Photo: Tesla | Edited
Tesla closed the FSD Beta program in February after it initiated a voluntary recall to fix its FSD Beta software. Since then, no new testers have been admitted, and some even reported they were bumped off the testing program. With the 2023.12.10 update, Tesla reopens the FSD Beta testing to anyone who paid for the feature.
Tesla Full Self-Driving software is a controversial feature that Tesla fans swear it's autonomous driving, and Tesla goes out of its way to keep it a Level-2 safety assist system. As always, the truth is somewhere in between. While FSD Beta can be very good at driving in certain conditions, it still needs constant supervision, especially as Tesla doesn't assume responsibility in case of a crash.
When the NHTSA started an investigation into the FSD Beta, Tesla agreed to do a voluntary recall for the FSD-enabled cars to address the issues raised by the agency. Tesla took a lot of time before implementing the fix, affecting both existing and potential FSD Beta testers. For instance, no new software updates were available until the fix was issued, which impacted the V11 development.
The EV maker also stopped accepting new testers into the program, and this hasn't changed for more than three months. To make matters worse, some testers reported being bumped off the program as their FSD Beta access was revoked in February. It was a punch in the gut for people who paid $15,000 to test the self-driving features. Those who paid the $199 monthly FSD subscription, hoping they would get to try FSD Beta, were also left paying for nothing.
This is set to change now, as Tesla finally reopens the FSD Beta-testing to everyone in North America who paid for the FSD capability. The 2023.12.10 update pushed on Monday night to cars includes FSD Beta 11.3.6. The update is important for several reasons, not least because it finally unifies the FSD and non-FSD software branches. The update marks a rebase of the FSD Beta software on the latest 2023 software build, but the FSD Beta build is the same as the one previously delivered with the 2022.45.15 OTA update.
With the new update, everyone who paid for FSD Capability is invited to join FSD Beta at the end of the installation. Also, Tesla will only need to update a single software branch instead of two or even three sometimes, as the latest FSD Beta builds will be delivered with regular updates from now on. Still, people are puzzled why Tesla chose the V11.3.6 for this rebase and not the newer V11.4.1. While the FSD Beta V11.3.6 was praised as a pretty good software iteration, Elon Musk promised V11.4.2 would launch over the weekend with major improvements. Tesla is yet to deliver on these promises.
When the NHTSA started an investigation into the FSD Beta, Tesla agreed to do a voluntary recall for the FSD-enabled cars to address the issues raised by the agency. Tesla took a lot of time before implementing the fix, affecting both existing and potential FSD Beta testers. For instance, no new software updates were available until the fix was issued, which impacted the V11 development.
The EV maker also stopped accepting new testers into the program, and this hasn't changed for more than three months. To make matters worse, some testers reported being bumped off the program as their FSD Beta access was revoked in February. It was a punch in the gut for people who paid $15,000 to test the self-driving features. Those who paid the $199 monthly FSD subscription, hoping they would get to try FSD Beta, were also left paying for nothing.
This is set to change now, as Tesla finally reopens the FSD Beta-testing to everyone in North America who paid for the FSD capability. The 2023.12.10 update pushed on Monday night to cars includes FSD Beta 11.3.6. The update is important for several reasons, not least because it finally unifies the FSD and non-FSD software branches. The update marks a rebase of the FSD Beta software on the latest 2023 software build, but the FSD Beta build is the same as the one previously delivered with the 2022.45.15 OTA update.
With the new update, everyone who paid for FSD Capability is invited to join FSD Beta at the end of the installation. Also, Tesla will only need to update a single software branch instead of two or even three sometimes, as the latest FSD Beta builds will be delivered with regular updates from now on. Still, people are puzzled why Tesla chose the V11.3.6 for this rebase and not the newer V11.4.1. While the FSD Beta V11.3.6 was praised as a pretty good software iteration, Elon Musk promised V11.4.2 would launch over the weekend with major improvements. Tesla is yet to deliver on these promises.
This update is currently going out to several production software updates, including:
— Teslascope (@teslascope) May 23, 2023
2023.12.5, 2023.6.11, 2023.12.1.1, 2023.12.9, 2023.6.8, 2023.2.12, 2023.2.10, 2023.12.1.
Other versions may be included, but not included in this particular wave yet. pic.twitter.com/oJn5lKQ8ef
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