Last week, I received Tesla’s FSD (Full Self Driving, which it isn’t) Beta. I had previously turned off getting access, since I had not heard good things from friends. They said it was stressful baby sitting the vehicle. What were my first impressions? FSD Beta needs a lot of work. We have Tesla software version 2022.12.3.20.
The Bad
I had started coming home from a Tesla Supercharger. You have to turn on the toggle for FSD Beta while in park, agree to use it, and turn on the toggle for the FSD Beta visualization. If you do something FSD Beta doesn’t like after five times, you’ll be kicked out of the beta.
At our first green light, the car reduced the speed to 10 km/h (6 mph). I tried accelerating through the light, and finally had to hit the speed limit sign to get the car moving.
The car curiously decided to move to the right lane. From experience, making the left turn into my community across two lanes of strong traffic is difficult. While the car was driving, braking was jerky, with sudden and frequent stops. They weren’t smooth and using distance to slow down. The car could see if the car ahead was braking but there was a lag after seeing the cars brake lights.
At the left turn to enter my community, the car hesitated and did a wiggle. I had to take control here, help it complete the left. The person behind me honked out of surprise at the odd, unsafe behavior.
Entering the community, the car tried accelerating to 55 mph (88 km/h). This was the last speed limit sign the car saw, which is legally correct but unsafe. I disabled FSD Beta here. Once the community speed limit sign showed up, I enabled it again. The car made it’s way towards my house.
The Good
The car successfully made the two lane change with a short distance in heavy traffic. That was impressive.
Equally impressive, after the first glitch, the car recognized green traffic lights and kept going.
As we approached a stop sign, the car stopped, and displayed a message the car was creeping up for better visibility. It made the right turn, quickly accelerated, and quickly decelerated before making a left. Not great behavior, but not bad either.
The visualization is great. It’s closer to understanding what the car really sees.
Conclusion
The version of Tesla FSD Beta I drove behaves like a teenager who has never driven a car before in their life. The ride is jerky and uncertain, and some decisions are not what a good driver would do.
It’s awe inspiring to see the car change lanes by itself, go through a green light unprompted, creep forward at stop signs, and to make left and right turns.
In a subsequent test, I drove into a school zone when school zone speed limits were in play. The car doesn’t have the context to understand hours and slow down appropriately. That’s a big safety risk, one that has been present since AutoPilot first rolled out.
Would I recommend FSD Beta? I was one of the earlier ones that paid $6,000 to support Tesla and the technology. As Cleantechnica covers, the price is going to $15,000 next month. At that price, it is not worth it. Many are not able to realize the value of FSD Beta if they sell. The technology is amazing. It’s not ready for prime time. I told my family do not engage FSD Beta. I’ll try again next major upgrade.
Tesla FSD (“Full Self Driving”) Price Going To $15,000 — I Bought It At $6,000, What I Think Now – Cleantechnica
Sincerely yours,
smilingdad
smilingdad 