Tesla Internally Testing Aggressive 'Mad Max' Autopilot Mode According To Elon Musk
Fully autonomous vehicles tend to take a more cautious approach when it comes to lane changes, leaving a few car lengths in between vehicles to have a margin for error at highway speeds. However, we all know that humans can tend to be more aggressive in their lane-changing behavior, be it on surface streets or on the highway. That's where the Autopilot Mad Max mode will come into play. It appears to be an even more aggressive way for the Autopilot system to navigate on roadways, although we doubt that it will lead to the dystopian future displayed in the movie it references.
It’s real pic.twitter.com/L9h3F86Guo
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2018
Musk referenced the mode in an exchange with another Twitter users about the Semi. He then later posted an image showing the center display screen of a Tesla EV in "development mode". In the image, you can see three modes for the Blind Spot Threshold, with Mad Max being added as the third option after Standard and Aggressive.
It’s a tough call. Reality is that it will be pretty easy to bully a self-driving car, as it will always yield. Will prob have a manual override that requires continuous press for hardcore lane changes.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2018
Musk went on to jokingly add that another mode labeled "LA Freeway" could find its way into Tesla vehicles, although we're sure that option would involve trading paint with other vehicles.
Tesla's next major software update for its vehicles is Version 9.0, and it is due to arrive in August. It will "begin to enable full self-driving features" according to a tweet earlier this month by Musk. It's expected that fully autonomous driving capabilities will be unlocked on supported Tesla vehicles by late 2019.
