Tesla, the world’s leading manufacturer of electric vehicles, is one of the leading companies in the development of autonomous driving technologies. The company led by Elon Musk has patented the Autopilot system for assisted driving, which has become a benchmark in the automotive industry in terms of the implementation of advanced driver assistance capabilities.
Autopilot, launched in 2015, is designed for Tesla vehicles to take over driving tasks (although this does not relieve the driver of responsibility behind the wheel). Autopilot allows the car to automatically steer, accelerate and brake within the lane and also has the ability to change lanes autonomously. All this thanks to the integration of cameras, radars and sensors, together with real-time data processing, which allows Autopilot to interpret and react to its environment.
However, various accidents involving cars from the American brand call into question the level of Autopilot’s real autonomy. Some accidents related to autopilot malfunctions have caused the death of occupants of other vehicles or even pedestrians, as we reported at Moveo.
Additionally, this week more than two million Tesla cars in the United States have been recalled for an Autopilot software update. The order was issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the North American country after warning that Tesla’s Autopilot lacks the necessary controls to prevent its malfunction.
At the same time, a former Tesla employee, Lucasz Krupski, has questioned the safety of the autopilot fitted to the American manufacturer’s vehicles. Krupski, who was fired from the company in 2022, has told the BBC that he is concerned about how artificial intelligence (AI) was being used to power the Autopilot system.
“I don’t think the hardware and software are ready,” the Polish-born worker said on a BBC technology programme. “It affects us all because we essentially move on public roads. So, even if you don’t have a Tesla, your children do walk on the sidewalk,” he added, referring to accidents involving vehicles of this brand.
Krupski said he discovered evidence in the company’s data that the requirements associated with the safe operation of vehicles equipped with a certain level of autonomous or assisted driving technology had not been met.
The former Tesla employee also noted that company workers informed him of cases in which vehicles braked randomly in response to non-existent obstacles, a phenomenon known as ‘phantom braking’. These incidents were also reflected in data that he collected from customer complaints and that in May 2022 he leaked to the German newspaper Handelsblatt.
According to information provided by Tesla, towards the end of 2022, customers in the United States who used Autopilot experienced an accident with airbag deployment approximately every 5 million miles driven. In contrast, those Tesla drivers who chose not to use the system averaged one accident every 1.5 million miles or so.
It should be noted that the general average for American drivers was one accident with airbag deployment every 600,000 miles. A fact that highlights the notable difference in the safety recorded by Tesla vehicles compared to the average.
