Autonomous Driving Goes Mainstream: Tesla Launches Autopilot V1

In November 2015, Tesla pushed its first full semi-autonomous driver assistance system, Autopilot V1, to its Model S and Model X vehicles via a software update. Autopilot V1 included features such as lane keeping, auto lane change, and autosteer. This functionality was a massive technology leap, bringing autonomous driving capabilities to mainstream consumers for the first time.

Through its Over-the-Air (OTA) update capability, Tesla demonstrated that cars could be continuously improved like software, accelerating the development of the future industry of connected and smart vehicles and forcing traditional automakers to rethink their product development cycles and software integration strategies.