In the company's Firmware 7.1 update, Tesla introduced a new maximum speed for Autopilot, which will now not exceed the speed limit by more than 5mph on residential roads or roads without a central divide. Might we see a reduction in the hands-free time in the next update? (credit: Ron Amadeo)
On Tuesday, we took a look at the growing media storm surrounding Tesla's increasingly controversial Autopilot feature, which has been linked to a series of recent crashes. And as we pointed out, very little separates Tesla's system from those offered by other car makers, save for a few small points.
For one, Tesla eschews the industry standard of restricting hands-free operation to 30 seconds or less (apart from traffic jam assists). Second, the name—Autopilot—has very different connotations to the general public than to the small fraction of the population who pilot aircraft and understand the limitations of an actual aviation autopilot. Third, calling Autopilot a "beta," as my colleague Lee Hutchinson remarked, is about as accurate as Google calling Gmail a beta in 2012.
It seems that Lee's take is a common one. Earlier this week, Germany's Federal Office for Motor Vehicles (KBA) told Welt am Sonntag that it would not have allowed Autopilot-enabled Teslas onto its roads were the system truly in beta and therefore not adequately tested. And it appears that Elon Musk is now trying to walk back from the beta designation. In response to KBA's comments, Musk tweeted that, far from the commonly accepted understanding of the word, "beta" actually means something different to Tesla:
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