Tesla's autopilot technology has been receiving raving reviews from consumers and journalists alike, but recently the same features got slammed by a Volvo senior technical leader who called the system an "unsupervised wannabe."
At launch, Tesla shows off what it calls "Level 2 technology," which is perhaps the most advanced auto tech found in a vehicle today, where drivers can drive on one lane without touching the wheel.
However, big automotive experts, including Mark Fields, Ford CEO, called the Tesla autopilot system a "Level 3 technology," which means the car gives back the controls to the driver under extreme conditions, say a collision, where the technology can no longer take care of the situation, as opposed to the company-claimed "Level 2 autonomous," which is meant to make driving an easier process through the combination of two auto technologies.
Trent Victor from Volvo, who is a specialist for crash avoidance, says that the Tesla autopilot system "gives you the impression that it's doing more than it is," which is basically code for Tesla trying to sell a semi-autonomous car that only appears to be autonomous.
According to Victor, under Level 3 technology, while the system frees drivers to take their eyes off the road and read mails or watch a movie, it expects them to take over at a moment's notice should anything untoward were to happen, which makes the whole deal extremely unsafe. "It's important for us as a company, our position on autonomous driving, is to keep it quite different so you know when you're in semi-autonomous and know when you're in unsupervised autonomous," Victor stated.
Volvo's latest unveiled product, on the other hand, is a "Level 4 autonomous" car that is well capable of dealing with a disaster while self-driving the car down the road, without relinquishing the controls to the driver. The car comes to a standstill at the side of the lane if it detects something has gone wrong, which easily gives Volvo guys the opportunity to showcase their sense of responsibility for safety measures, evidently a direct jibe at the not-so-responsible Tesla features.
At the end of the day, it all boils down to the philosophies the two companies base their models on. While Tesla deems the drivers to be more capable of dealing with a drastic situation than technology itself, Volvo has put in a whole lot of work to build a safety net that keeps the vehicle safe without human intervention.
