Tesla’s New Autopilot Update Has Strict Speed Limit On Autosteering

The concept of autonomous driving might not diminish your need for speed, but new Tesla vehicles could make it difficult to satisfy that need.

Tesla in October revealed its next-generation Autopilot hardware suite, HW2, which is capable of supporting the company’s fully autonomous Enhanced Auotpilot software.

Well, now the Enhanced Autopilot update is here, but there’s a catch. CEO Elon Musk confirmed over the weekend that owners won’t be able to engage Autosteer when traveling faster than 45 mph, but that limit will increase as Tesla gathers more data through its fleet learning. Additionally, Musk said some cars, will need to have their cameras re-calibrated to ensure the program operates correctly.

Auto steer limited to 45 mph on highways for now, i.e. heavy traffic, where it is needed most. Limit will raise as we get more data.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 22, 2017

Considering older Teslas could utilize Autopilot while traveling at highway speeds, consumers purchasing HW2-equipped vehicles are sacrificing a lot in the short-term. In the not too distant future, though, they will wake up to a fully autonomous over-the-air software update and be able to take full advantage of it.