Report: Older Tesla Autopilot Demonstration Video Was Faked by Engineers
Regardless of how you feel about Tesla, there’s no amount of wishful thinking on anyone’s part that makes its “full self-driving” technology work as advertised. The company’s cars cannot drive themselves, do not operate without a human watching, and cannot safely manage complex situations on the road. That hasn’t stopped Tesla from trying to convince everyone, though, and as we’re now learning, its efforts haven’t always been above board.
Automotive News reported that the automaker’s director of Autopilot software, Ashok Elluswamy, told lawyers that an early Tesla promo video was a clever bit of cinema magic. The testimony was part of a deposition taken in July related to a lawsuit over a 2018 fatal Tesla crash.
Though the video states that “the person in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons,” the Model X shown followed a predetermined route and used 3D mapping software. Elluswamy said that one vehicle crashed into a fence on Tesla’s lot while trying to demonstrate self-parking.
Elluswamy told the attorneys that the video was not meant to portray an available feature and was instead meant to demonstrate what is possible. That’s obviously different than the message sent by the text at the beginning of the video, and it’s certainly different than the legions of Tesla stockholders would have you believe on social media.
[Image: Screenshot from Tesla via Vimeo]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Uh, just no to FSD ain't happening. Trial lawyers won't be thinking new luxury car, they'll be thinking new corporate jets once they get done suing Tesla.
Cars aren't like rockets. A rocket has the right of way. Always.
But, but autopilot on airplanes! Autopilot on planes is designed to relieve not remove responsibilities from the pilots. Flying long haul freight over a large body of water? Autopilot allows one pilot to go take a leak, get a beverage and/or food and get back in the seat. Yeah one of the pilots can even take a short nap but the other pilot had better have their hands on the controls. This is while flying a well defined and regulated route.
It'll be a long, long time until FSD is in use at your local strip mall. If at all.
Sorry people. Elon is my Michael Jordan. He has a clause that you should not take your hands off the steering wheel and you should be a pensive driver, always engaged. Many liberals are on the "Elon is Donald Trump" trip and that could not be further from the truth. Elon is the only person that has done something about climate change, although negligible, it is a difference and will do more with every car sold. He provided internet to major parts of the world who did not, even gave Ukraine satellite internet to help them. Elon will also help people with certain physical disabilities with Neurolink and will apply AI technology to assist them with mobility. Now he is being attacked by the Biden, Liberals & MSM because he found evidence in Twitter against Hunter Biden.
Elon lied?
No kidding…
Dont think that's right, surely you mean faked by MARKETING?!