Tesla Full Self-Driving is getting extra harmful because it get higher

I simply got here again from driving about 200 miles (350 km) utilizing Tesla’s (Supervised) Full Self-Driving, and the system is getting higher, but it surely’s additionally getting extra harmful because it will get higher.

The danger of complacency is frightening.

Final weekend, I went on a highway journey that coated about 200 miles from Shawinigan to Quebec Metropolis and again, and I used Tesla’s (Supervised) Full Self-Driving (FSD), v12.5.4.1 to be exact, on nearly all the journey.

Right here’s the great and the unhealthy, and the truth that the previous is melting into the latter.

The Good

The system is more and more beginning to really feel extra pure. The way in which it handles merging, lane adjustments, and intersections feels much less robotic and extra like a human driver.

The brand new camera-based driver monitoring system is an enormous improve from the steering wheel torque sensor that Tesla has used for years. I solely had one situation with it the place it stored giving me alerts to concentrate to the highway regardless that I used to be doing simply that, and it will definitely shut FSD down for the drive due to it.

However this occurred solely as soon as within the few weeks since I’ve used the most recent replace.

For the primary time, I can get good chunks of metropolis driving with none intervention or disengagement. It’s nonetheless removed from good, however there’s a notable enchancment.

It stopped to let pedestrians cross the road, it dealt with roundabouts pretty nicely, and it drives at extra pure speeds on nation roads (more often than not).

The system is getting good to the purpose that it may induce some harmful complacency. Extra on that later.

As I’ve been saying for years, if Tesla was growing this expertise in a vacuum and never promoting it to the general public as “about to turn out to be unsupervised self-driving”, most individuals could be impressed by it.

The Unhealthy

Over these ~200 miles, I had 5 disengagements, together with just a few that have been getting actually harmful. It was seemingly about to run a purple mild as soon as and a cease one other time.

I say seemingly as a result of it’s getting onerous to inform typically on account of FSD typically approaching intersections with stops and purple site visitors lights extra aggressively.

It used to drive nearer to how I’ve been driving my EVs without end, which consists of slowly decelerating utilizing regenerative braking when approaching a cease. However this newest FSD replace typically maintains a better velocity, stepping into these intersections and brakes extra aggressively, typically utilizing mechanical brakes.

This can be a unusual habits that I don’t like, however I began not less than getting the sensation of it, which makes me considerably assured that FSD would blow that purple mild and cease signal on these two events.

One other disengagement gave the impression to be on account of solar glare within the entrance cameras. I get extra of that this time of yr as I drive extra typically through the sunsets, which occur earlier within the day.

It seems to be an actual downside with Tesla’s present FSD configuration.

On high of the disengagement, I had an incalculable variety of interventions. Interventions are when the driving force has to enter a command, but it surely’s not sufficient to disengage FSD. That’s primarily on account of the truth that I maintain having to activate my flip sign to inform the system to return into the suitable lane after passing.

FSD solely goes again into the suitable lane after passing if there’s a automotive coming shut behind you within the left lane.

I’ve shared this discovering on X, and I used to be upset by the response I received. I suspected that this might be on account of American drivers being an necessary a part of the coaching information, and no offense as this is a matter all over the place, however American drivers have a tendency to not respect the rules (and legislation in some locations) of the left lane being just for passing on common.

I really feel like this might be a straightforward repair or on the very least, an choice so as to add to the system for many who wish to be good drivers even when FSD is lively.

I additionally had an intervention the place I needed to press the accelerator pedal to inform FSD to show left on a flashing inexperienced mild, which it was hesitating to do as I used to be holding up site visitors behind me.

Electrek’s Take

The scariest half for me is that FSD is getting good. If I take somebody with no expertise with FSD and take them on a brief 10-15 mile drive, there’s an excellent likelihood I get no intervention, they usually come out actually impressed.

It’s the identical with a daily Tesla driver who constantly will get good FSD experiences.

This may construct complacency with the drivers and end in paying much less consideration.

Happily, the brand new driver monitoring system can drastically assist with that because it tracks driver consideration, not like Tesla’s earlier system. Nevertheless, it solely takes a second of not being attentive to get into an accident, and the system permits you that second of inattention.

Moreover, the system is getting so good at dealing with intersections that even in case you are paying consideration, you may find yourself blowing by means of a purple mild or cease signal, as I’ve talked about above. You may really feel assured that FSD goes to cease, however with its extra aggressive strategy to the intersection, you let it go regardless that it doesn’t begin braking as quickly as you want to it to, after which earlier than you already know it, it doesn’t brake in any respect.

There’s a four-way cease close to my place on the south shore of Montreal that I’ve pushed by means of many instances with FSD with out situation and but, FSD v12.5.4 was seemingly about to blow proper previous it the opposite day.

Once more, it’s attainable that it was simply braking late, but it surely was approach too late for me to really feel snug.

Additionally, whereas it’s getting higher, and higher at a extra noticeable tempo recently, the crowdsource information, which is the one information out there as Tesla refuses to launch any, factors to FSD being nonetheless years away from being able to unsupervised self-driving:

Tesla would wish a couple of 1,000x enchancment in miles between disengagement.

I’ve misplaced a number of religion in Tesla getting there on account of issues like the corporate’s latest declare that it accomplished its September objectives for FSD, which included a “3x enchancment in miles between crucial disengagement” with none proof that this occurred.

The truth is, the crowdsource information reveals a regression on that entrance between v12.3 and v12.5.

I worry that Elon Musk’s angle and repeated declare that FSD is unimaginable, mixed with the truth that it really getting higher and his minions are raving about it, might result in harmful complacency.

Let’s be sincere. Accidents with FSD are inevitable, however I believe Tesla might do extra to scale back the chance – primarily by being extra lifelike about what it’s carrying out right here.

It’s growing a very spectacular vision-based ADAS system, however it’s nowhere close to on the verge of turning into unsupervised self-driving.