Tesla kicked off 2017 with an Autopilot safety enhancement.
Company chief Elon Musk took to Twitter on Friday to announce the release of the HW2 Autopilot software.
"Resolving an Autopilot HW2 bug that shows up when booting from a subzero cold-soak," he wrote on the microblogging site. "If that fix works, software will start uploading [tomorrow]."
"HW2 Autopilot software uploading to 1,000 cars this eve," Musk said in a Saturday follow-up. "Will then hold to verify no field issues and upload to rest of fleet next week."
Despite missing the "mid-December" deadline Musk initially promised, the latest software aims to make it safer for people to sit back, relax, and enjoy the autonomous ride.
According to Electrek, which cites one of the first-1,000 Tesla owners, the update includes Traffic Aware Cruise Control, Forward Collision Warning, and Autosteer—enabled at "low-speed" as a beta feature.
"We've designed these [first phase] Autopilot features to give you more confidence behind the wheel, increase your safety on the road, and make driving in traffic less frustrating," the company's release notes said, as reported by Electrek.
The new 8.1 software update harnesses hardware included in the latest Model S and Model X vehicles: eight cameras for 360-degree visibility at up to 250 meters; 12 ultrasonic sensors for detection of hard and soft objects; forward-facing radar capable of seeing through heavy rain, fog, dust, and cars.
"These features operate on a new hardware and software platform," the release notes continued. "Therefore, their rollout will be measured and cautious until we have generated confidence across several hundred million miles of real-world usage."
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Updated Teslas will be capable of fully-autonomous driving, or "Level 5," as it's called in the auto industry. Levels one through four refer to cars that can operate themselves in certain situations, but typically require humans to be ready to take over at any moment.
In October, Tesla confirmed the upcoming Model 3—starting around $35,000, compared to the Model S's $66,000 asking price—will also include the necessary hardware for autonomous driving.
The luxury automaker came under fire last year when Autopilot was blamed for a deadly crash in Florida, among other incidents. A separate software update that rolled out in September was intended to assuage concerns by switching to a radar-based self-driving system and prompting drivers to be more attentive behind the wheel.