Tesla Rolls Out Autopilot 8.0 Update; Elon Musk Promises ‘Major Overhaul’ With Always-On Temperature Control

The Autopilot v8.0 software update that Elon Musk has been teasing about since late August is finally rolling out starting this Wednesday night. The CEO of Tesla Motors proudly announced the good news to his fans and followers on Twitter.

In a tweet posted early Wednesday, Musk wrote that Autopilot v8.0 is going to be released gradually to prevent “small regressions.” The business magnate also noted that the over-the-air update comes with many car configurations for different environments.

According to The Verge, this is the first update to the controversial Autopilot feature of Tesla’s Model S and Model X cars. It will be followed up by a hardware update that would involve the addition of more cameras and radar sensors to Tesla’s vehicles.

In a blog post published on Sept. 11, Musk revealed that the hardware update would make the radar sensor the primary control sensor, since the technology does not require visual image recognition like the camera sensors to detect objects on the road.

In his follow-up tweets, Musk stated that Autopilot v8.0 is a major overhaul compared to v7. The renowned visionary also revealed in a separate tweet that his favorite new feature that comes with the update is the always-on temperature control functionality that’s designed to prevent kids and pets from experiencing intense heat inside the vehicles.

Musk explained that what the new feature does is it turns on the air conditioner and facilitates ventilation through the venting cabin when it detects that the temperature inside is below 40°C/105°F. Musk even claimed that a full charge can power this feature for up to a year.

Business Insider reports Musk’s favorite new feature would enable Tesla car owners to set a maximum temperature for inside the car. Meanwhile, v8.1 is said to come with always-on minimum and maximum temperature controls.