Summary
- Frustrations with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature on a 4-year-old Model Y in Tampa
- Issues with lane selection, turning, parking, and navigating gates
- Comparison of driving experiences in different locations and with different hardware versions
- Doubt about significant improvements promised with V13 update by October
- Opportunity to support cleantech coverage and contact CleanTechnica for tips or advertising opportunities
Article
The author of the post describes their experience with the Full Self Driving (FSD) feature on their 4-year-old Model Y. They highlight five incidents that occurred during a 10-mile trip north of Tampa. The first issue mentioned is the car’s inability to reverse out of the garage, with an upcoming update promised to fix this. The author then details how FSD performed well during a u-turn but encountered challenges at intersections, lane changes, and parking situations, ultimately leading to disengagement by the driver. Despite improvements over the past year, the author questions the effectiveness of the software in delivering significantly better driving experiences.
The author expresses skepticism about the progress of the FSD software, especially considering the lack of substantial improvements despite continuous updates and development over the years. They highlight specific issues such as lane selection, parking, and gate access that have persisted for six years, suggesting that the promised improvements in the upcoming V13 update may not be as groundbreaking as claimed. The author also questions whether the software is optimized for specific regions, car models, or hardware versions, as their experiences in Tampa and Denver with different Model Y configurations show varying levels of performance.
The author contrasts the perceived shortcomings of the FSD software with the company’s claims of exponential improvements and the need to drive thousands of miles to find errors. They argue that issues are easily noticeable during regular driving in their daily routes, undermining the narrative of flawless autonomous driving capabilities. Despite incremental updates that may improve certain aspects of the software, the author emphasizes that fundamental problems related to lane selection, parking, and gate access have remained unresolved for an extended period.
In addition to critiquing the performance of the FSD feature, the author discusses their driving experiences on a 3000-mile trip from Tampa to Seattle with their son, highlighting instances of disengagement in challenging environments or weather conditions. They question the discrepancy between their real-world driving experiences and the promised advancements in the FSD software, indicating a lack of significant progress in delivering smoother, more reliable autonomous driving capabilities. The author’s observations suggest a disconnect between Tesla’s claims of FSD advancements and the practical outcomes experienced by users like themselves.
The post concludes with a sense of skepticism and frustration regarding the current state of Tesla’s FSD software, with lingering issues and unmet expectations despite years of development and updates. The author expresses doubt about the potential transformative impact of the V13 update promised by the end of October, questioning whether it will address longstanding problems with lane selection, parking, and gate access. Ultimately, the post serves as a critical evaluation of Tesla’s FSD feature based on the author’s firsthand experiences and comparisons with different driving scenarios and Model Y configurations.
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