Is the 100% autonomous Tesla ready by the end of the year?

During a video conference in Shanghai, Tesla’s CEO explained that his company is “very close” to having developed its 100% autonomous car. 

For years, it has been said that cars would soon be 100% autonomous. Tesla was one of the first manufacturers to speak openly about the issue. Today, the world has never been closer to seeing this dream become a reality. 

Tesla has never been this close 

Elon Musk discussed this new technology of fully autonomous cars during the conference. According to him, the company is “closer than ever to its goal”. “In terms of where Tesla currently stands, I think we’re very close to achieving driverless operation without human supervision”, he explained during the conference. The American giant has been working on this project for years. The CEO has already surpassed the “milestone” deadlines for designing this entirely new vehicle. A vehicle that is eagerly anticipated worldwide, but still raises many questions. He believes the car could be ready as early as this year: “It’s just speculation, but I think we will reach full autonomous driving, maybe level four or five, later this year”. 

What do levels 4 or 5 mean? 

There are five levels in total for autonomous vehicles. At level 1, the driver must accelerate, brake, steer, and monitor the road — they have to do everything. At level 2, the driver monitors the road and controls the vehicle in case of problems. For the last levels before 4 and 5, the driver only needs to take control if there’s an issue. For levels 4 and 5, the car does everything — the driver doesn’t have to do anything. 

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