Emails obtained by Bloomberg indicate Tesla chief executive Elon Musk knew its 2016 self-driving demonstration was staged.
it exaggerated the abilities of Tesla Inc.’s driver-assistance system Autopilot, Musk dictating the opening text claiming the company’s car drove itself, according to internal emails viewed by Bloomberg.
“Just want to be absolutely clear that everyone’s top priority is achieving an amazing Autopilot demo drive,” Musk wrote in an email. “Since this is a demo, it is fine to hardcode some of it, since we will backfill with production code later in an OTA update,” according to a report by Ars Technica which quotes Bloomberg.
Both reports allege Musk as saying, “I will be telling the world that this is what the car *will* be able to do, not that it can do this upon receipt.”
But instead of making this clear, the video, released to the world via Musk’s Twitter account, opens instead with white text on a black background telling the viewer that “the person in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons. He is not doing anything. The car is driving itself”, Ars Technica adds.
Musk tweeted on the day of the video’s release the car could read parking signs, and it knew not to park in a disabled spot. He also claimed that someone could use the “Summon” function on a car parked on the other side of the country, Ars Technica explains.
It adds that “Summon” was only released to Tesla drivers three years later, and that the system struggled with navigating low-speed parking lots.
“In real-world conditions, the performance of Autopilot and the newer, even more controversial ‘Full-Self Driving’ systems remain poor,” Ars Technica alleges.
It goes on to say the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has multiple open investigations into whether Tesla’s driver assistance systems are safe.
Ars Technica adds that criminal charges are a possibility.
In August last year, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles accused Tesla of misleading consumers about its driver-assistance systems, Bloomberg points out.
Bloomberg says Musk and Tesla – which disbanded its media relations department about three years ago – didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Tesla does say its “Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability are intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment.
“While these features are designed to become more capable over time, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous.”
