Tesla is “very close” to figuring out fully autonomous vehicles, according to Elon Musk

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When you think of Tesla, what is the first thing you think of? Is it Elon Musk? Is it that the vehicles are electric? Or is it that these vehicles are arguably the closest thing to “future driving” we’ve gotten so far? Tesla’s are equipped with a Self-Driving mode, but it’s still not completely autonomous. It requires a driver and driver intervention.

Now, in a video message played at the World AI Conference in Shanghai, Musk claims that Tesla is “very close” to reaching Level 5 autonomy, which basically means that the vehicles wouldn’t need any human intervention and could accomplish any driving task it is met with on its own. He goes on to say that the company will have “the basic functionality for Level 5 autonomy complete this year.”

That’s a bold claim from Musk, but the Tesla co-founder has never shied away from bold claims. “There are no fundamental challenges remaining,” Musk adds in the video.

While the thought of fully autonomous vehicles is a fun one, it’s hard to believe that we’re anywhere close to seeing this in our day-to-day lives. Our roads and systems in place aren’t ready for them. We’ve seen the issues that can arise from Tesla’s self-driving mode and the deadly consequences they can have. There’s still a lot of puzzle pieces to figure out. That’s not to say the tech isn’t being improved from companies like Tesla and Waymo, but don’t expect to be chauffeured around by your car or truck any time soon.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see if Tesla figures out fully autonomous vehicles before the end of the year, and what it could mean for the future of transportation in the years ahead.

What do you think? Are you ready for a world with fully autonomous vehicles? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Tesla is ranked dead last in a recent JD Power quality survey. Ouch.
• Elon Musk wants everyone to know that Facebook is, in fact, lame
• Ford’s new Active Drive Assist looks to take on Tesla’s autopilot features
• New study claims that self-driving cars would only prevent one-third of crashes in the US

Josiah Motley

Former KnowTechie editor.