Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced that the company will begin to roll out its 'Enhanced Autopilot' updates before Christmas, making vehicles with the latest hardware ready for full automation.
We previewed the system last week as the first footage became available.
Models built after October will have hardware capable of a long list of features, but have been waiting for a software update.
Musk has confirmed that the enhancements, which include a greater degree of autonomy, will start to be enabled for new Tesla owners from next month.
Earlier this year, reports emerged that the electric car firm was busy developing new hardware to significantly boost the cars’ Autopilot features.
Cars with the next generation hardware would be capable of Level 4 automation, thanks to an improved suit of cameras and sensors, as well as processing power under the bonnet.
But the latest update would push Tesla’s autopilot capabilities even further towards full automation, enabling Level 5 automation of vehicles.
Musk made the comments in response to Twitter user and Tesla owner Edward Sanchez, who took to social media to complain of lack of enhanced features on a new Model S.
Among the long list of features which do not fully work with the new hardware are autosteer, forward collision warning, parking assistant and blind spot detection.
In a tweet, Mr Sanchez asked the Tesla CEO: ‘Got the Model S with new hardware. Upset that it has all these missing features. Know when 8.1 is coming out? Thanks!’
Responding to the query, Musk said that the latest update, 8.1, will be rolled out over the coming weeks. He wrote: ‘About three weeks and it will get rolled out incrementally in monthly releases.’
New Zealand customers are now able to order Tesla vehicles with first deliveries expected between April and June next year.
-Daily Mail