Journey
On a non-stop 15 hour trip, I drove from Portland, Oregon, to Los Angeles, California, in a recently purchased Tesla model 3. The journey was nearly 1,000 miles long and was piloted almost exclusively by the Full Self Driving (FSD) system. It effortlessly handled standard highway situations, keeping a safe distance from the car in front and overtaking traffic automatically when needed. I intervened four times to address unsafe conditions that, in retrospect, the car would have dealt with sufficiently. With those exceptions, the most work I did was navigating off highways to reach superchargers. Overall, it was a fantastic drive where I could pay attention to the road while relaxing, which, oddly enough, allowed me to stay alert despite such a long drive.
Autopilot & Full Self Driving (FSD)
At the time of the journey, there were two levels of autonomous driving, basic Autopilot, and FSD. As the name implies, Autopilot keeps the vehicle safely in your lane and matches your speed to traffic. Since it can not handle turns that would require a turn signal, it is best suited for highways. The FSD package is an optional software package for all Teslas made after late 2016 that encompasses Autopilot and much more. It can navigate through on-ramps & off-ramps, safely and autonomously change lanes to pass slow traffic and to allow faster vehicles to pass. Off highways, the FSD system follows traffic lights, backs into spots, parallel parks, and can be summoned to your location over a short distance via the phone application.
The basic Autopilot comes with every Tesla and, while impressive, is hardly unique. Several car manufacturers offer basic Autopilot in select models and, believe it or not, has been around for nearly 30 years. Min-hong Han, a South Korean professor, created a functional autopilot as early as 1993. All this isn’t to say that Tesla’s Autopilot isn’t a fantastic piece of technology. Still, there are other options available if this is a must-have feature.
Before Tesla’s FSD Technology, There was This Self-Driving Car from 1993
Contrary to its name, the FSD system is far from autonomous. Navigating winding roads and roundabouts often cause the car to overturn and require the driver to take over. On private roads such as driveways and parking lots, you can not activate the FSD system. Making turns at intersections or stop signs is impossible, and navigating city streets is a foreboding thought.
The FSD costs $10,00 to purchase outright or as a subscription for $200/month. This feature is hardly worth the cost as the navigation is only reliable on highways and straightaways. At best, the basic Summon & Smart Summon are gimmicks, with little practical value for most drivers. The feature that may make it worth the price tag is the Autosteer on city streets. Unfortunately, that feature has been promised “within the year” for over a year now.
Full Self Driving Beta
In October 2021, Tesla rolled out a beta version of the FSD package to a limited number of drivers. Previously only available to Tesla employees, this beta pool has gradually grown to an estimated 10 to 15 thousand vehicles and continues to expand slowly. Any driver with the FSD package can opt into the beta program and, if accepted, will have access to the most advanced autonomous driving system available to consumers. To be considered, the driver must drive at least 100 miles and achieve a 98% or higher safety rating. The safety rating system checks for hard turns, dangerous following distance, hard braking, forward collision warning, and driver negligence causes the autopilot/FSD to disengage. Tracking information in this manner is unprecedented, but this is an opt-in program. All tracked information is readily available on the Tesla app and can be opted out of at any time. While this beta program may seem odd, it makes the FSD program well worth the money.
Despite having the FSD beta for less than a month, it is almost unrecognizable from the base FSD. While the base FSD is effectively limited to highways and straightaways, the FSD beta works almost anywhere. The FSD beta is almost entirely autonomous, capable of overcoming all the base package’s shortcomings. It can navigate from a driveway to virtually any destination without human interaction. It can handle parking lots, winding roads, right or left turns, and city streets with relative ease.
The first real test for the FSD beta was at the end of 2021, three days after getting into the beta program. I climbed in the car, set the destination, turned on the FSD beta, and started the 2-hour trek to Albany, NY. From my driveway, through the suburbs, highways, and city streets, the car navigated to the supercharger station at Colonie Mall without issue. Unlike the Los Angeles trip, this one required no intervention and even followed the “Slow Down and Move Over” laws for emergency vehicles.
While the FSD beta is far from perfect, manual intervention is seldom required. In the United States, there is an accident every 484 thousand miles. In Teslas that have at least the base Autopilot engaged, that number drops to one accident every 4.31 million miles. That is nine times better than the national average. The list of items on which the FSD beta needs significant improvement is reminiscent of one you may give to an experienced yet overly cautious driver. Still, we should prefer this behavior to the alternative for a car you are entrusting with your life.
Tesla 2021 Quart 4 Vehicle Safety Report
Final Thoughts
Anyone debating on upgrading to the Full Self Driving Package may want to consider saving their money for now. While the FSD beta is without question the most advanced autonomous driving system commercially available, it does not warrant the $10,00 price tag for most drivers. Instead, the recently introduced FSD subscription at $200/month is a better match for most drivers to enjoy road trips.