Musk says Tesla owners who ordered full self-driving version to get chip upgrade

(Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said a new chip that improves autopilot features would be available six months in advance to people who ordered the full self-driving version of the electric cars.

A Tesla electric car supercharger station is seen in Los Angeles, California, U.S. August 2, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

In a series of tweets bit.ly/2QRIzAt, Musk said ..."~6 months before it is in all new production cars. No change to sensors. This is simple replacement of the Autopilot computer. Will be done free of charge for those who ordered full self-driving."

Musk also tweeted that the new chip would improve the performance of Tesla’s Autopilot between 500 percent and 2000 percent.

He said the installation of the chip would be priced at $5,000 for those who did not order full self-driving.

Tesla’s autopilot is a driver assistance system that handles some driving tasks and allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel. Tesla says drivers are supposed to keep their hands on the wheel at all times when using the system.

Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber

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