Tesla Inc. ‘s complex motive force assistant softwarewon’t get regulatory approval in 2022, Chief Executive Elon Musk said, signaling the company still can’t convince the government that its cars can be driven without anyone behind the wheel.
Tesla sells an additional $15,000 software called “Total Autonomous Driving” (FSD) that allows its cars to change lanes and park autonomously. Intervention of the motive force.
However, Tesla says the cars still want to be driven under human supervision. A highly autonomous vehicle would require regulatory approval in California, for example.
In a call Wednesday to discuss quarterly results, Musk said he plans to release updated FSD software by the end of the year, adding that even if his cars were in a position to have no one behind the wheel, drivers would rarely have to touch the steering wheel. control S. .
“The car will be there to take you from your home to work, to friends’ houses, to the grocery store without you touching the steering wheel,” he said.
“It’s a separate factor in terms of regulatory approval. It will have regulatory approval at that time,” he added.
Musk also said Tesla hopes to provide an update to the FSD in 2023 to show regulators that the generation is much safer than the average human driver.
“Musk opens up the option that Tesla will have a more complicated path to FSD approval given the strengthening of NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and other controls,” said Craig Irwin, an analyst at Roth Capital.
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) said Thursday it “has an ongoing review of the design and planned technology features of Tesla vehicles,” giving additional details.
The regulator has said in the past that it is evaluating whether Tesla’s self-driving tests require regulatory approval, following “videos that appear to be unsafe use of this technology” and federal investigations into Tesla’s vehicle crashes.
He said Tesla’s “fully autonomous” beta requires human intervention and is not subject to its autonomous vehicle regulations.
Critics say Tesla was able to avoid state regulatory oversight by telling the DMV that its FSD features don’t make cars drive themselves.
“The tensions between NHTSA and Tesla will end at the end of the year and Tesla will move on,” said Gene Munster, managing partner at venture capital firm Loup Ventures, which owns Tesla stock.
However, some analysts say Tesla’s main challenge is regulators and the software itself, given the complexity of autonomous driving.
“The impediment is technology. It’s about approving this technology,” said Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina.
Tesla continually failed to meet its cars’ self-imposed goals to achieve full autonomous driving capability, a feature Musk said would ultimately be “the ultimate vital source of profitability for Tesla. “
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