Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, had no shortage of big reveals at the electric car company’s shareholders meeting on Tuesday, the L.A. Times reports. Most newsworthy is Musk’s claim that a gaggle of Model S owners will have their vehicles upgraded to feature hands-free driving… in just a few weeks.
The feature will be legal since the driver will need to remain in control of everything but the steering (and that can easily be taken over in a jiffy). This new option will free up drivers’ hands, though texting and phone calls will remain a no-no, since drivers need to keep attention on the road.
The hands-free option is a precursor to Tesla’s self-driving cars, which Musk believes will be available in three years.
“There will be a fully operational autopilot with everything that is needed for someone to go to sleep and wake up at their destination,” Musk said. “But this is an extremely difficult engineering project.”
Drivers won’t have to wait as long for the Model X, Tesla’s long-awaited SUV. Thanks to the electric engineering that places the electric battery on the center bottom of the vehicle, the SUV should be nearly immune to rollover and, thus, one of the safest on the road, according to Musk.