Next Tesla cars will self-drive 90% of the time

 Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, had already scheduled a series of announcements -- presumably about the company's new line of electric cars -- for October 9, but he may have already let one of most buzz-worthy talking points out the bag.
In an interview Thursday with CNN Money, Musk said Tesla's new cars, set to be unveiled in 2015, will feature self-driving, or as Musk prefers to say, "auto-pilot" capabilities. Though they won't apparently be entirely autonomous, Musk said they will be able to self-drive 90 percent of the time.
"Autonomous cars will definitely be a reality," Musk said. And according to Musk, Tesla will lead the way. "Of course. I mean, Tesla's a Silicon Valley company. If we're not the leader, shame on us."
"You combine cameras with image recognition with radar and long-range ultrasonics, that'll do it," Musk said, explaining how Tesla will make autonomous cars a reality.
It's expected Musk will elaborate on Tesla's self-driving car plans in his press releases planned for October 9. On Wednesday, Musk tweeted a Tesla door with the letter D, teasing a possible third model. Tesla followers also think the company will release new details about the forthcoming Model S and Model X.
About time to unveil the D and something else pic.twitter.com/qp23yi59i6— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 2, 2014
A number of other companies, including Mercedes, GM and BMW have reportedly been testing self-driving technology, but even the most aggressive projections don't predict autonomous cars until the end of the decade. Musk's latest announcement, however, suggests Tesla intends to take the technology to market much, much sooner.