Elon Musk has outlined his “master plan” for Tesla, which includes developing a self-driving car that is “10 times” safer than manual vehicles.
Musk, who is Tesla’s founder and CEO of the company, outlined his next 10-year plan for the company, which included expanding upon the company’s autopilot mode in its Model S cars. Musk explained why the company had decided to debut software that gave its vehicles partial autonomy rather than waiting to deliver a fully self-driving car in the future, writing: “I should explain why Tesla is deploying partial autonomy now, rather than waiting until some point in the future. The most important reason is that, when used correctly, it is already significantly safer than a person driving by themselves and it would therefore be morally reprehensible to delay release simply for fear of bad press or some mercantile calculation of legal liability.”
The entrepreneur added: “According to the recently released 2015 NHTSA report, automotive fatalities increased by 8% to one death every 89 million miles. Autopilot miles will soon exceed twice that number and the system gets better every day. It would no more make sense to disable Tesla’s Autopilot, as some have called for, than it would to disable autopilot in aircraft, after which our system is named.”
Musk revealed that he had lofty ambitions for his autonomous vehicles, with the company refusing to officially bring it out of its beta stage until “Autopilot is approximately 10 times safer than the US vehicle average.”
Autopilot was released as a software update for the Model S.
Not only would an improved Autopilot mode benefit consumers, but Musk also plans to introduce the technology to public transport within the next decade, saying that it will “make sense” to “transition the role of bus driver to that of a fleet manager.” Describing his outlined designs of the vehicles and how they would benefit road traffic, he added: “Traffic congestion would improve due to increased passenger areal density by eliminating the center aisle and putting seats where there are currently entryways, and matching acceleration and braking to other vehicles, thus avoiding the inertial impedance to smooth traffic flow of traditional heavy buses. It would also take people all the way to their destination. Fixed summon buttons at existing bus stops would serve those who don’t have a phone. Design accommodates wheelchairs, strollers and bikes.”
Musk’s first “master plan” was penned all the way back in 2006, with it including the following objectives:
- Build sports car
- Use that money to build an affordable car
- Use that money to build an even more affordable car
- While doing above, also provide zero emission electric power generation options
Considering Tesla has made good on all of those promises in the 10 years since the initial plan was outlined, we’re confident that they will do the same again over the course of the next decade.
[Via Tesla]
