All New Teslas Now Include Necessary Hardware For 'Level 5' Fully Autonomous Driving

The new hardware included to help drive these capabilities includes new forward-facing radar (which can see through rain and fog) and 8 cameras that provide a full 360-degree view of the vehicle’s surroundings at a distance of up to 250 meters. In addition, there are 12 ultrasonic sensors to aid in object detection. The onboard computer is 40 times more powerful than the previous generation unit, and runs Tesla’s neural net for vision, sonar, and radar processing software.

Initially, these new Tesla won’t have access to driver assistance features that current owners take for granted like emergency braking, active cruise control and collision warning. “Before activating the features enabled by the new hardware, we will further calibrate the system using millions of miles of real-world driving to ensure significant improvements to safety and convenience,” wrote Tesla in a blog posting.

“As these features are robustly validated we will enable them over-the-air, together with a rapidly expanding set of entirely new features. As always, our over-the-air software updates will keep customers at the forefront of technology and continue to make every Tesla, including those equipped with first-generation Autopilot and earlier cars, more capable over time.

And just how much will customers have to pay for the completely autonomous driving? The option price is a hefty $8,000.