Tesla Says FSD-Equipped Vehicles Will Be Able To Drive Themselves, Sounds Too Confident

Ten years ago, hyped-up investors launched the idea that Tesla is a technology company that also happens to make cars. Back then, that theory gained traction mainly because the company's stock price rose nearly 400% in around 12 months.

But the narrative that Tesla is going to take over the industry started being spread around the world. Lo and behold, it's a decade later, and the brand is the world's most valuable automaker and one of the most important companies to have ever emerged out of the US.

Now, it looks like Tesla is inching closer and closer to its CEO's goal of turning most of its EVs into robotaxis. Maybe we'll even get to see Elon Musk attempt that coast-to-coast drive with the Full Self-Driving (FSD) suite turned on the whole time. The executive promised that would be possible six years ago.

FSD seems like it's finally ready to work at its maximum capacity. The move to the camera-only Tesla Vision is complete. The software is up to date and learned to function without radar or ultrasonic sensors. The next-gen hardware is being installed on most of the company's vehicles sold in the US, and we saw Elon Musk do a live demo of FSD V12 – the out-of-beta advanced driver-assistance system.

Will it happen?

Everything points in the right direction. Even the updated information on the automaker's website says that by buying, for example, a Model Y that's equipped with the $12,000 Full Self-Driving capability, you will receive an all-electric vehicle that "will be able to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal driver intervention and will continuously improve."

That's how Tesla decided to announce that the software would work on all its units. Previously, Hardware 4-equipped EVs could not use the entire FSD suite.

But continue reading before adding this pricey option to your next EV. You will see that the brand clearly states that "the currently enabled features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous." That goes against the statement mentioned above. A car that can drive itself almost anywhere surely must be somewhat autonomous, right?

But that, of course, is true only if Tesla didn't use clever wording to suggest that your EV "will be able to drive itself almost anywhere" and omitted to add "at some point in the future" or "in two years" to clarify when that capability would kick in.

Still stuck in the testing phase

At the time of writing, the most common version of FSD available to the average customer is v11.4.4, according to an independent tracker known as TeslaFi. This one is gradually being replaced by v11.4.7. But these are still "Beta" releases, which refers to users testing a product before its official launch.

Moreover, when customers deal for the first time with FSD Beta or update it, they are warned that they should not take their hands off the steering wheel in any circumstance. Tesla even says the software "may do the wrong thing at the worst time."

The only thing that would make sense with this recent wording change on the automaker's configurator is an imminent release of neural networks-only FSD V12, the version that Elon Musk publicly tested out while holding a phone in his hand and allowing the EV to do the driving around Palo Alto. But even that version almost made the EV run a red light, and Musk had to jump in and correct it.

It has been three years since the first FSD Beta-equipped Tesla vehicles were allowed to roam the public roads. Maybe the time has come for the software to become reliable and do what it has promised since its inception.

Will there be a light at the end of the tunnel?

But the road to regulatory approval remains complicated, and Tesla is known for giving half-baked solutions witty nicknames. A class-action lawsuit started last year because of this practice. The plaintiffs allegedly said that the brand was "misleading the public." Even Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said this product naming strategy lacks "common sense."

But even more interesting is that some FSD Beta users who also buy Tesla insurance claim their premiums have come down since actively using the Autopilot part of the software. That makes little sense since the J3016 Level 2 ADAS isn't considered safe to use without the driver always keeping their hands on the steering wheel.

Ford's BlueCruise or GM's Super Cruise enables customers to experience hands-free driving, but only on pre-mapped roads. Tesla's system doesn't use such a solution. It gets fed videos and is allowed to think by itself about the optimal solution in various traffic scenarios.

Tesla must prove that all these risky strategies were worth it. Especially now, since it's so confident in the software's abilities.

Cruise and Waymo are already way ahead when it comes to driverless vehicles roaming the streets by themselves. The world's most valuable carmaker is obligated to meet its CEO's publicly announced vision that FSD would be worth around $100,000 or even double that once all the EVs using it are autonomous.

When that will happen exactly is anyone's guess.