Tesla chief executive officer (CEO) Elon Musk had very recently said that the company is likely to roll out full self-driving (FSD) technology this year itself but will this tech help Musk generate the profit that his company so desperately needs?
Tesla faces margin pressure due to price cuts
Tesla has been facing margin pressure because of the significant price cuts it has taken in the recent past.
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| Recently, Tesla saw a fatal crash of one of its self-driving vehicles -- Photo: Tesla. |
A bullish Musk said, “I think we’ll do it this year,” while speaking during a conference call.
Tesla missed targets
Tesla had set a slew of targets in the past for self-driving tech but they have all been missed.
The Tesla boss also revealed that the test version of the FSD software will be “two steps forward, one step back” between their releases.
And, according to him, the trend is “very clearly towards full self-driving (tech) as well as towards full autonomy.”
Self-driving cars face scrutiny
However, this technology has been in the eye of the storm — facing its own legal and regulatory scrutiny owing to crashes.
Late last week, Tesla had reported to US regulators yet another fatal crash of an automated driver-assist system.
Self-driving cars still need supervision
This takes the total number of such crashes to 17 since June 2021, when the US government had asked auto companies to submit data on accidents.
According to Tesla, this technology does not make the car self-driving and obviously needs driver supervision.
Some FSD features disabled by Tesla
Failure on many fronts has prompted Tesla to plan changes to its car’s hardware — the EV giant is believed to have temporarily disabled some FSD features on new vehicles.
Tesla sells the software as an option, and for this, it charges a whopping $15,000.
Among other changes last year, Tesla removed ultrasonic sensors from its coveted cars — the Model 3 and Model Y.
It also said that some FSD features like ‘smart summon’ and ‘autopark’ would be unavailable on a temporary basis to Tesla users.
Even as Tesla stresses on self-driving technology, not all electric vehicle firms see it as a feasible option.
‘Fully autonomous driving impossible’
During an auto show in China recently, electric car giant BYD said that fully autonomous driving is “impossible” and it is more practical to use technology in manufacturing.
A BYD executive said the Chinese company is looking at self-driving technology from various aspects such as human safety needs, regulation, ethics, technology as well as application in the industry.
The executive added that many firms have been experimenting with this (self-driving) technology for decades but it has yielded no results at all.
Asda tries out grocery deliveries with self-driving tech
In another incident, British supermarket chain Asda is trying out self-driving vehicles for grocery deliveries in West London.
This trial, which is slated to take about a year, will involve over 70,000 deliveries and be the largest such experiment in the UK.
E-Vroooom's views
Self-driving tech may be here in a few years, but it needs to stabilise as well as mature before it can impact Tesla’s or any other company’s profits.
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