Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk announced on New Year's Eve that a major software update started rolling out to about 1,000 of the company's electric vehicles.

The 8.1 software update follows version 8.0.2, which was released by Tesla Motors before Christmas and added two Easter eggs to the company's electric vehicles, specifically a holiday light show for the Model X SUV and a transformation into a Mars-bound spacecraft for the Model S and the Model X.

Autopilot Upgrade In 8.1 Software Update

The 8.1 software update included upgrades to the controversial Autopilot feature of Tesla Motors. However, not all electric vehicles of the company have received the update, as it is limited only to those with the Hardware 2, or HW2, suite, numbering about 1,000 Tesla Motors vehicles.

In October, Musk announced that all electric vehicles that will be produced by Tesla Motors will come equipped with the necessary hardware to make them fully self-driving. This does not mean that the vehicles will already be capable of completely autonomous driving upon arrival to customers, as the software required to make such a feature happen is not yet ready.

Tesla Motors produced after October are considered to be HW2-era models, with eight cameras instead of just one camera found in previous vehicles. The HW2 cars also come with 12 updated ultrasonic sensors, which are able to identify soft and hard objects at twice the distance compared with previous vehicles. The onboard computers of these vehicles are also 40 times more powerful.

However, the trade-off was that not all of the Autopilot features available in the older vehicles, including automatic emergency braking, active cruise control, and collision warning. HW2 vehicles will now be receiving these features, but exact parity for Autopilot between all Tesla Motors vehicles is not yet completed.

When Will The Software Update Be Released For Other Tesla Motors Vehicles?

Musk said that the Autopilot upgrade being rolled out to 1,000 HW2 vehicles will be verified first to have no field issues. If everything goes well, owners of older electric vehicles of the company should expect to receive the update within a week's time.

The company's Autopilot feature has been controversial due to the several car crashes associated with it. However, a recent report revealed the better side of Autopilot, as the technology was able to predict a car crash and started braking a Model X SUV to prevent the vehicle from being involved in a serious accident.

In addition to the Autopilot update, owners of P100D models can also expect a performance update for their Model X or Model S vehicle.