self- driving cars by Tesla.

Electric carmaker Tesla says all cars it now builds will have hardware needed to drive completely on their own.

But despite the cameras, sensors and radars
being introduced, it is still expected to be
years before the vehicles become fully self-
driving.

Tesla introduced its Autopilot system last
year, allowing some self-drive functions such as auto-braking.

But it is now temporarily disabling Autopilot on all new cars to allow "robust" testing with the new systems.

Gathering data Tesla founder Elon Musk said its hardware was "basically a super-computer in a car," but added it would be up to regulators and the public to decide when self-driving vehicles could actually be used on the roads.

He said it made sense to build in the self-
driving tech now - even if it cannot be used
for some time - because trying to retrofit the hardware at a later stage would cost
consumers more than buying a new vehicle.

For now, the hardware will run in "shadow
mode", gathering information on when the
technology may have caused or avoided
accidents had it been in command of the
vehicle.

Mr Musk said he hoped that Tesla could one
day show regulators significant data which
demonstrated the self-driving technology
was safer than having humans behind the
wheel.

Investor confidence boost - Dave Lee, BBC
North America technology reporter This is a statement of intent from Elon Musk but there's no real technological leap.

Google and pretty much everyone else in this game has the necessary sensor technology at the ready, but the research and development task in making the computer smart enough to intelligently work out what is going on around it. That's what's holding self-driving technology back right now.

What Tesla will gain by doing this, however, is a huge fleet of cars gathering data on the world's roads, something which could hasten the introduction of self-driving
technology.

It's an announcement that seems more
designed to keep up investor confidence that Tesla is still worth backing despite missing sales and revenue targets over the past year.

He'd promised they'd be comfortably making a profit by now, but he certainly hasn't managed that.

Press attack Tesla has an Autopilot feature in its Model S and Model X vehicles, allowing them to automatically change lanes and keep up with traffic.

But it suffered a setback in May when a man was killed driving a Tesla Model S while using the Autopilot function. A preliminary US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report into the incident said the driver had been speeding moments before he collided with a lorry.

Mr Musk was critical of press coverage of
this and other related Autopilot accidents,
saying there had been a "paucity of media
coverage of the 1.2 million people that die
every year in manual crashes".

He claimed that publishing such negative
stories risked dissuading people from using
autonomous car tech, which would result in
deaths.

To underline the point, he retweeted an
account of how Autopilot had prevented a
Tesla Model X rear-ending another car.
But one expert said it was right that critical
articles be published.

"It's a revolutionary technology, so it's
inevitable that it will attract a lot of
attention," said Prof David Bailey from Aston Business School.

"If it was positive attention he wouldn't be
complaining. But the point is that the press
will pick up on things that go wrong, and
things will go wrong.

"This technology will radically change the
way we get around our cities, and as it's
introduced it's absolutely right that it be
scrutinised both by policy makers and the
media."

New customers In its last set of financial results, Tesla said it had missed production targets, saw sales below expectations and reported its thirteenth consecutive quarterly loss.

In April, Tesla unveiled plans for its Model 3
vehicle, its lowest-cost to date, due for
release next year. It has been reported that
so far 400,000 have been pre-ordered. That
vehicle will now also include the new
hardware.

The basic model will start at $35,000
(£28,500) and have a range of at least 215
miles (346km) per charge. Analysts say the
price and range of the five-seater should
make the vehicle appeal to new types of
customers and could boost interest in other
electric vehicles.

The firm faces competition from other
similarly priced electric cars that will become available first, including General Motors' Chevy Bolt and BYD's Qin EV300.