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We tested Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and it was scary

by Fred Lambert

We tested Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, and it was a scary experience.

FSD Beta enables Tesla vehicles to drive autonomously to a destination entered in the car’s navigation system, but the driver needs to remain vigilant and ready to take control at all times.

Since the responsibility lies with the driver and not Tesla’s system, it is still considered a level two driver-assist system despite its name.

Tesla is basically using its customer fleet to test the capabilities and gather data to improve toward its goal of eventually making the system truly self-driving and taking responsibility for it.

I had FSD Beta in my Model 3 for a few months now, and I sporadically test it out when I feel like there’s a potentially interesting scenario. I generally don’t use it in my day-to-day driving because in my case, it feels like work and add a stress level that I don’t need.

my girlfriend and I went hiking in the the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. On our way back, I thought it could be interesting to test Tesla’s FSD Beta (version 10.12) on the Blue Ridge Parkway since it is a scenario where FSD Beta should excel in because there are very few intersections, and the road lines are as clear as it gets.

The scenario puts FSD Beta in similar circumstances as Tesla’s Autopilot, but on lower speed roads, which is why I thought it would do very well.

For the most part, it performed well – the computer vision system is excellent at detecting its environment, and the car stays beautifully centered in the lane.

Over the 13-minute and 8-mile test video, we only had a single driver intervention (12:56), but it obviously was a significant one. Tesla FSD Beta was clearly taking the sharp turn too fast, and it was about to throw us down the cliff on the side of the road 😳. Continue reading and see the video for yourself.