Tesla Model S cars can now drive and park themselves

“We’re being especially cautious at this stage so we’re advising drivers to keep their hands on the wheel just in case”, Musk commented in front of media representatives at the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters.

In addition to these three features, Tesla has also added a beta feature called Autosteer that “keeps the vehicle in the current lane and engages Traffic-Aware Cruise Control to maintain the car’s speed”.

The Tesla Model S P85D was introduced a year ago and debuted the brand’s Autopilot feature, a semi-autonomous driving system that utilises cameras, radars and 360-degree ultrasonic sonar sensors to provide driverless features. In a press conference via phone, Musk warned that people need to use the new feature with caution.

As Tesla vehicles rack-up crash-free miles, the company will gradually release software upgrades, with the goal of convincing regulators to approve fully automated cars.

Tesla is also using this update to allow the Model S fleet to collectively gather road information and pooling, allowing the vehicles – over time – to learn from the experience of others.

The comments came during the official launch of Tesla’s first foray into “autopilot” – a software update for existing Model S and Model X cars.

The electric carmaker Tesla Motors hopes to overtake competitors with a new autopilot system that lets cars change lanes by themselves.

It automatically turns indicator signals on and off while warning the driver if the auto is approaching another parked vehicle too quickly.

Last night Tesla began the process of updating every vehicle that has been made in the United States over the past year with software that gives the vehicle autopilot.

Trips on the highway for recent Tesla Model S owners just got a little easier. “So, we are probably only a month away from having autonomous driving at least for highways and for relatively simple roads”, Musk said during a recent interview with the Danish new site Borsen.

During a Q&A session, Musk was asked who is liable if an accident occurs when the automatic lane changing feature is used.