Tesla Model S News

Chinese-backed Tesla-botherer Lucid Motors has revealed its all-electric Model S competitor due for production in 2018. And you shouldn't write it off as a cheap knock-off just yet.

Lamborghini, Tesla, TVR up for auction at Manheim's Exclusive Luxury and Exotic Vehicles auction.

Tesla has announced that the cars it's now building are able to drive themselves and all you need to do is get in and tell it where you want to go.Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the news overnight on Twitter and through the company's blog saying that its latest vehicles are being built with technology that will enable them to be fully autonomous."We're excited to announce that as of today, all Tesla vehicles produced in our factory – including the Model 3 – will have the hardware needed  for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver," Tesla posted in its official blog.The number of cameras has been doubled from four to eight to give the car 360 degrees of visibility for up to 250m which Tesla says enables the car to pilot itself "in all circumstances at what we believe will be a probablity of safety at least twice as good as the average human driver."These cameras are supported by 12 updated ultrasonic sensors that can detect hard and soft objects almost twice as far away as the previous system. A forward facing radar with improved processing uses a redundant wavelength that lets it see through heavy rain, fog, dust and the car in front.All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go.An on-board computer with 40 times the computing power of the previous generation processes the data coming in from the camera, radar and sensors.Tesla's last generation optional Autopilot system was capable of self-driving, but needed careful supervision by the driver who could be there take over if needed – you can read our review of the self-driving Model S here. The new Enhanced Autopliot appears to be a major leap forward."The basic news is that all vehicles exiting the factory have the hardware for Level 5 autonomy – the cameras, the compute power. On the order of 2000 cars a week we have hardware capable of full self-driving autonomy," Musk said.SAE International defines Level 5 autonomy as the highest level of driving automation in which the vehicle can perform all aspects of dynamic driving under all conditions – both road and weather – than can be managed by a human.According to Tesla the Enhanced Autopilot will be available to download from December 2016."All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go. If you don't say anything, the car will look at your calendar and take you there as your assumed destination or just home if nothing is on the calendar," according to the Tesla website.A video released by Tesla of Enhanced Autopilot in action on public roads displayed the car's impressively ability to move through traffic and skilfully handle everyday situations such as busy intersections and highways before dropping off its passenger and then finding a place to park on its own.And in his true show man style Musk added in a tweet:"When you want your car to return, tap Summon on your phone. It will eventually find you even if you are on the other side of the country."

Tesla has launched a full-frontal assault on its supercar rivals, announcing a battery upgrade for the Model S that will produce a blistering zero to 100km/h sprint time of just 2.7 seconds.

Joshua Brown has just joined the same unfortunate page in the history books as Bridget Driscoll.

US man collided with truck after Tesla Autopilot system failed to detect turning semi-trailer.

German brands have designs on the battery-car territory mapped by pioneer Tesla.

Tesla has issued a worldwide recall for its Model S over seatbelt issues.

Nothing quite screams The Jetsons like sitting hands-free at the wheel of Tesla's Model S, which has just been up­graded across the world with glorious autopilot mode.

Tesla has opened Supercharger stations for their electric cars in Goulburn and Wodonga to enable owners to travel between Sydney and Melbourne.