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Seeing a Tesla is about to get a lot more wild, as the company is preparing to install its self-driving software in the Model S fleet. The autopilot feature will only work on highways... as the technology may not yet be legal in the US.

Tesla will roll out an auto-steering software update for the Model S in the next three or four months, and owners won’t even have to go into a Tesla store for the upgrade, founder Elon Musk said at a Thursday press conference.

READ MORE: ‘Personal roller coaster’: Tesla Motors unveils electric Model S that drives itself

Drivers will only be able to engage the autonomous system while on highways, despite having the technical ability to do a lot more.

"It is technically capable of going from parking lot to parking lot," Musk said. "But we won't be enabling that for users with this hardware suite, because we don't think it's likely to be safe in suburban neighborhoods," he continued, noting that such streets often lack posted speed limit signs and pose obstacles like children playing in the street.

“There’s certainly an expectation that when autopilot on the Model S is enabled, that you’re paying attention. But it should also take care of you if you have moments of distraction," the Tesla founder added.

The company has been testing the software mainly between San Francisco and Seattle.

“We’re pretty excited about the progress we’re making there,” Musk said. “We’re now almost able to travel all the way from San Francisco to Seattle without the driver touching any controls at all.”

The driverless car technology also raises the question of liability in an accident, which may need to be decided by the courts, rather than by legislation.

“If it’s fully autonomous, who’s responsible if there’s a mistake? The driver or the company who made it?” Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, told the Times. “I don’t see how Tesla’s going to clear the hurdles. They may have to go to each state legislative body and convince them, and that takes time.”

I will never buy a self-driving car, because I like the act of driving too much. I don't understand the appeal to a car that drives itself. It takes all the joy out of cars.

Actually I think that I probably won't own a car until most cars are driverless and electric, so it is good to see the tech coming to market so soon (so it will be really good when it is time for me to buy)

Boo to electric!  (Posted selfishly by someone who has had their income affected by the low price of oil)   ;D

I see were you come from but it is the way the market will move in the future. It will be a while until most of the cars on the road are electric like 10-20 years because of how long they last so at least for you there is a bright side. Oil will still be used in lots of things like plastics so it will not be completely useless once gas cars are gone.

I don't know about 10-20 years...

Oslo, Norway is leading the way. You can see cars with "EL" license plate everywhere, and there are so many of them, that there are talks of discontinuing the privilege given to the electric cars, such as use of commuter/bus field and free entry into the capital. And the chargers in central Oslo are almost on every corner.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Tesla.jpg/220px-Tesla.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicles_in_Norway

Globally adoption will be far slower, Cars sold today in a lot of countries are mostly gas and cars are commonly used for 10+ years so I don't think my estimate was far off.

In a few years you may not have a choice.  A human driving might be considered too dangerous for other cars on the road.  Humans make too many mistakes.

I will never buy a self-driving car, because I like the act of driving too much. I don't understand the appeal to a car that drives itself. It takes all the joy out of cars.

I will never buy a self-driving car, because I like the act of driving too much. I don't understand the appeal to a car that drives itself. It takes all the joy out of cars.

Can't even manage to drive a few minutes in the middle lane with cruise control set at 65MPH in light traffic without some assfuck swerving (turning without signaling) in front of me, and/or slamming their brakes for no good reason. Is the Tesla going to swerve into an open lane or hard brake when its lasers detect assfucks?

Hm... I know the feeling. Too many drivers consider signalling to be an optional feature... Having a miniature rocket launcher at the front may be an option.  :D

I'd rather... TURBO BOOST!

Here's the Mercedes F 015 concept car. You can control it and tell it to pick you up with a smartphone app!  8)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqPfKt50zBI

http://cdn1.autoexpress.co.uk/sites/autoexpressuk/files/styles/article_main_image/public/2/86//15c272_007.jpg?itok=QmEVQnFZ

It's amazing to see how far this has come to. Google has supposedly managed to create autonomous car that are really reliable. It's really interesting to see all those concepts that could reshape the industry. I wonder how much it's going to take until the next generation of cars starts taking over.

In the fast-approaching 'Internet of Everything' World you will not have a choice.  Probably 20 years out. Driving a car by steering wheel will become as archaic as using a Vic 20 to game on.

Sure I agree in this scenario a lot of jobs will be made obsolete. I suppose self-driving cars will be cheap, but not free. That money goes to the owner of the car I'm guessing? Leasing self-driving cars to use as taxis has got to be big business.