“Tesla Autopilot Drive on Navigation going to wide release
in North America tonight,” CEO Elon Musk tweeted last Friday. Tesla
Autopilot Drive on Navigation is described by the company as its most advanced
driver assistance feature to date. The company released latest version of its
car software i.e. 9.0 but decided not to release navigate with it.
Tesla
announced that customers who purchased enhanced autopilot and full self-driving
capability will be able to use this feature in the coming month. Tesla has
offered enhanced Autopilot and FSD capability as upgrades that cost, $5,000 and
$3,000, respectively.
It
is important to note that Tesla’s cars are not self-driving. This feature is
only a driver assistance system. Other features introduced in the 9.0 software
update include a dash cam and Atari games that can be played while the car is
parked.
Navigate
on Autopilot will make suggestions for two different kinds of lane changes:
route-based lane changes that allow the driver to stick with the navigation
route, and speed-based lane changes, which are designed to keep
the vehicle moving as close to the driver’s set speed as possible.
The
speed-based lane changes have four settings, including disabled, mild, average,
or Mad Max. This will suggest transitions into other lanes that are moving
faster if, for example, the driver approaches a slow-moving car or truck
ahead. The “mild” setting suggests lane changes when the driver is
traveling significantly slower than the set speed. Mad Max will suggest lane
changes when traveling just below the driver’s set speed.
