Tesla to Part Ways With Key Supplier Of Autopilot Gear
Although the story is in this morning's The Wall Street Journal., on page B1, it is too late for LBN.
Mobileye Ends Partnership With Tesla
The Israeli company, which makes software and components that help prevent collisions, says it will concentrate on systems that lead to full autonomy
By Mike Ramsey
Updated July 26, 2016 5:05 p.m. ET
24 COMMENTS
A key supplier of semiautonomous car technology ended a supply agreement with Tesla Motors Inc. following
a high-profile traffic fatality in May involving one of the Silicon Valley companys electric vehicles. ... Mobileye NV said it would no longer provide its computer chips and algorithms to Tesla after a current contract ends due to disagreements about how the technology was deployed. Mobileye provides core technology for Teslas Autopilot system, which allows cars to drive themselves in limited conditions.
It isnt clear when Mobileyes current contract with Tesla ends; a next generation Mobileye systemcalled the EyeQ4comes out in 2018 and is expected to improve its ability to detect certain objects. The Tesla Model S involved in the May fatal crash failed to distinguish the white trailer of a truck cutting in front of it from a bright sky, the Palo Alto, Calif., electric car maker said in June.
Mobileye has said its system isnt designed to always detect vehicles cutting in front of it, but the coming EyeQ4 would be able to do so and would respond to such a maneuver. ... The friction between Mobileye and Tesla reflects emerging tension between developers of cutting-edge auto technology and car makers over who owns or directs development of their technology.
....
The supplier recently
announced a partnership with BMW and Intel Corp. to design a system for fully autonomous vehicles by 2021. ... Mobileye has contracts to ship systems that allow for full autonomy to two auto makers by 2019, but hasnt named the companies.