Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that Autopilot and Full-Self Driving (FSD) systems will deliver big before the end of 2020. When both features are fully implemented on Tesla vehicles with the required hardware, Musk said the system will function with minimal human intervention "most of the time."
Autopilot is designed to drive a passenger from point A to point B free of control from a driver. For instance, one can travel on a Tesla vehicle from home to office and back without doing anything to pilot the car. But Musk made clear that such a scenario would be ideal for most of the time during the entire drive.
The company chief said the testing phase of Autopilot is nearing completion and he is "extremely confident" that full capability of the smart feature will be deployed before the close of 2020.
However, Business Insider said that Musk made a similar vow last year that his promised Autopilot will be finalized by the year's end. As it turned out, the tech visionary failed to deliver on his commitment.
"I would say that I am certain of that. That is not a question mark," Musk was reported as saying at that time.
It was not the first time that the company CEO missed his self-imposed targets. Musk had boasted that Autopilot and FSD will be pushed to the full-function stage as early as 2015 but the timelines mentioned ended up getting adjusted.
It is the same thing for other product offerings of Tesla and it appeared now that Musk will want his customers to believe that all promised releases - upcoming model vehicles and automated features - will be realized within 2020.
And that might be the case but would-be users must take note that Autopilot and FSD will cost money. The Autopilot alone will require payment of $3,000 for activation and drivers will enjoy features such as lane-keeping and avoiding pedestrians.
Going for FSD, the cash damage will be $5,000 as the feature offers more extensive smart functionality like autonomous parking and the summon feature. The latter will allow users to call a Tesla from a garage or parking spot and drive to where they are located for pick up.
Engadget said these packages will be made available to Tesla vehicles that were rolled out with the features not activated out of the gate. By the end of the year, the same will be offered as a subscription service that can be paid monthly.
"I think we will also be having it as a subscription service, but it will be towards the end of this year," Musk was reported as saying.
He added that by way of subscription, FSD, for example, will be more affordable and it will be an investment that users will not regret.
