Elon Musk now says that Tesla’s next Full Self-Driving Beta software update “will blow your mind,” and it’s only about two weeks away.
Tesla is currently testing the “feature complete” version of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) package in beta with a few thousand customers and employees through what it calls its “early access program.”
It’s not considered autonomous driving yet because the driver is still responsible for the vehicle and needs to be ready to take control at all times, but Tesla’s system performs all the other driving tasks autonomously, including driving through intersections.
Tesla hopes that it can keep improving on the system with customer feedback until it can gather enough data to show regulators that it’s safer than human driving.
Over the last few months, CEO Elon Musk has been talking about Tesla moving to a new generation (v9) of its FSD software that will remove reliance on radar readings and instead have everything done through computer vision based on cameras.
The update has been pushed a few times, but Musk now says that the update is only about two weeks away:
That’s just pushing the update to the previously mentioned fleet of customers and employees in the “early access program.”
Once those people tested the update and Tesla used their feedback, the automaker is expected to have a wider release to its fleet in the US through a new Download FSD Beta button in the cars.
Earlier this month, Musk said that it will come no later than June.
The CEO added that he believes Tesla’s new software update will “blow your mind”:
“Gaiting factor” generally refers to an element that is limiting something from happening, which in this case is proving that a vision-only system is safer than Tesla’s current use of vision and radar.
Electrek‘s take
Elon likes his superlatives, but I am not sure that FSD should be about “blowing your mind” at this point.
It is already performing in an impressive way in beta. Going forward, it’s more about proving that the system is safe and reliable in real-world scenarios.
I might be wrong, but that’s not going to be through mind-blowing moments, but through a slow process of gathering a ton of data about the use of FSD in the real world.
I know a lot of people are already in a “put up or shut up” mode when it comes to Elon’s FSD claims since he has missed so many timelines on that front, and I am starting to get there.
But we are now talking about a timeline of just a few weeks for FSD v9. When the timeline gets this short, Tesla generally delivers on them.
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