Tesla Autopilot hits 1 billion miles driven

A
visualization of Autopilot in action.
Tesla

• Tesla’s
  cars have driven one billion miles with the Autopilot
  semi-self-driving feature engaged, the company said.
• That’s 10% of all Tesla miles driven since 2012.
• Autopilot was launched in 2015.

Tesla
has passed an impressive milestone. The carmaker’s vehicles have
racked up one billion miles driven on Autopilot, the company’s
semi-self-driving system, Tesla said.

That number represents 10% of all miles driven by Teslas since
2012, when the Model S sedan first appeared in the market. The
company noted in a statement that Autopilot has been available
only since 2015, but Tesla sold relatively few cars prior to the
technology’s launch.

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In 2017, for example, Tesla hit the 100,000 mark for deliveries,
and in 2018 in should exceed that total by a wide margin as its
new Model 3 sedan has hit the market.

Autopilot hardware is built into all new Teslas, but activating
the necessary software is a $5,000 option at the time of
purchase, and $7,000 if selected later. 

Tesla aims to make Autopilot a full self-driving system in coming
years. The technology uses cameras, sensors, and computing power
to replace the expensive laser-radar systems employed by General
Motors’ Cruise division and Alphabet’s Waymo, both of which are
seeking to launch ride-hailing services in 2018-19.