Reuters
- Tesla's Full Self-Driving tech has taken heat from lawmakers, safety experts, and customers.
- Critics say FSD doesn't live up to its name and that a prototype version has serious flaws.
- Some owners who paid thousands for the promise of a self-driving Tesla are tired of waiting.
One of the first things to know about Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software is that it doesn't make cars fully self-driving. Not yet, at least.
But the controversy surrounding the technology doesn't end there. Shoddy on-road performance, misleading branding, and false promises from Elon Musk have landed the $10,000 semi-autonomous feature in hot water with safety advocates, regulators, and Tesla owners themselves.
Still, Tesla plans to roll out a prototype version of FSD to thousands more drivers, further fueling questions about whether it is safe enough for public roads.
What is Full Self-Driving?
Autopilot, which comes standard in Tesla cars, is essentially cruise control with the added ability to navigate curves in the road and adjust speed based on the vehicle ahead.
FSD - which buyers can purchase through a $10,000 one-time fee or a $199-per-month subscription - adds the ability to automatically change lanes, enter and exit highways, recognize stop signs and traffic lights, and park. It requires full driver attention, but Tesla wants to improve the system over time and claims its vehicles will eventually be fully autonomous.
What's the issue?
It's partially about branding. Some critics argue that exaggerating what FSD can do - by calling it "self-driving" when it isn't - poses a safety risk to drivers and the public. Consumer Reports said FSD "falls short of its name" and performed inconsistently in its testing.
In August, two Democratic senators sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission expressing concerns about how Tesla represents Autopilot and FSD. And in May, the California Department of Motor Vehicles said it is looking into whether Tesla illegally misleads customers with its self-driving claims.
The carmaker has also caught heat for its decision to roll out a prototype version of FSD to thousands of Tesla owners in an effort to refine the system. The beta adds on the ability to navigate local streets, but videos shared online over the last year show that serious kinks still need to be ironed out.
Lots of clips show the beta impressively navigating complex driving scenarios, but many also show cars botching basic driving tasks, such as avoiding sizable concrete barriers or the oncoming traffic lane. The beta program is a marked departure from the type of testing done by autonomous-vehicle companies like Waymo, which use professional drivers and limit testing to specific areas.
What do owners think?
Many Tesla owners are fully on board with FSD, as evidenced by the thousands of people who have shelled out for the feature and asked to participate in beta testing. They enthusiastically share their experiences on YouTube and elsewhere.
But some feel they were duped into buying an expensive extra that's nowhere near complete. A few have sued Tesla over FSD's shortcomings. Others wonder aloud on Tesla forums whether they'll ever get the finished product beamed to their car.
Their disillusionment is understandable. Musk has broken lots of promises about Tesla's self-driving tech. By late 2020, he said, 1 million Tesla robotaxis would be on the road, printing money for their owners by autonomously picking up passengers.
The Tesla CEO himself is now realizing that autonomy is tougher to solve than he thought.
"Didn't expect it to be so hard, but the difficulty is obvious in retrospect," he tweeted in July.
source https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-fsd-beta-full-self-driving-autopilot-software-controversy-2021-11