Tesla to Add Car Safety Features Via Downloads

Tesla Motors Inc. is pushing through new software that will add half a dozen new safety and convenience features, and the company has teased that its vehicles will adopt autonomous driving features in about three months.

Chief among the changes in the update, which will be downloaded to existing Model S vehicles via the Internet, is a system that will track the vehicle's location in connection to Superchargers and which will tell the driver when it is moving out of range. The system can analyze with great accuracy the route the person is driving and guarantee arrival at a Supercharger before the range ends, Chief Executive Elon Musk said. Mr. Musk earlier this week said the change would "end range anxiety," setting off speculation about what changes were coming.

"You don't need to think ahead or do any calculations. It makes it almost impossible to run out unless you do it intentionally," Mr. Musk said on a call with reporters and analysts.

In addition, cars built since October that have the correct sensors installed will be able to perform automatic braking. Tesla also has programmed a new top speed of 155 mph in one of its versions and a "valet" mode that lowers the torque available and protects personal information stored in the vehicle.

In three months when the next software update comes out, those same cars will be able to drive themselves on highways, making them the most advanced autonomous vehicles on the road, Mr. Musk said.

"We really designed the Model S to be a very sophisticated computer on wheels. Tesla is very much a software company as much as a hardware company," Mr. Musk said in the call. "We view it in the same way as updating your phone or your laptop. Just as people assume your phone will update frequently. It is a fundamental paradigm shift from the way that cars have been done in the past."

Mark Wakefield, a partner at management consulting firm AlixPartners LLP, said Tesla is well ahead of the rest of the automotive industry. Its willingness to take risks has given it a jump on competitors.

"They are certainly more gutsy," he said.

Write to Mike Ramsey at [e-mail]

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