Tesla’s Full Self Driving package is currently in beta and to date, has only been available as part of a very limited rollout. We now have promising news that this is set to get a wider rollout in the next 2 weeks.
Musk previously indicated that if they were happy with the progress, FSD beta would be rolled out to more people and specifically named Canada and Norway as the first international expansion back on November 3rd.
After initially launching on October 22nd, FSD beta was released to an extremely limited group, many of which were allowed to share their experiences on social media.
Since then, we’ve seen that group expanded from around a dozen, to maybe 30 or so, based on those sharing publicly (the actual number may be much higher).
From the videos shared online, it’s clear that Tesla is making real progress with the capabilities of their autonomous driving package. We’re now seeing many longer trips being completed with zero interventions and as far as i’m aware, zero accidents.
This data from regular drivers, compared with the internal data collected from staff, is obviously providing Tesla with confidence that FSD beta is now good enough to move from limited beta, to a wider release.
In a tweet today, Musk announced that they’re probably going to a wider release beta in around 2 weeks. Given the question came from Dan in Minnesota, this expansion is likely to be to those who’ve purchased FSD (currently A$10,100 in Australia), and how have updates set to Advanced.
If you’re a Tesla owner, chances are you’re keen to experience the new features on offer as part of the FSD beta. This most significant change is the ability for the car to navigate city streets, even on unmarked roads, indicating and making turns for you.
Whether the wider beta release in 2 weeks includes Canada, Norway and hopefully other enthusiastic countries like Australia remains to be seen. Set to land mid-December, whoever does get it, is likely in for a great Christmas present.
With just over a month to go, it seems we’re likely to miss another timeline set by Musk. While we have had Covid-19 to deal with this year, Musk in July said he expected Tesla to have reached ‘basic’ level 5 autonomy by the end of 2020.
With the definition of the SAE level 5 being ‘The car is fully capable of navigating and at this point steering wheel and pedals are not necessary.’ it’s really hard to say we’re close to that right now.
As impressive as the FSD beta videos are, they show city streets still needing to be closely monitored, autonomous driving with Navigate on Autopilot virtually done, but the big missing piece is the ability for the car to park itself.
While Smart Summon will come and pick you up, unless the car can drop you off, level 5 simply isn’t achieved. I have no doubt Tesla will get there, but expecting that in the next 33 days would be incredibly ambitious.
The video concludes as he pulls into a Tesla store… I was pleasantly surprised to recognize it as also my Tesla store, in Rocklin CA.