LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ‘Elon Mode’ is a name given by researchers when a Tesla driver uses the company’s driver assistance system which is marked as autopilot.
It is also known as Full Self-Driving or FSD Beta option which means a visual symbol blinks on the car’s touchscreen. This feature prompts the driver to engage the steering wheel.
What happens when the driver leaves the steering unattended?
In case a driver leaves the steering wheel unattended for too long, the ‘nag’ escalates to a beeping noise.
If the driver still doesn’t take the wheel even after continuous beeps, the vehicle may disable the use of its advanced driver assistance features for the rest of the trip or even longer.
What ‘Elon Mode’ configuration does is that it allows the driver to use the company’s autopilot, FSD, or FSD Beta systems without what is called as ‘nag.’
What did NHTSA order say?
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ordered Tesla to provide the data on its autopilot feature.
In its letter, the agency’s acting chief counsel John Donaldson wrote, “NHTSA is concerned about the safety impacts of recent changes to Tesla’s driver monitoring system. This concern is based on available information suggesting that it may be possible for vehicle owners to change autopilot’s driver monitoring configurations to allow the driver to operate the vehicle in autopilot for extended periods without autopilot prompting the driver to apply torque to the steering wheel.”
Automotive safety researcher and Carnegie Mellon University associate professor of computer engineering Philip Koopman told CNBC about the order of NHTSA.
“It seems that NHTSA takes a dim view of cheat codes that permit disabling safety features such as driver monitoring. I agree. Hidden features that degrade safety have no place in production software,” he said.
Tesla’s website advises its drivers, in a section titled 'Using Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability; that 'it is your responsibility to stay alert, keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times and maintain control of your car.”
Earlier Musk, in a tweet, announced that the team is working to get rid of the 'nag' situation.
“We are gradually reducing it, proportionate to improved safety.”
In February, Tesla issued a voluntary recall in the US for 362,758 of its vehicles, citing that its Full Self-Driving Beta system may cause crashes, reports CNBC.
“Act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution,” the statement read.
