Elon Musk’s disdain for lidar has been effectively documented. Now the Tesla CEO has cooled on one other sensor most automakers deem important for underpinning sure safety options.
Tesla mentioned final week it stopped equipping Model 3 and Model Y autos with radar sensors in April. The change sparked a swift response. Three main automotive safety organizations stripped the autos of their safety designations.
NHTSA, the federal regulatory company charged with guaranteeing automobile safety, revised its five-star crash safety rankings. It eliminated checkmarks the autos had earned for providing options corresponding to ahead collision warning, lane departure warning, crash avoidance braking and dynamic brake assist.
Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety adopted by revoking the “Top Pick” and “Top Safety Pick+” designations, respectively, for the Model 3.
“If a driver thinks their vehicle has a safety feature and it doesn’t, that fundamentally changes the safety profile of the vehicle,” mentioned David Friedman, vp of advocacy at Consumer Reports and a former performing administrator of NHTSA. “It might not be there when they think it would save their lives.”
Instead of equipping the vehicles with radar, Tesla is transitioning to a camera-only system known as Tesla Vision, which depends on machine studying to run sure safety options, Autopilot and a “Full Self Driving” function that also requires human motorists to be…
