The electric vehicle company and its CEO and founder Elon Musk have come under increasing scrutiny following a crash of one of its electric cars while using the controversial autopilot service.
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In a tweet on Friday, Musk said that he’s “hoping” the worldwide rollout of Autopilot 8.0 will begin on Wednesday, September 21. He had said this week that the latest version’s emphasis on radar and a Global Positioning System database over cameras to guide cars might have saved the life of a driver who was killed when his all-electric Tesla Model S sedan drove under a semi trailer that was crossing a Florida highway. The technology uses a combination of radars, sensors, and cameras, among other technologies, to steer through traffic, change lanes, and adjust speed based on traffic patterns.
The lawsuit comes at a time when questions over the safety of the semi-autonomous autopilot features in Tesla’s vehicles have hurt its profits.
And in July, Consumer Reports wrote that Tesla should stop referring to the system as “Autopilot” altogether, because it misleads drivers and can be unsafe.
“It has always been Mobileye’s position that Tesla’s Autopilot should not be allowed to operate hands-free without proper and substantial technological restrictions and limitations”, Mobileye said in its filing, which it said was made in response to inquiries.
Tesla said in a statement on Thursday that relations broke down with Mobileye over Tesla’s plans to develop its own, competing vision system to help drivers avoid collisions. Tesla says it tells drivers that they must continue to pay attention while Autopilot is working and be ready to retake control of the vehicle.
Beyond giving radar a greater role, Tesla’s upcoming Autopilot update will ensure drivers stay alert when using Autopilot. Later, in a face-to-face meeting, Musk said Autopilot would be “hands-on”, Mobileye said.
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The software update for the Model S will be released starting next week and will continue up until the following week.
