A driver has “built” his own driverless car for less than £7000 with admittedly mixed results. Motoring journalist Mat Watson set himself a challenge of purchasing a car and retrofitting it with a Comma “full self-driving device” costing £1,000.

Writing in Carwow, Watson’s budget for the drastic upgrade (including the car) matched the £6800 cost of the Full Self Driving (FSD) optional extra available on the Tesla Model 3.

“I wanted to see if you could get the same technology for a lot less cash, and that’s when I stumbled upon the Comma,” said Watson, “a £1,000 device which can give you similar self-driving capabilities to a Tesla. In theory, at least.”

The full story can be read here, but Watson has his reservations about the technology.

“I was really impressed with what it can do, and it felt well-integrated for an aftermarket add-on, I thought it was a very professional product.

“But, like the Tesla, I could never fully rely on it. It’s a little bit like when I’m cooking food for my four-year-old daughter. She wants to join in, and I want to try and let her do a bit of cooking, but I have to keep a really close eye on her and it’s easier to do it myself.

“They’re fine on the motorway, but in town they’re just too stressful, which isn’t ideal when you consider the whole point of them is to make things more relaxing.

“And then you have to consider the fact that you have to have adaptive cruise control fitted to your car anyway for the Comma to work, and that system is already good enough on the motorway.

“The Comma is really impressive, but it doesn’t quite do what you want it to, and neither does the Tesla’s system. At least the Comma, plus the car we fitted it to, came to less than the cost of the Full Self Driving upgrade on the Tesla Model 3. It’s a pretty amazing deal, but it’s not for me.”

(Picture: Yay Images)