Final Draft # Product Summary and Analysis

           Megan.T(2019) introduces how Tesla vehicle uses its forward-facing radar and ultrasonic sensors around the car to navigate and cruise through traffic with ease. During cruise control, the radar and sensor on the car can track the distance and positions of the traffic ahead and adjust its speed accordingly. However, the author mentioned that Tesla Autopilot only aids drivers partially as it cannot work well when the car is travelling at a speed of 20MPH and below. One example when the driver should be driving instead of autopilot is when he/she drives in residential zones with many streetlights and stop signs. When driving through residential areas at low speed, the driver must put their hands on the steering wheel at all times and if the steering wheel’s sensor doesn’t sense the driver’s hand, it will alert the driver via audible and visually. The car will slowly come to a stop if it still doesn’t sense the driver’s hand on the wheel. In the near future, Tesla will upgrade it's autopilot system to allow it to park itself into a parking slot even when the driver is not in the car. 

            All Tesla's vehicle has a built-in processor and wifi card which can connect to a wifi network for the upgrading of software. It is also an electric-powered which is environmentally friendly. With the autopilot system, drivers can safely drive to a destination while working on something else instead of concentrating on driving.

The main key feature of Tesla is its autopilot system. The necessity of the Tesla Autopilot has been debated widely, with detractors citing accidents caused by the autopilot itself. According to BBC News(2019), a Tesla car was driving along the road and crashed into a fire engine that was parked by the roadside. This type of accident would be avoided if a person had been driving instead of autopilot. According to Chris.D(2019) statistics show that from Jan – Apr 2018, Tesla car with autopilot on, recorded “1 accident for every 2.87million miles” and without autopilot, “1 accident for every 1.76million miles”. By comparison, National highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA) recent data for all vehicle accidents shows “in the United States there is an automobile crash every 436,000miles”.  This factor shows Tesla Autopilot System helps to prevent accidents from happening drastically over normal vehicles. Tesla also prompts the driver to keep their hands on the wheel and keep a lookout on the traffic as drivers are not supposed to fully depend on the auto-driving system yet. Tesla has since upgraded its software to recognize different objects clearly to prevent accidents like this to reoccur.

Another key feature of Tesla is that it uses electricity-powered engines to function; this means that it's more environmentally friendly as compared to conventional petrol/diesel vehicles. According to Ergon energy(n.d.), exhaust emissions from petrol/diesel cars create harmful air pollution for the environment. Furthermore, the electric vehicle engine has fewer moving parts, therefore requires less regular servicing as compared to petroleum engines. Drivers will never have to travel to a gas station to top up petrol and instead,  just charge their car when they reach home. 

          The last key feature is Tesla cars can automatically upgrade it's software like many smartphones/computers do. As long as it is connected to the WIFI, it can automatically update “over-the-air”. Recently Tesla updated its software to “version 10.0”. The new feature “smart summon” allows the car to automatically park itself into an empty parking lot as long as the owner is in its line of sight.

           In conclusion, with all the features combined, Tesla proves its capability and uniqueness over other competitors, It's advanced self-driving technology and software remain cream of the crop in the automotive industry, by constantly upgrading its user interfaces and adding creative features for the vehicle. 

Edited on 9/Nov/2019

References:

Ergon Energy. (n.d.) The benefit of electric vehicle. Retrieved October 9,2019, from https://www.ergon.com.au/network/smarter-energy/electric-vehicles/benefits-of-electric-vehicles 

Tesla. (n.d.) Software updates. Retrieved October 9,2019, from https://www.tesla.com/support/software-updates

Mark, M.(2019). Business Insider, Tesla just released a big software update that allows its cars to drive themselves in parking lots. Retrieved October 9,2019, from https://www.businessinsider.sg/tesla-releases-software-update-model-3-model-s-model-x-2019-9/ 

Chris, D.(2019). SlashGear, Telsa autopilot accident rate. Retrieved October 9,2019, from https://www.slashgear.com/tesla-autopilot-safety-report-q1-2019-autonomous-progress-10572659/ 

BBC News. (2019). Tesla design failure. Retrieved October 9,2019, from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49594260 

Megan, T. (n.d.) How It Works: Tesla’s Autopilot Self-driving Automobile Technology Retrieved October 9,2019, from https://www.jameco.com/Jameco/workshop/HowItWorks/how-it-works-tesla-autopilot-self-driving-automobile-technology.html