A year ago, Tesla made the switch to its newer Tesla Vision camera-based advanced driver-assist systems. Previously, Tesla's cars also featured radar, which the automaker has since removed. Amid the switch to Tesla Vision, the top speed for Autopilot's Autosteer feature was reduced to 75 mph.
When Tesla first switched to the vision-only approach, its vehicles temporarily lost their top safety ratings, as well as an overall recommendation from some publications. This would give time for regulators and reviewers to test the vehicles with the updated system. In the end, the automaker was reinstated with its top safety ratings and various recommendations when the technology was proven to function properly without the radar.
Tesla remained cautious, however, and didn't decide to quickly raise the maximum Autosteer speed back up to 90 mph, which was the top speed for "traditional" Autopilot with radar. Tesla chose to raise it on vision-only cars from the initial 75 mph up to 80 mph rather quickly. Since then, there haven't been any maximum speed increases.
A few days ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to a tweet confirming that an upcoming update would, in fact, increase the speed of Autopilot. Musk didn't specify the top speed, though.
More recently, Electrek discovered an update on Tesla's website, to which the publication credited Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) due to the tweet below:
As you can see by clicking on the article linked in the above tweet, Tesla has a page in the Support section of its website entitled "Transitioning to Tesla Vision." It provides a rather brief explanation, along with some answers to frequently asked questions and a chart showing that all safety features are active in vision-only vehicles.
That said, in the opening paragraphs, it specifies that Autosteer "will be limited to a maximum speed of 85 mph and a longer minimum following distance." The post also notes that Tesla will be "restoring" the features via multiple over-the-air software updates during the "weeks ahead." To be clear, the features may not be restored right away, and even if you take delivery of a brand-new Tesla, it may not yet have the updates.
Do you agree with Tesla's decision to increase the maximum speed to 85 mph? Do you think it should be 90 mph? This is a topic that deserves some conversation. Head down to our comment section and share your opinions and explanations.
