Tesla Autopilot engineer says Level 5 Autopilot not happening anytime soon

It turns out (surprise, surprise) that Elon Musk’s tweets don’t often hold much value.

A Tesla Engineer who spoke with a California DMV official said that “Elon’s tweet does not match engineering reality” when asked about full self-driving tech in Tesla cars by the end of the year.

The engineer, CJ Moore, is Tesla’s director of Autopilot engineering, so I’m leaning towards believing his side of the story rather than Musk’s since I assume Moore spends more time actually working on the company’s Autopilot software.

Beyond the Tweets about Autopilot’s capabilities, Musk also made a big deal about Tesla’s Robo-Taxi plan when he announced it a few years ago, which now seems significantly farther away than originally promised. To get Robo-Taxis working, Tesla needs to bring Autopilot up to SAE Level 5 and currently, it’s at Level 2.

In Ontario and most of the world, vehicle autopilot levels are defined as the following;

• Level 0 – No Automation: No automated features.
• Level 1 – Driver Assistance: Intelligent features add a layer of safety and comfort. A human driver is required for all critical functions.
• Level 2 – Partial Automation: At least two automated tasks are managed by the vehicle, but the driver must remain engaged with the driving task.
• Level 3 – Conditional Automation: The vehicle becomes a co-pilot. The vehicle manages most safety-critical driving functions but the driver must be ready to take control of the vehicle at all times.
• Level 4 – High Automation: The vehicle is capable of performing all driving functions under certain conditions. The driver may have the option to control the vehicle.
• Level 5 – Full Automation: Vehicle is capable of being completely driverless. Full-time automated driving in all conditions without need for a human driver.

In Ontario, only SEA Level 3 vehicles are allowed on the road.

Source: BNN Bloomberg