Newer Tesla Motors (TSLA.O) Model S sedans will have new self-steer and park feature enabled in them this Thursday. The Asian and European counterparts will have to wait it out though, as Tesla will provide the features through an over-the-air upgrade a week late. Tesla strictly prohibits letting go of the steering wheel yet.

“We’re being especially cautious at this stage so we’re advising drivers to keep their hands on the wheel just in case,” Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk told reporters at the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters. “Over time there will not be a need to have your hands on the wheel.”

Subjects who took the updated model for an early test drive reported that signs came up on the dashboard cautioning them not to let go of steering wheel once they did so. More difficult navigating conditions, an audio alert will come on and if that also is ignored, the car will slow and eventually stop, Tesla said.

“The whole Tesla fleet acts like a network. When one car learns something they all learn it,” he said. “As … more people enable autopilot, the information about how to drive is uploaded to the network. Each driver is effectively an expert trainer in how the autopilot should work.”

Musk figures that within the next three years, the autopilot mode will be able to go fully autonomous and the drivers will not have to touch the wheel from say, their home to office and back.

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Author:Technology Blog