Summary
- Tesla’s future relies heavily on achieving true autonomous driving through its Full Self-Driving (FSD) program
- FSD has made significant progress in North America but has not been rolled out in Europe and China yet
- Tesla has been continuously improving FSD with recent v13 releases earning positive reviews from users
- Elon Musk mentioned challenges in rolling out FSD in Europe due to regulations and bureaucracy
- China also presents challenges to FSD rollout, including restrictions on transferring training videos outside the country
Article
Tesla’s future success hinges on the achievement of true autonomous driving through its Full Self-Driving (FSD) program. While FSD has seen significant progress in North America, it has yet to be rolled out in key markets like Europe and China. Recent releases of FSD v13 have received positive reviews, and users are estimated to have surpassed 3 billion cumulative miles since the program’s launch in October 2020. Tesla has also demonstrated Unsupervised FSD in action at the Fremont Factory, with Elon Musk confirming that customers who purchased FSD with their HW3 vehicles will receive an AI4 hardware upgrade for free.
In Europe, there are numerous challenges to rolling out FSD, as noted by Elon Musk during Tesla’s Q4 2024 earnings call. Musk highlighted the layers of regulations and bureaucracy in Europe that make it difficult to implement FSD in the region. The process of gaining approval for supervised full self-driving in Europe involves extensive paperwork and regulatory hurdles that can cause delays. Musk expressed frustration at the slow pace of approvals in Europe and suggested that it may take until May of the following year for unsupervised FSD to be available in the region.
Similarly, China presents its own set of challenges for the rollout of FSD. Musk stated that China’s restrictions on transferring training video outside of the country and limitations on training in China have posed obstacles for Tesla. To address these issues, Tesla is using publicly available videos of streets in China to train its FSD system and incorporating this data into a simulator for more accurate training. Challenges such as navigating China’s complex bus lanes, with strict regulations on when vehicles can enter them, are being addressed through simulating training scenarios to improve the FSD system’s performance in the country.
Despite the challenges in Europe and China, Tesla remains committed to advancing its FSD program and overcoming regulatory and logistical hurdles in these markets. Musk emphasized the importance of resolving these challenges to ensure the successful rollout and adoption of FSD globally. The company is actively working on solutions to train and improve the FSD system’s performance in Europe and China, leveraging available resources and technologies to address specific challenges unique to each market. Overall, Tesla’s dedication to achieving true autonomous driving through the FSD program remains unwavering, with a focus on innovation and collaboration to overcome obstacles and deliver cutting-edge technology to consumers worldwide.
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