The Telegram (St. John's)

Complete autonomy near

Tesla ‘very close’ to level 5 autonomous driving technology: Musk

- BRENDA GOH YILEI SUN

SHANGHAI/BEIJING — U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc is “very close” to achieving level 5 autonomous driving technology, chief executive Elon Musk said on Thursday, referring to the capability to navigate roads without any driver input.

“I’m extremely confident that level 5 or essentiall­y complete autonomy will happen and I think will happen very quickly,” Musk said in remarks made via a video message at the opening of Shanghai’s annual World Artificial Intelligen­ce Conference (WAIC).

“I remain confident that we will have the basic functional­ity for level 5 autonomy complete this year.”

Automakers and tech companies including Alphabet Inc

Waymo and Uber Technologi­es are investing billions in the autonomous driving industry.

However industry insiders have said it would take time for the technology to get ready and public to trust autonomous vehicles fully.

The California-based automaker currently builds cars with an Autopilot driver-assistance system.

Tesla is also developing new heat-projection or cooling systems to enable more advanced computers in cars, Musk said.

Industry data showed Tesla sold nearly 15,000 Chinamade Model 3 sedans last month.

Tesla has become the highest-valued automaker as its shares surged to record highs and its market capitaliza­tion overtook that of former front-runner Toyota Motors Corp.

 ?? REUTERS ?? Spacex owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives on the red carpet for the automobile awards “Das Goldene Lenkrad” (The golden steering wheel) given by a German newspaper in Germany, November 2019.
REUTERS Spacex owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives on the red carpet for the automobile awards “Das Goldene Lenkrad” (The golden steering wheel) given by a German newspaper in Germany, November 2019.

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