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Tesla To Drop Autopilot’s Green Light Confirmation In Coming Software Update — Confirmed

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Published on June 18th, 2020 |

by Zachary Shahan

Tesla To Drop Autopilot’s Green Light Confirmation In Coming Software Update — Confirmed

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June 18th, 2020 by Zachary Shahan

First of all, a note on how Tesla rolls out software updates for its cars: The updates roll out in waves, but before any “normal owners” get the updates, some people in the “Early Access” program get to test the updated software for a while. The Early Access people who get the updates ahead of others (the process is sort of complicated, don’t ask) may have the updated software for days, weeks, or even months before others get it. The idea is for Tesla to check for bugs and refine it before putting the software in cars where the owners didn’t agree to essentially be a software feature tester.

Now, a brief note on Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” suite: Tesla’s vehicles cannot drive you from your front door to Target on their own. However, they can come pretty close to that. They don’t yet leave a parking space on their own after you put a destination in. You can “summon” them out of a parking space with your phone app in a couple of ways, but you have to engage with the car via the phone to do so. Also, the car won’t make turns on its own. If you put on “Navigate on Autopilot,” the car will drive you from onramp to offramp of a major highway (i.e., Interstate) on its own, but it won’t yet drive itself around traffic on roads with lights and proper turns.

The latest update of the Full Self Driving suite added the ability for the car to recognize stop signs and lights and automatically stop for you (if you have Autopilot on). However, probably the biggest disappointment for owners when getting this exciting new feature was that the car would stop for all lights, including green ones, not just red and yellow lights. It’s not exactly relaxing to have to tell the car at every green light to go through it, even if it is still a bit exciting due to the clear option that’s around the corner.

Rumor is, Tesla is going to remove the requirement to tell the car to go through a green light in the next software update. Or, more precisely, the rumor is that it’s going to soon update the software for some Early Access drivers to do this. (Update: This is not really a rumor at this point, as it has been confirmed with photos of the software update description.)

Simply put, Tesla vehicles will be able to drive through green lights on their own in coming months or weeks.

The next steps after that to get to full Full Self Driving (if that makes sense) are:

The car takes turns on its own.
The car drives from a road through a parking lot to a parking space on its own (and vice versa).
The car does #2 and then parks on its own.

There are surely other necessary updates — like going through roundabouts, which is reportedly coming very soon as well — but the above three updates would be the big three to finish out the Full Self Driving software suite as many of us imagine it.

I could put my destination, whether it be the beach or Disney World, into the navigation system. The car would show the route it’s going to take. Upon confirmation that I’m ready to go, the car would drive me out of my parking space, through the parking lot, to a local road, and then make all turns and decisions to drive through lights or not on its own.

It feels like we’re almost there. However, there are still many edge cases and I can’t say I’m super duper confident that Tesla vehicles will soon-ish be granted the ability to make turns on its own, let alone drive through parking lots without my finger pressing down on the app. I may be wrong, but it’s just hard to imagine updates 1–3 being implemented anytime in the coming year.

As soon as we get genuine confirmation that Tesla vehicles (Early Access ones at least) get the ability to drive through green lights 100% on their own, we’ll be sure to let you know. It will be an exciting day! It is sure to also make many people nervous, and I can picture the headlines across major media sites now. The tech will have to be flawless, which would be significantly better than humans. Keep in mind that many an accident happens in an intersection.

In Defense of Science

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About the Author

Zachary Shahan is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao.

Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA] — after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in this company and feels like it is a good cleantech company to invest in. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort on Tesla or any other company.

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Audi Shines In Transition Month In Germany — Charts

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Published on June 18th, 2020 |

by Jose Pontes

Audi Shines In Transition Month In Germany — Charts

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June 18th, 2020 by Jose Pontes

With the German auto market slowly recovering from the pandemic-related lockdown, dropping just 50% year over year (YoY) in May, the local plugin market stepped up the growth pace last month, having registered 12,333 units, up 56% YoY. The growth was mostly thanks to PHEVs, which jumped an amazing 107%(!). Last month’s plugin share reached 7.3% (3.3% full electric vehicles/BEVs), keeping the yearly tally at 7.6% (3.7% BEV).

