Elon Musk Admits Tesla's Autonomous Steering System Hasn't Been Certified Yet

Tesla has not yet received autonomous driving certification. (photo: twitter @tesla)

JAKARTA - Tesla Inc's advanced driver assistant software won't get regulatory approval by 2022. CEO Elon Musk said in his remarks, indicating his company has not been able to satisfy authorities that its cars can be driven without a driver behind the wheel.

The Silicon Valley automaker is selling an additional $15,000 worth of software called "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) that allows its vehicles to change lanes and park independently. This feature complements its standard "Autopilot" feature which allows the car to steer, accelerate and brake in its lane without driver intervention.

However, the car must still be driven with human supervision. Fully autonomous vehicles will require regulatory approvals.

Musk said in a post-earnings report on Wednesday, October 19 that all FSD users in North America will get the upgraded version by the end of the year. He also adds that while the car isn't ready to have no one behind the wheel, the driver rarely has to touch the controls.

"A car will be able to take you from your home to your work, your friend's house, the grocery store without you having to touch the wheel", Musk said.

"This is a separate issue whether there will be regulatory approval. At that time there was no regulatory approval", he added.

Musk also said Tesla hopes to provide an update to the FSD by 2023 to show regulators that the car is much safer than the average human driver.

"Musk opens up the possibility that Tesla will have a more difficult path to getting approval for the FSD given the NHTSA and other tighter controls", said Craig Irwin, an analyst at Roth Capital.

Tesla's FSD Technology Is Not Ready

Auto safety regulators have long been at odds with Tesla over its partially automated driving system. Since 2016, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened 38 special investigations into accidents involving Tesla vehicles that have resulted in 19 deaths, to see if the software was a contributing factor.

“Translation: Tensions between NHTSA and Tesla will escalate by the end of the year and Tesla will move forward,” said Gene Munster, managing partner at venture capital firm Loup Ventures, which owns Tesla.

The naming of Tesla's software has also raised concerns, as the automaker was accused by California's state transportation regulator of false advertising because the feature does not provide full autonomous vehicle control.

Tesla's website says both technologies "require active driver supervision", with the "attentive" driver having his hands on the wheel, "and not making the vehicle autonomous".

Some analysts say that Tesla's main problem is not the regulator but the software itself, given the complexities of today's autonomous driving.

"The bottleneck is the technology. It's not about the approval of the technology", said Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina.

Tesla has repeatedly missed its self-set targets for its vehicles to achieve full self-driving capability. This is a function that Musk says will be "Tesla's most important source of profitability."