Tesla doesn't seem to actually sense hands on wheel. They sense torque on the steering wheel.[1] Mercedes seems to have capacitative touch sensing, although customers complaining about it aren't quite sure.[2]

Tesla doesn't take the absence of hands too seriously. "I'm driving down the highway at 55, and I'm not looking, and I have no hands on the wheel".[3] Hands off driving in New York City traffic.[4] "I managed to go 50 miles without a single nag"[5]

Apparently Tesla does have only one camera on currently shipping products. They must be trying to do stereo from motion. There are rumors of a revision to the Model S with multiple cameras.[5]

Yes, the van crash was in May, not yesterday.

[1] https://forums.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/how-get-rid-hold... [2] http://mbworld.org/forums/new-s-class-w222/626411-steering-w... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS7pAC0OmLI [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4BGlQoASyo [4] https://forums.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/nag-hands-wheel-... [5] http://cleantechnica.com/2016/05/04/new-tesla-model-s-2nd-tr...

> Mercedes seems to have capacitative touch sensing

This is not correct.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv9JYqhFV-M

> autopilot uses a single forward facing camera combined with radar and sonar

It is actually camera-only per comment of Mobileye's CEO.

I think that's what Mobileye sell to Tesla. Per comments on Twitter[1] (and the fact that they fit a radar) the car's combining output from the Mobileye unit with the other sensors when decision making.

1. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/748625979271045121