Tesla Test Miles

At a conference, Tesla’s AI applications chief explained that three billion test miles have already been covered. A classification.

Every year, companies in California with a license to test autonomous vehicle technology must submit a report to the DMV. They publish this data. The main focus is on the number of test miles covered and the number of failures. Tesla is hardly represented in these reports, because Tesla relies on its customers.

Tesla Autopilot
Tesla is part of the industry to develop autonomous driving. This is achieved by using the autopilot system, which raises the vehicle to level 2 on the five-step scale. When the system is activated, you still have to keep your hands on the steering wheel and monitor the system. Because it works well at times, some people fail to do this and fatal accidents have already occurred.

Tesla’s data collection
The system is available in two versions and it is based on an AI chip that evaluates the data. However, the data is also sent to Tesla for processing. Tesla itself hardly ever tests such data, but uses the data of its customers, who have already travelled billions of miles with it. Therefore, the term test miles is somewhat irritating because Tesla – unlike other industry players – does not directly rely on test vehicles.

Tesla under criticism
The mention of the number serves the purpose of building trust, because recently Tesla had to listen to a lot of criticism because of the “autopilot” system. Not only because of the accidents, but also because of the self-conception with which one advertises. For a while Tesla explicitly talked about “autonomous driving”, but they meant Level 2. The term “autopilot” or “full self-driving” is not only criticized from within the industry, but also the consumer protection organizations have their sights set on Tesla. Above all, the last two reports of the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) provided enough material for criticism. In these reports Tesla was accused of a poor safety culture.