Earlier this month, Tesla manufactured its 1,000,000th electric car. One of the most popular (and controversial) features in its cars is perhaps "Autopilot".
Autopilot is already capable of spotting other cars and obstructions like traffic cones on the road. However, it now seems like it will be able to spot the state of traffic lights and act accordingly in a potential future update as well. A video posted on Twitter depicts a Tesla driving on the streets and stopping for a red light. The video shows how the Autopilot visualizes a red light with a red bar and reads "Stopped at traffic control".
Autopilot stopping for red lights! 😱😱😱😱😱🤗🤗🤗 🎉 🥳
— Third Row Tesla Podcast (@thirdrowtesla) March 26, 2020
let’s goooooooo pic.twitter.com/C95etry3t5
In the second half of the video before the car comes to a halt at yet another red light, the Autopilot interface displays toast messages that preemptively prompt the passengers about an upcoming stop. The messages begin with a figure of 500 ft in the video, but it"s unclear if Autopilot can gauge a traffic light from even further out.