Telsa Autopilot is an advanced driver assistance system that is classified as a Level 2 automated system according to SAE J3016, which is endorsed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Tesla have said that their motivation for Autopilot is to help increase road safety and it’s this viewpoint that drives their development, validation and rollout decisions.
Tesla believe that technology can help improve safety and is why all their Tesla vehicles are engineered to be the safest in the world. The unique combination of passive safety, active safety, and automated driving is vital for keeping not only drivers of their vehicles but all drivers on the road.
Autopilot hasn’t been developed to make Tesla vehicles completely driverless, it’s intended for use only with a fully attentive driver who has full control of the vehicle and is prepared to take over at any time. Tesla expect the Autopilot to become more capable over time, but in its current form, it does not turn Tesla into an autonomous vehicle and does not allow the driver to hand over responsibility. However, the Autopilot system reduces driver’s overall workload, using eight external cameras, radar and 12 ultrasonic sensors provides an additional layer of safety that two eyes alone would not have.
Tesla Autopilot Features
Autopilot includes a suite of features that drivers can use at their discretion to make driving safer and less stressful. These include:
- Traffic Aware Cruise Control – Traffic-Aware Cruise Control maintains the car’s speed in relation to surrounding traffic.
- Autosteer – Autosteer assists the driver by steering within a clearly marked lane.
- Auto Lane Change – Auto Lane Change assists drivers in transitioning to an adjacent lane on the right or left side of the car when Autosteer is engaged.
- Navigate on Autopilot – Navigate on Autopilot is an active guidance feature that, with driver supervision, guides a car from a highway’s on-ramp to off-ramp, including suggesting and making lane changes, navigating highway interchanges, and taking exits. It’s designed to make finding and following the most efficient path to your destination even easier on the highway when Autopilot is in use.
- Autopark – Autopark helps drivers automatically parallel or perpendicular park their vehicle.
- Summon – With Summon, drivers can move their Tesla in and out of a parking space from outside the vehicle using the mobile app or the key.

Active safety features come standard on all Tesla vehicles made after September 2014 for an added layer of safety beyond the physical structure of each car and are made possible by our Autopilot hardware and software system, even for customers who have not purchased Autopilot.
Images and details have been sourced from https://www.tesla.com/
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