One of the great things about Tesla's Model S is the ability to update the vehicle's firmware over the air. That's exactly what the electric car maker did a few weeks ago, making available a couple of semi-autonomous driving features designed to make travel a bit safer.
The new Autopilot feature is meant to be used under very specific scenarios. A disclaimer notes that while truly driverless cars are still a few years away, Tesla Autopilot functions like the systems that airplane pilots use when conditions are clear. The driver is still responsible for and ultimately in control of the car.
Naturally, there are people out there that have failed to heed Tesla's warning.
During a recent earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said his company is aware of many accidents that have been prevented thanks to Autopilot, adding that they aren't aware of any that were caused by the feature.
Musk acknowledged that there have been some fairly crazy videos on YouTube, describing them as "not good." As a result, he said Tesla will be putting some additional constraints in place that will limit when Autopilot can be activated in hopes of minimizing the possibility of people doing stupid stuff with it.
Tesla also revealed that vehicles with Autopilot engaged are collectively logging around a million miles a day and that the system learns over time, thus constantly bettering itself. Musk said he expects that within a few months, the system should really start to feel refined.