---
title: "Elon Musk: Teslas Should Have “Full Self-Driving” by End of 2019"
description: "Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that he expects the company's electric vehicles to be capable of fully autonomous driving by the end of 2019."
date: "2019-01-31"
modified: "2019-01-31"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-teslas-full-self-driving-2019"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Self-Driving Vehicles"
  - "Tesla"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "Autonomous vehicles"
  - "elon musk"
  - "tesla"
  - "the digest"
---

# Elon Musk: Teslas Should Have “Full Self-Driving” by End of 2019

![Elon Musk, the CEO of electric car maker Tesla, said that he expects the company's vehicles to be capable of fully autonomous driving by the end of 2019.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/elon-musk-teslas-to-have-full-self-driving-by-end-of-2019.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Joseph Thornton\</em\>*

## Full Self-Driving

On Wednesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that he expects the company's electric vehicles to be capable of fully autonomous driving by the end of 2019.

"When will we think it's safe for full self-driving?" he asked during an earnings call, [according to *Business Insider*](<https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-vehicles-able-to-drive-themselves-by-end-of-2019-2019-1>). "It's probably towards the end of this year, and then it's up to regulators to decide when they want to approve that."

## Ghostride the Whip

Many experts are far less optimistic than Musk. Automakers [started pushing back timelines](<https://www.wired.com/story/self-driving-cars-challenges/>) in 2017, and in general, the bullish outlook on autonomous vehicles from 2014 or so has receded drastically.

In reality, today's self-driving cars usually do a pretty good job. But the [growing consensus](<https://futurism.com/waymo-one-early-rider-autonomous-vehicle>) is that they'll still need safety drivers to babysit them for a long time.

## Highway Exit

On the earnings call, though, Musk remained unfazed.

"We already have full self-driving capability on highways," Musk said, according to *Business Insider*. "So from highway on-ramp to highway exit, including passing cars and going from one highway interchange to another, full self-driving capability is there."

**READ MORE:** [Elon Musk Said Tesla Vehicles Will Likely Drive Without Human Assistance by the End of 2019](<https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-vehicles-able-to-drive-themselves-by-end-of-2019-2019-1>) \[*Business Insider*\]

***More on Elon Musk:** [Elon Musk Says There’s a 70 Percent Chance He’ll Move to Mars](<https://futurism.com/elon-musk-mars-axios>)*

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)