Tesla driver complains that his car’s Autopilot system is mistaking the MOON for amber traffic lights and slowing the vehicle down
- Jordan Nelson filmed during an evening drive in his Tesla car in North Carolina
- In the video, the moon can be seen low, bright and yellow in the night sky
- But the console shows an amber traffic light indicating Autopilot is confused
From falcon-wing doors to in-car games, Tesla cars are known for their impressive, futuristic features.
But it seems that one of Tesla’s most popular features, Autopilot, is struggling to cope with a fairly basic obstacle – the moon.
Tesla cars come standard with advanced hardware capable of providing Autopilot, enabling the vehicle to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within its lane.
However, one frustrated Tesla driver has revealed that the Autopilot system in his Tesla has been mistaking the moon for an amber traffic light, and has been slowing the car down in response.
Jordan Nelson posted a video on Twitter showing the flaw in action during an evening drive in Granite Falls, North Carolina. It remains unclear which model of Tesla he drives.
In the video, the moon can be seen low, bright and yellow in the night sky.
However, the console on the dashboard shows an amber traffic light flickering on the screen, indicating the Autopilot system has been tricked.
Jordan Nelson posted a video on Twitter showing the flaw in action during an evening drive in Granite Falls, North Carolina. It remains unclear which model of Tesla he drives
He wrote: ‘Hey Elon Musk, you might want to have your team look into the moon tricking the autopilot system.
‘The car thinks the moon is a yellow traffic light and wanted to keep slowing down.’
Musk, who is the founder of Tesla, is yet to reply to the tweet.
However, one user suggested that there may be an easy fix, if Tesla could add moon trajectory data to its neural network.
‘Can be easily solved by adding future moon trajectory data directly to the neural network,’ the user replied to Mr Nelson’s video.
‘Then depending on the car’s orientation, it’ll know where the moon should be at any given time of day.’
While Autopilot is designed to assist drivers with their driving, Tesla maintains that the system does not make its cars autonomous.
It explained: ‘Autopilot enables your car to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within its lane.
‘Current Autopilot features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.’
MailOnline has contacted Tesla for comment.
WHAT ARE TESLA SUPERCHARGERS AND HOW DO THEY WORK?
Tesla has created a Supercharger network around the world that allows its electric vehicles to power up for long distance travel.
Prices of using the service vary across the world, and they can be found here.
To charge a Tesla, drivers park and plug in their vehicle using the connector at the Supercharger post.
Tesla has created a Supercharger network around the world that allows its electric vehicles to power up for long distance travel
Once plugged in, the vehicle’s charge port will flash green to indicate that charging has started.
Drivers can monitor charging progress on your instrument panel or Tesla App.
The chargers allow Tesla owners to recharge their cars to 80 per cent within half an hour.
The firm currently has more than 2,700 Supercharger Stations with 25,000 Superchargers across the globe.
It plans to increase that to 3,000 by the end of this year.
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