Elon Musk: Self-Driving Cars Will Reverse Away From Danger

Tesla Inc TSLA is working toward fully autonomous cars. The company says every car it sells today comes with the hardware necessary for full self-driving; the software just needs to catch up to the task. 

Tesla's latest software update, FSD Beta Version 10, was released over the weekend, and testers are relaying mostly positive experiences, although the system is still not ready for a wide public release.

Many people think the cars are not equipped with enough cameras, especially near the front of the car.

Now Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the next version of the software, expected in about three weeks, will be able to go into reverse to move back "if it sees danger."

As of now, the cars slowly creep into an intersection to get a better view. But if the car moves too far and a vehicle is approaching, it doesn't have an ability to move backwards to get out of the way. 

With 10.1, it will creep forward with more confidence & quickly reverse back a little (just as a person would) if it sees danger

— Name (@elonmusk) September 12, 2021

This seems like a creative work around to possibly having to add more hardware to the car. Tesla has said for years that all cars delivered have the hardware needed for self-driving, and this expected update could help keep that promise true. 

Photo courtesy of Tesla.