Three months from now TESLA Motors Inc. (TSLA, Financial) is preparing to bring in the hands-free steering upgrade on its model S Sedan. With this upgrade Tesla is aiming at getting the market almost a year ahead of other big automakers in the market. The upgrade, while being available only when driving on freeways or major roads, has come as a big blow to biggies in th motor industry who are still far away from bringing similar technology.
The series of upgrades
TESLA Motors Inc. in several times has offered several upgrades for its customers in an effort to give a world class experience. The software upgrades are offered to its owners by a wireless network through a built in modem in the car, TESLA also announced a new Range Assurance feature to its S Sedan customers which will warn about low battery power. The system put in place is designed to gather data ‘Every 30 seconds or so’ showing updates for vacant charging facility centres within range so that a driver doesn’t have to wait in a queue.
A trip planner has also been introduced that will help to identify a valid route map which will be the fastest and most convenient route to the set destination. These two features will be launched in 10 days. TESLA claims the big advantage for Model S drivers after the launch of these upgrades as “it’ll be almost impossible for a Model S Driver to go out of range”. The latest version of Model S has a range between charges of about 280 miles.
Another important feature that TESLA is coming up with later this year is version 7.0 of S Sedan’s operating system allowing customers to summon their car from the garage located remotely. Valet mode feature will have speed limitations and limited feature access. The version 7.0 is also getting pre-installed in TESLA upcoming Model X. The summon feature has been under doubts for security reasons which TESLA assumes to set aside by verifying user addresses and coordinating them with GPS. TESLA also brought in updated version 6.2 offering automatic emergency braking and blind spot warnings. TESLA last year had already installed RADAR and ultrasonic sensors to assist in the eventual target of driverless car.
Later this year TESLA is planning ultimate space age version software updates, it’ll allow the user to just use his smartphone to summon his car from anywhere. This absolute driverless feature however will be available only within private properties as its illegal on roads and in public areas.
Competition to TESLA
The automatic steering feature is not new in the market with Mercedes (DDAIF, Financial) S class already offering it, however, TESLA assures that the one introduced by them is the most automated and allows almost nil interaction between driver and car. Google (GOOG, Financial) too has been experimenting with Google X division to bring in driverless car. BMW (BAMXY, Financial) is also offering several new updates from time to time and General Motors (GM, Financial) plans to offer the hands free driving feature in its new Cadillac CT6 sedan next year.
Effect on TESLA’s stock value
Despite the much-praised move way before its competitor, TESLA still could not stabilize its share which fell more than 2%. It has been facing a lot of scrutiny by its investors following misfires, incomplete sales target in China and not meeting sales and profit volume targets. The company’s stock fell from last September’s peak of $291.42. It stood at $204.59 ahead of company’s announcement. One of the most concerning issue for the company is the free cash flow which plummeted to $455 million in the fourth quarter for its California assembly plant expansion and development of Model X.
The future of cars is here
Concluded as a great revolution in the auto industry, the futuristic car by TESLA is here to amuse people with its unimaginable features. All the newly added features of Range, Summon and self-drive steering are to watch out for. The company promises to continue adding new updates almost every three to four months.
