If you own a Tesla and have been reading the news, you might have seen headlines such as these:
- All Teslas in the US get a one month trial of FSD starting this week
- Tesla Will Let Buyers Try Its Pricey FSD System—For Free
- Tesla Stock Jumps as Musk Offers Free Driver-Assistance Trial
- Tesla offers U.S. customers a month’s trial of its driver-assist technology
- Tesla Owners Get Free Full Self-Driving for a Month To See How It Works
- Tesla to offer free one-month trial of FSD software to U.S. customers
- The real reason Tesla may be giving free trials of its Full Self-Driving software, etc.
So what was Elon thinking when he wrote “All US cars that are capable of Full Self-Driving (FSD) will be enabled for a one month trial this week” on X? For those not aware of what FSD is, this feature enables the vehicle to automatically change lanes, park on its own, enter and exit highways, and also recognize stop signs and traffic lights. All current Tesla models are delivered with the Autopilot driver-assist program. But Tesla owners can also buy the company’s FSD feature as an add-on either at a $12,000 flat rate or as a $199 monthly subscription.
I believe Elon’s primary motivation for offering this 1-month FSD trial to ALL Tesla owners in the US is simply to increase FSD subscriptions which in turn increases the company’s profit margins. A side benefit of bringing a lot more drivers online with FSD is to increase the speed at which the FSD system learns, becoming more reliable for all Tesla owners using FSD.
As of today (March 28, 2024), I have not yet received an invitation to participate in this trial. I don’t currently subscribe to the FSD program, but my 2023 Model 3 does qualify since it has all the hardware components necessary to support FSD. That said, when I do receive my invitation, I will be considered a FSD-newbie. I have never been in a Tesla with FSD enabled, though I am a frequent ‘auto-steer’ user, so I have that feature with which to compare full-self driving. Auto-steer has its idiosyncrasies, and I expect FSD will also. The question on my mind is ‘will I feel safe with FSD enabled?’ Time will tell, and I’ll be reporting my inital impressions here, probably in just a few days.
** Update **
IT’S OFFICIAL! It’s March 30, 2024 at 10am, and I just applied update 2024.3.6 (FSD Beta v12.3.2.1) to my 2023 Model 3 RWD. Immediately after the update completed, I received this email message:
Also, in the Tesla app on my phone there are these following release notes specific to this update:
And a couple photos from the car’s display:
Full Self-Driving (Beta) enabled.
I guess this means I’m set! Let the fun begin…
** Update **
First impressions!
The good: slows for speed bumps, gives dog walkers plenty of room, stays in the lane (most of the time), easy to override when necessary (though it always wants to know why I turned it off), frequent warnings to keep your hands on the steering wheel, which you should be doing anyway, stops reliably for stop signs and lights.
The bad: it doesn’t drive AT ALL like I would! Accelerates too quickly, brakes too forcefully, slows for pavement patches that are a different color than the asphalt around them (not sure what it thinks they are?), aims for potholes and hits them (not a good feature on PA roads), slow turns are a little jerky, and it got very confused at one point with lane markings that didn’t make sense. I’m not sure where it would have gone had I not intervened…
Basically, if someone was following me while in FSD mode, they would think I was a ‘student driver’. That said, there were some roads I tested FSD on where it worked perfectly fine. However, understanding its limitations a bit better, there are places on my drive where I would definitely have to take full control to safely navigate an intersection or road construction site.
I’ll have many other opportunities during the 30-day trial to learn to trust FSD more than I do at the moment. But at this point in time, I would not pay extra for the upgrade. Free autosteer is a wonderful feature and I use it often. And if FSD was free, I would use it in situations where it makes sense, which is most likely on freeways with light traffic and on long road trips to minimize driver fatigue. FSD has amazing potential when it comes to improving safety, however, when used on our local roads here in PA, I don’t think it’s improving my safety. If anything, it’s distracting since I’m always second guessing my car’s decision-making process and must be prepared to intervene, rather than just driving the car as I normally would. I’m a good driver and haven’t had an automobile accident in 50 years (knocking on wood, and my motorcycle ‘incidents’ don’t count). What I’m trying to say is “I want FSD to drive like I do.” Is that too much to ask?