Tesla 'autopilot mode' to launch next week
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, recently took to Twitter to announce that version 7 of the company’s software package for the Tesla Model S will be released to the general public on Thursday, October 15th, and it has an Autopilot feature. Whilst the new software won’t allow your Model S to drive you home from the pub, it does offer several autopilot features. Recent reports suggest that the new software package will allow the Tesla S to park itself in parallel parking spots and change lanes automatically after you indicate, among other things. Some features that have been teased by Musk in the past are still yet to arrive, such as the "Summon" button, which will see your Tesla drive itself to your location. However, we might not have to wait too long as he is optimistic that fully autonomous cars will arrive by 2017.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter Saturday night that his company will release its software v7.0 with Autopilot for the Model S on Thursday (October 15th). In mid-August Tesla sent out the first release of the beta update to about 600-700 early access testers all around the U.S. and parts of Europe. This particular update is an extremely anticipated one. It includes an important UI design overhaul, but also and more importantly several new ‘Autopilot’ features, which some Model S owners have been waiting for over a year now. The new ‘Autopilot’ features included in v7.0 are auto-steering, lane change activated by the turn signal and auto-parking in parallel spaces.

As he often does, Musk took to Twitter to make the announcement:

[tweet https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/653005894922276865 align=’center’]

After releasing the first version of the beta in August, Tesla followed up with a second beta release in September. We had the chance to road test this version on a Model S equipped with the Autopilot features and I suggest you read our report to get all the details ahead of the wide release:

Yesterday Tesla released a third update to the beta software with only minor changes over the previous build, meaning our report should be a mostly accurate description of the functions.

Now the v7.0 software will also include some improvements for Model S not equipped with Autopilot hardware including: improved climate control, improved efficiency and performance for RWD Model S’s, new and improved “hill start assist” now on all surface and of course the new user interface.

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