5 reasons why Tesla's new Autopilot could change driving for good

With the Google self-driving car on the horizon and even Hyundai stepping into the autonomous game with the 2015 Genesis, Tesla’s Autopilot feature on the Model S, announced last night, may sound like yesterday’s news. But it’s a potential game changer—and here’s why.

1. It’s in production, not a distant concept. All major automakers know autonomous driving is destined to come. But whereas Audi’s self-parking tech announced at CES this year still isn’t out yet, Tesla’s Autopilot tech will be hitting the streets this December. Mercedes-Benz comes close to self-driving with its Intelligent Drive, but much of the tech only works above 30 mph, and the system disables if the driver's hands are off the wheel for too long. To be fair, that’s not necessarily because the other luxury automakers are slower: Europe has strict regulations on self-driving, whereas the United States has been a bit more ready to experiment.

2. Ultrasonic sonar gives 360 degrees of coverage. The avoidance/detection systems out today, be it Subaru’s camera-based EyeSight, or Audi’s bumper-mounted radar sensors primarily cover the front and rear. Holes in coverage mean the car never has a complete grasp on its surroundings—which isn’t confidence inspiring for autopiloted driving.

3. Cameras, radar, or sonar — the answer? Yes. Whereas other automakers will sell you the virtues of one or maybe two types of detection/avoidance technology, Tesla just integrates them all. For long-range detection and avoidance, it uses radar; to recognize pedestrians and speed limit signs it uses a camera; for any other objects close by it relies on the 360-degree sonar. Plus, that elaborate suite of tech wizardry is nicely hidden, and you don’t notice them sitting inside.

4. Self-parking — and starting. Similar to Audi’s parking tech, the Tesla can parallel park on its own, or even pull into the garage by itself. What’s crazier is that you can set on a calendar to have the Tesla pull up to you at a specified time, with the AC keeping the cabin cooled. Unfortunately, this won’t work if your Tesla is plugged in, but Elon Musk sprung a surprise on the engineers at the unveiling, saying he’d want them self-charging, too.

5. Execution. At least in our closed course on the airstrip, the Tesla performed smoothly, to the point where you’d think a seasoned chauffeur was behind the wheel. Granted, we may see hiccups in Tesla’s system in the real world – lane-keeping systems tend to have trouble with wider interstate lanes, whether it’s a Honda or Porsche.