Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is expected to the highly-anticipated Model 3 sedan later this year. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas believes that the Model 3 could be significantly safer than the average car currently on the road, CNBC reported.
According to the analyst, safety will be a major sales driver of the upcoming all-electric four-door compact luxury sedan.
“We think the Model 3 will feature hardware and software that provide a level of active safety that could significantly lead all other cars on sale today and could, if the company achieves its goal, be an order of magnitude (i.e. 10x) safer than the average car on the road,” Jonas wrote in a note obtained by CNBC.
“According to nearly every OEM we talk to, safety is the number 1 determinant of car purchases. Look for safety to be the ‘ah-hah!’ moment for this car due to launch this year,” Jonas wrote.
Tesla Improved Car Safety by 40%
Following a fatal accident in Florida last year, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concluded an investigation of Tesla’s semi-autonomous Autopilot system. The agency found no faults in the Autopilot system.
The accident involved a 2015 Tesla Model S that struck with a tractor-trailer, killing Joshua Brown. The NHTSA investigated whether the Automatic Emergency Braking or Autopilot systems were responsible for the death of Brown.
After a six-month investigation, the NHTSA found that Tesla improved the safety of its electric cars by updating the Autopilot system. The agency said in its report that Tesla’s crash rate cut by 40% after the automaker enabled Autosteer in the Autopilot system.
Autosteer keeps the car within the lane and detect vehicles and objects. It analyses data gathered by a front-side camera, a radar sensor, and ultrasonic sensors, to identify lane markings and the presence of vehicles and objects on the road.