due to the reshuffling of its top brass, which included Founder and CEO Elon musk. Of the various innovative features Teslas’s cars are known for, one is the most talked about one, that is the autopilot system.

This feature apparently allows the vehicle to move, maintain lane, brake among others with minimal driving input. However, today we bring you a video which  demonstrates whether the working of Tesla’s autopilot feature is precise or not.

The car in question here is a Tesla Model S, which is also among the most selling vehicle for the company. As seen in the video, in the first part, the car maintains proper lane discipline and stops at a safe distance when it detects the car in front stopping. This is with Tesla’s auto pilot turned on. Next, we see similar road situations with a car in front of the Model S. However, this time the car ahead changes lane at the last moment to reveal another car just ahead of it. This time, however, the Tesla Model S fails to judge the situations and goes straight into the car in front. As it was a test run, the car at front was a dummy cardboard car so no causalities happened whatsoever.

This then brings us to the issue of the autopilot system in Tesla. According to  the company, the autopilot feature provided on its cars is not a self driving system but rather a driving aid. In simpler words, it can be said to be a much evolved form of the cruise control feature found in many cars. Therefore, it is advised by the company to always keep your senses steady and be attentive while in Tesla’s driving seat, whether using the autopilot or not. The autopilot feature can be used to make driving experience more relaxed but that does not translates into complete abandoning from driver duties. The video was aimed at the same, to clear the many misconceptions surrounding Tesla’s autopilot feature.

Which then brings us to another question in hand, are the people and the infrastructure ready for self driving cars. The answer to that is no for now, because the success of a self driving car does not just mean a good computer on board the car which can drive well. Especially in countries like India, self driving cars can’t be successful until there is no proper road infrastructure which includes proper road markings, signs, along with well planned road network. Also, the people need to get more disciplined on road and avoid sudden maneuvers which can, for now, get above the programming and algorithms of a computer system on a self driving car.

The Tesla Model 3 comes in three variants which vary according to power figures and equipment range. The 75D variant retails at $79,200, 100D will set you back by $97,200 while the top of the line P100D costs at $136,200. The Tesla model 75D’s 75.0-kWh battery provides up to a 259 mile (416.82 km) range while the 100D’s 100.0-kWh battery offers a more longer 335 miles (539.13 km) range. The top of the line  P100D has a Ludicrous driving mode that enables it to go from zero to 60 km/h in 2.7 seconds, according to Tesla.