Summary Reader Response Draft #3

The electrifying technology behind Electric Vehicles (EVs), specifically Tesla models, has driven the transition towards solutions for automated transportation. In the area of vehicle automation, the Autopilot system, developed by Tesla, leads the charge for the future of cars and transportation by merging cutting-edge hardware with advanced software. Autopilot is an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) that enhances safety and convenience when driving. At its core, Autopilot employs 8 external cameras, ultrasonic sensors, radar, and a powerful onboard computer to perceive and interpret the surrounding environment (Tesla, n.d.). Its key features include Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC) that adjusts the cruising speed of the vehicle to match surrounding traffic, Autosteer to assist in steering on vehicular roads, and navigate on Autopilot to enable automated lane changes and highway interchanges. In addition to these driving-assist features, Autopilot also includes several advanced safety technologies, such as automatic emergency braking, forward and side collision warning and obstacle aware acceleration (Tesla, n.d.).

It is important to note that these features are not intended to replace the presence of the driver entirely. However, Autopilot allows the vehicle to drive autonomously with minimal driver intervention, effectively alleviating the overall workload of the driver when utilized appropriately. This means that drivers must always remain vigilant and ready to take control of the vehicle. TACC ensures that the vehicle maintains a safe distance from other vehicles by automatically adjusting its speed. Full Self Driving (FSD) however, has even more features, with the aim being able to get from Point A to Point B with minimal driver intervention. It has traffic and stop sign control, which enables the car to distinguish between stop signs and traffic light. This automatically slows the car to a stop on approach, with the driver’s active supervision (Tesla, n.d.). Thus, Tesla’s autopilot system shows that it can enhance situational awareness and mitigate risks effectively. Moreover, a report from The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) released findings which show that the Autosteer component of Tesla’s Autopilot system reduced wrecks by 40% (Nayak and O’Kane, 2023). Another report stated that crashes dropped from 1.3 to 0.8 per million miles driven (Nayak and O’Kane, 2023). This is statistically significant evidence that supports the safety benefits of Tesla’s autopilot system. This is all feasible due to Tesla being able to collect billions of miles of real-world data from its global fleet. According to their vehicle safety report, over 9 billion miles have been driven with autopilot engaged (Tesla, n.d.). This allows Tesla to react to the various scenarios in which accidents can occur. Afterward, improvements can be tailor made to ensure each scenario can be mitigated with autopilot engaged.

However, there are limitations to Tesla’s autopilot system. One of them is that it is not a fully independent autonomous driving system. It can result in problems such as false collision warnings and slowdowns when encountering large vehicles such as trucks or trailers. For example, an article from Bloomberg (Nayak and O’Kane, 2023) stated that a fatal crash occurred in 2019 involving a father of three, when his Tesla Model 3 was on autopilot for just 10 seconds plunged into the underbelly of a tractor trailer. Such incidents can be a major safety concern for drivers who rely too heavily on the autopilot system and fail to remain alert. Furthermore, autopilot might not be able to detect certain objects or obstacles on the road, which can lead to accidents. It is known that Tesla fits its global fleet with special cameras, radar sensors and ultrasonic sensor around its cars' perimeter. Yet, the limitations can be seen where Tesla fails to utilise the latest technology available for assisted and automated driving, known as Lidar. ( Threewitt, 2016). The use of radar technology simply verifies the lack of effort on Tesla’s side to ensure no faults on its autopilot system’s capabilities. Additionally, NHSTA, being America’s top auto safety regulator, started gathering data after a federal order in 2021 forced automakers to reveal crashes that incorporate driver-assisted technology (Siddiqui and B. Merrill, 2023). The collected data exhibits Tesla’s autopilot system being involved in more incidents than all other driver-assisted manufacturers combined (Siddiqui and B. Merrill, 2023).

In conclusion, Tesla’s autopilot system can change the way we look at the automotive industry. While it has several cons such as limitations such as false collision warnings and slowdowns when encountering large vehicles and inefficient sensors, its pros stand out remarkably. The ability to reduce driver workload and enhance situational awareness has only proven to drop crash rates and enhance safety standards on the road.