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, nevertheless it’s additionally getting extra harmful because it will get higher.
The danger of complacency is horrifying.
Final weekend, I went on a highway journey that lined 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 virtually all the journey.
Right here’s the nice and the dangerous, 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 best way it handles merging, lane modifications, and intersections feels much less robotic and extra like a human driver.
The brand new camera-based driver monitoring system is a large improve from the steering wheel torque sensor that Tesla has used for years. I solely had one concern with it the place it saved giving me alerts to concentrate to the highway though 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 newest 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 could possibly induce some harmful complacency. Extra on that later.
As I’ve been saying for years, if Tesla was creating this expertise in a vacuum and never promoting it to the general public as “about to grow to be unsupervised self-driving”, most individuals can be impressed by it.
The Dangerous
Over these ~200 miles, I had 5 disengagements, together with just a few that have been getting really harmful. It was seemingly about to run a pink mild as soon as and a cease one other time.
I say seemingly as a result of it’s getting exhausting to inform generally as a consequence of FSD usually approaching intersections with stops and pink site visitors lights extra aggressively.
It used to drive nearer to how I’ve been driving my EVs eternally, which consists of slowly decelerating utilizing regenerative braking when approaching a cease. However this newest FSD replace usually maintains the next velocity, entering into these intersections and brakes extra aggressively, usually utilizing mechanical brakes.
It is a unusual habits that I don’t like, however I began no less than getting the sensation of it, which makes me considerably assured that FSD would blow that pink mild and cease signal on these two events.
One other disengagement gave the impression to be as a consequence of solar glare within the entrance cameras. I get extra of that this time of 12 months as I drive extra usually in the course of the sunsets, which occur earlier within the day.
It seems to be an actual drawback with Tesla’s present FSD configuration.
On prime of the disengagement, I had an incalculable variety of interventions. Interventions are when the motive force has to enter a command, nevertheless it’s not sufficient to disengage FSD. That’s primarily as a consequence of the truth that I maintain having to activate my flip sign to inform the system to return into the precise lane after passing.
FSD solely goes again into the precise 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 disenchanted by the response I obtained. I suspected that this may very well be as a consequence of American drivers being an essential a part of the coaching knowledge, and no offense as this is a matter all over the place, however American drivers have a tendency to not respect the rules (and regulation in some locations) of the left lane being just for passing on common.
https://twitter.com/FredericLambert/standing/1838326688821711309
I really feel like this may very well be a simple repair or on the very least, an choice so as to add to the system for individuals who need to be good drivers even when FSD is energetic.
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 a great likelihood I get no intervention, and so they come out actually impressed.
It’s the identical with a daily Tesla driver who constantly will get good FSD experiences.
This could construct complacency with the drivers and end in paying much less consideration.
Fortuitously, the brand new driver monitoring system can drastically assist with that because it tracks driver consideration, not like Tesla’s earlier system. Nonetheless, 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 would possibly find yourself blowing by a pink mild or cease signal, as I’ve talked about above. You would possibly really feel assured that FSD goes to cease, however with its extra aggressive strategy to the intersection, you let it go though it doesn’t begin braking as quickly as you desire to it to, after which earlier than you realize 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 many occasions with FSD with out concern 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, nevertheless it was manner too late for me to really feel comfy.
Additionally, whereas it’s getting higher, and higher at a extra noticeable tempo recently, the crowdsource knowledge, which is the one knowledge 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 few 1,000x enchancment in miles between disengagement.
I’ve misplaced loads of religion in Tesla getting there as a consequence of issues like the corporate’s current declare that it accomplished its September targets for FSD, which included a “3x enchancment in miles between important disengagement” with none proof that this occurred.
In truth, the crowdsource knowledge exhibits a regression on that entrance between v12.3 and v12.5.
I worry that Elon Musk’s perspective and repeated declare that FSD is unimaginable, mixed with the truth that it truly getting higher and his minions are raving about it, might result in harmful complacency.
Let’s be trustworthy. Accidents with FSD are inevitable, however I feel Tesla might do extra to cut back the danger – primarily by being extra real looking about what it’s engaging in right here.
It’s creating a very spectacular vision-based ADAS system, however it’s nowhere close to on the verge of changing into unsupervised self-driving.
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