Although it’s still in the Beta stage, the Tesla Autopilot with Full Self-Driving has become part of every-day life for some owners. That means people have become accustomed to its capabilities, and following the initial surge of excitement, using it is becoming a mundane thing. Such as undertaking hours-long trips from San Francisco to Los Angeles... and then heading back to Silicon Valley!
Actually, this is kind of a big milestone, because autonomous cars making such large commutes between major urban areas are not exactly a customary thing. Especially when the descriptions of the videos embedded below posted by the Whole Mars Catalog channel on YouTube tout “zero (human) interventions.”
Sure, the driver is always present behind the wheel – remember Tesla’s Autopilot FSD is still in Beta – and he’s compelled by the system to touch the steering wheel from time to time, just to make sure he’s paying attention. And the drive wasn’t perfect either, but then again, we’re dealing here with computers fully controlling a car for hours and hours.
Sure, it will take more time for Tesla – and other companies – to master the art of driving without any human intervention whatsoever. But we’re getting there, whether we like it or not. Such features might become ordinary in the near future, but before that happens, we’re still allowed to be properly amazed.
The first journey took the FSD Tesla from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The almost 400-mile-long trip (643 km) included a couple of stopovers for charging, in Firebaugh and Kettleman City. That is another demonstration of the Autopilot’s new ability to navigate all sorts of roads, from urban environments to highways and rural areas.
The way back, which took the Tesla from the SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles (Hawthorne) to San Jose, Silicon Valley, was done with just one stop for charging, in Kettleman City. In both cases, we think the description is a bit misleading; maybe it should have read “zero major interventions.”
Still, even with the few mistakes, it is clear the software is getting better, and soon, one might get fooled into thinking there’s a human in control when the car is really doing all the driving. As a bonus, if you have a little more than five hours to spare, there's also the raw footage for the trip back from Los Angeles embedded after the two time-lapses.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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