Tesla claims new self-driving cars are twice as good as humans | video

Tesla has announced that the cars it's now building are able to drive themselves and all you need to do is get in and tell it where you want to go.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the news overnight on Twitter and through the company's blog saying that its latest vehicles are being built with technology that will enable them to be fully autonomous.

"We're excited to announce that as of today, all Tesla vehicles produced in our factory – including the Model 3 – will have the hardware needed  for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver," Tesla posted in its official blog.

The number of cameras has been doubled from four to eight to give the car 360 degrees of visibility for up to 250m which Tesla says enables the car to pilot itself "in all circumstances at what we believe will be a probablity of safety at least twice as good as the average human driver."

These cameras are supported by 12 updated ultrasonic sensors that can detect hard and soft objects almost twice as far away as the previous system. A forward facing radar with improved processing uses a redundant wavelength that lets it see through heavy rain, fog, dust and the car in front.

All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go.

An on-board computer with 40 times the computing power of the previous generation processes the data coming in from the camera, radar and sensors.

Tesla's last generation optional Autopilot system was capable of self-driving, but needed careful supervision by the driver who could be there take over if needed – you can read our review of the self-driving Model S here. The new Enhanced Autopliot appears to be a major leap forward.

"The basic news is that all vehicles exiting the factory have the hardware for Level 5 autonomy – the cameras, the compute power. On the order of 2000 cars a week we have hardware capable of full self-driving autonomy," Musk said.

SAE International defines Level 5 autonomy as the highest level of driving automation in which the vehicle can perform all aspects of dynamic driving under all conditions – both road and weather – than can be managed by a human.

According to Tesla the Enhanced Autopilot will be available to download from December 2016.

"All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go. If you don't say anything, the car will look at your calendar and take you there as your assumed destination or just home if nothing is on the calendar," according to the Tesla website.

A video released by Tesla of Enhanced Autopilot in action on public roads displayed the car's impressively ability to move through traffic and skilfully handle everyday situations such as busy intersections and highways before dropping off its passenger and then finding a place to park on its own.

And in his true show man style Musk added in a tweet:

"When you want your car to return, tap Summon on your phone. It will eventually find you even if you are on the other side of the country."

Do you want a fully-autonomous car? Tell us what you think in the comments below.