Tesla may not achieve full self-driving technology this year: Report

The electric carmaker Tesla Inc said to a California regulator that it may not be able to achieve full self-driving technology by the end of this year. This was confirmed by a memo by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), according to a report by Reuters.

However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has constantly raved about the company’s Beta version of its full self-driving programme (FSD) in various conferences and on his Twitter handle.

“Elon's tweet does not match engineering reality per CJ. Tesla is at Level 2 (L2) currently," said the California DMV’s memo based upon a recent conference call with Tesla representatives which also included autopilot engineer CJ Moore. The level two technology refers to a semi-automated driving system that requires a human driver’s supervision. The memo was brought into the light by PlainSite, a legal transparency group. It was obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The memo said that the company indicated that Musk was extrapolation on the rates of improvement about L5 capacity. Level five refers to fully autonomous technology. The memo also added the electric carmaker couldn’t stress the rate of improvement it would make with this technology by the end of this year. The memo also added that Tesla was aware of the public’s misunderstanding about the limits of the technology which can lead to tragic consequences.