There are Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) lovers and haters out there. The lovers paid a small fortune to be FSD ‘beta testers’ for Tesla, have lived through good and bad FSD characteristics during its evolution, and can honestly say that the version (v12) on the streets today is far superior to previous versions.
On the other hand, the haters say I want to be in control of what my car does, not some computer. And not only that, but I don’t want to always be second-guessing what my car is going to do next, then have to take control at the last moment (which might be too late anyway). There are plenty comments like that, but the one that resonates with me the best is this comment: “I equate my experience so far over the last couple days to it being like driving with a new teen driver.” I found this comment on Reddit, and put together this image that echoes this sentiment (Please Be Patient – FSD v12 Driving):
So, do I love or hate FSD? Neither. I think FSD v12 works really well in many situations, and not so well in others. Living in Pennsylvania, we have potholes that will eat your whole car if you let them. FSD doesn’t know about potholes, and invariably aims right for them. That’s a problem! And FSD sometimes gets confused. But the real issue for me is that it doesn’t drive like I do. FSD wants to accelerate more quickly, decelerate more quickly, wait too long to turn on a turn signal, etc. What this means is on local streets I’m not going to use FSD. But on the highway where things are more predictable I will. Besides, I LIKE DRIVING. With FSD I’m not driving, I’m monitoring and correcting. This is actually more stressful than just driving, and not as enjoyable. My Model 3 is actually a real joy to drive, so why would I give up that job to my car?
Then there’s the question of cost. Is buying FSD for $8000 USD worth it for me. Absolutely not! $1500, maybe. OK, so Tesla also just reduced the subscription amount to $99/month. Is this worth it for me? Maybe. My free month just finished and I started my subscription because I knew I was going to put on some freeway miles this month. However, I’ll probably drop the subscription in June and only start it again if there’s a road trip coming up. The subscription lets me do this, which is ideal for the way I use my car.
The bottom line for me with respect to FSD is use it where it makes sense and doesn’t pose a danger to you or to those around you. Otherwise, enjoy driving your Tesla! You own a really good car that wants to be driven. It’s fast, it’s safe and reliable, it’s comfortable and it handles really well. All that said, I’ll opt out of FSD for most of my daily driving, but thank you Tesla for giving us all the opportunity during April 2024 to try it out for ourselves. For some, this improves their Tesla driving experience. For others, not so much. And that’s OK…