With the recent incentive changes, it is expected that the German plugin market will return to warp speed soon. Although, much is expected to be due to increased sales of plugin hybrids that are already the majority of plugin vehicle (PEV) sales this year (48% BEV vs 52% PHEV). They should increase their lead throughout the summer, at least until a certain Volkswagen ID.3 lands in September … but more on that later.

PHEVs or not, the truth is that thanks to the incentives boost, we could reach the 10% milestone already this year, something that would make 2021 a very interesting year to follow. … (wink, wink, disruption, wink, wink)

Regarding last month’s best sellers, in May the Volkswagen e-Golf got the top spot again, with the German brand milking its hatchback to the last drop, thanks to generous discounts. It seems the veteran model is set to end its career on a high note.

Another veteran, the Audi A3 PHEV, is also benefitting from a second spring, managing to win its first podium position in years thanks to a surprising record of 732 registrations, an amazing feat for a model that is supposed to be in its last months. Talk about leaving with a bang!

In fact, Audi can celebrate its May performance overall, as it placed 3 models in the top 6 spots! The A3 PHEV was in 3rd, the e-tron BEV in 4th, and the Q5 PHEV in 5th, tied with the Mercedes E300e/de. Not bad, Audi, not bad at all.

Regarding the 2020 table, the podium positions remained the same, with each model consolidating its position, and they should stay the same until September, when a certain VW ID.3 delivers some 8,000 units (wild guess) at once, landing immediately on (or close to) the podium. It should kick its predecessor off the throne during the following months. Also in September, the Tesla Model 3 should benefit from its usual end-of-quarter peak to try to displace the Renault Zoe from the podium, stealing at the same time the Best Selling Foreigner title from the French hatchback.

The PHEV race will also be interesting. We’ll see if last year’s leader, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, is the winner again. The Japanese SUV has been losing gas charge and now has the #5 VW Passat GTE just 14 units behind, but the Volkswagen midsizer might not enjoy the plugin hybrid throne for long, as the rising Audi A3 PHEV that was up 3 spots last month, to #7, is currently outpacing the competition. Although, one wonders for how long, as the Audi hatchback is on the last legs of its 6-year career.

With all of this, even the #8 Mercedes E300e/de family might have a shot at winning the PHEV category, especially now that, thanks to the new incentives, the PHEV versions will become even more price-competitive compared to their fossil fuel siblings. Mercedes better find an extra supply of batteries for the E300, because they will surely be in demand.

Speaking of the big Mercedes, in the luxury category, the Audi e-tron surpassed it, reaching the 6th position and becoming the new top dog in this high-end race. And the good news for Audi doesn’t stop there, as its Q5 PHEV SUV was up also, in this case one position, to #12.

But it wasn’t only Audi models that shined, because the 371 registrations of the #14 Hyundai Kona EV, a new year best, also deserve a mention, while the Smart Fortwo EV and the Volvo S/V60 PHEV twins each climbed a spot in the table, with the tiny two-seater now at #15 while the Swedes are at #16.

We have two new entries at the bottom of the table, both from BMW, which added its X3 PHEV (385 units in May, a new record) at #19 and the bigger X5 PHEV (280 units) at #20, putting four BMWs in the top 20.

Outside the top 20, a reference is due to the Ford Kuga PHEV, which had a record 422 registrations last month, a new record. That should help it reach a top 20 position soon, which would be a first for the Dearborn automaker, and a good omen for the future Mustang Mach-E.

In the brand ranking, Volkswagen (16%) leads the way, while Audi (11%, up 2 points) profited from its good performance in May to return to the runner-up spot, displacing BMW (10%), now in the last place of the podium.

Off the podium, the #4 Mercedes (8%) and #5 Renault (7%, down 1 point) are running behind.

Here are the same charts as above but with “Others” added:

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About the Author

Jose Pontes Always interested in the auto industry, particularly in electric cars, Jose has been overviewing the sales evolution of plug-ins through the EV Sales blog since 2012, allowing him to gain an expert view on where EVs are right now and where they are headed in the future. The EV Sales blog has become a go-to source for people interested in electric car sales around the world. Extending that work and expertise, Jose is now a partner in EV-Volumes and works with the European Alternative Fuels Observatory on EV sales matters.

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