Musk says new autopilot chip to be available in six months

[October 16, 2018]  (Reuters) - Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said a new chip that improves autopilot features would be available in about six months in all of the company's new production electric cars.

In a series of tweets http://bit.ly/2QRIzAt, Musk said ..."~6 months before it is in all new production cars. No change to sensors. This is simple replacement of the Autopilot computer. Will be done free of charge for those who ordered full self-driving."

Musk also tweeted that the new chip would improve the performance of Tesla's Autopilot between 500 percent and 2000 percent.

He said the installation of the chip would be priced at $5,000 for those who did not order full self-driving.

Tesla's autopilot is a driver assistance system that handles some driving tasks and allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel. Tesla says drivers are supposed to keep their hands on the wheel at all times when using the system.

(This version of the story corrects to say new chips would be available in all new production cars in about six months in headline and first paragraph).

(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

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