But none of them are from Detroit.
Automotive safety standards in the United States change every year, with new requirements forcing automakers to add new features to their cars. For example, backup cameras have been federally mandated since 2018, so every automaker was required to add one to every model in their lineup. Some of these changes must be acted on swiftly while others offer carmakers a leeway period, as is the case with the latest requirement.
By September 1, 2022, all automakers must install automatic emergency braking on every model. Automatic emergency braking triggers the brakes when the vehicle detects an impending rear-end collision. The technology isn t perfect but is expected to halve the number of rear-end accidents. With around two years left until the deadline, ten automakers have already met the requirements according to reporting by Bloomberg.
And it won t be cheap.
Tesla is proceeding with its Full Self-Driving software at neck-snapping speed. The automaker has been rolling out the technology for the past several months to a select group of owners with confirmed safety records. The system accumulates massive amounts of data from those beta testers in order to, among other things, guarantee safety. Needless to say, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been and continues to monitor this very closely. Tesla CEO Elon Musk previously told investors the FSD upgrade that ll allow drivers to fully utilize Autopilot s most advanced driver-assist systems will be widely released by the end of the year. Well, that time is now and, so far, no wide release.
Namely, those who have already purchased Enhanced Autopilot.
A limited beta test for Tesla s new Full Self Driving feature is currently underway, although customers who live in an eligible area wanting to participate will have to pay for the privilege - quite a lot, actually; the Full Self Driving beta costs $10,000. That s more than a quarter of the base MSRP for a brand new Tesla Model 3 sedan.
But for some, the true cost of Full Self Driving was actually more than that, because upgrading from the $5,000 Enhanced Autopilot package to the FSD beta cost $6,000, for a grand total of $11,000 invested.