Tesla looks at autopilot technology with Google
On the eve of reporting what’s expected to be its first profitable quarter, electric-car maker Tesla Motors said it is considering adding driverless technology to its vehicles and is discussing the prospects for such systems with Google.
Tesla founder and Chairman Elon Musk said technologies that can take over for drivers are a logical step in the evolution of cars. He has talked with Google about the selfdriving technology it’s been developing, though he prefers to think of applications that are more like an airplane’s autopilot system.
“I like the word autopilot more than I like the word self-driving,” Musk said. “Selfdriving sounds like it’s going to do something you don’t want it to do. Autopilot is a good thing to have in planes, and we should have it in cars.”
Tesla, based in Palo Alto and with a factory in Fremont, is considering such technology as regulators and long-established automakers
grapple with when and how it can be used to increase safety and driver convenience. Global automakers such as Nissan Motor and government officials say fully autonomous vehicles may not reach dealer showrooms for a decade, twice as long as Google expects.
Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both investors in Tesla before its 2010 initial public offering, have been proponents, with their Mountain View company demonstrating a driverless fleet of Toyota Prius hybrids equipped with laser-radar devices mounted on the roofs.
Google’s approach builds on a push for the driverless-car technology long pursued by the U.S. military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which held vehicle competitions for carmakers and research labs. Anthony Levandowski, product manager for Google’s self-driving car project, has said the company expects to release the technology within five years.
‘Too expensive’
“The problem with Google’s current approach is that the sensor system is too expensive,” Musk said. “It’s better to have an optical system, basically cameras with software that is able to figure out what’s going on just by looking at things.”
Musk is determined to bring the cost of Tesla’s cars down so that the company can sell to mainstream consumers. Tesla’s Model S sedan has a $69,900 base price, and Musk says the company still intends to squeeze expenses to offer a model for about $30,000 within a few years. The Roadster, the company’s first offering, started at $109,000.
Tesla slid 6.7 percent to $55.51 Tuesday, down from Monday’s record $59.50 closing price. The shares had soared 76 percent this year through Monday, outpacing the 14 percent rise in the Russell 1000 Index. Tesla said it will report its first profit from sales of all-electric Model S sedans when the company releases first-quarter results Wednesday.
Google’s technology
Google’s driverless technology is guided by Sebastian Thrun, former head of Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Thrun led the Stanford team that won a $2 million prize in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge of autonomous vehicles, finishing with the best time on a rugged 132-mile course in the Mojave Desert.
“We’ve had some technical discussions with Google” about its Light Detection and Ranging, or Lidar, laser tracking system, Musk said, noting that it’s an expensive approach that may not prove feasible.
“I think Tesla will most likely develop its own autopilot system for the car, as I think it should be camera-based, not Lidar-based,” Musk said. “However, it is also possible that we do something jointly with Google.”
Autopilot system
While crash-avoidance systems that can alert a driver or apply brakes in advance of a wreck are coming to cars now, David Strickland, head of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has said autonomous vehicles “are a long way off.”
Google’s self-driving cars are allowed on public roads for testing purposes in Nevada, California and Florida.
Toyota Motor, also a Tesla investor, in January showed a driverless test vehicle in Las Vegas equipped with a Lidar device, radar and cameras and sensors — something more like the approach that Musk suggests.
Likewise, Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, wants to create a virtual “co-pilot” that helps drivers avoid accidents, rather than selfdriving cars and trucks. Tesla isn’t discussing driverless-car technology with either Toyota or Daimler AG, which is also a shareholder, Musk said. Self-driving vehicles aren’t a top priority at the moment.