Tesla started the beta rollout of Full Self-Driving (FSD) on October 20 and the first batch of users to access the upgraded Autopilot features took no time to share their experience. There is no doubt the new technology generated excitement but judging from the social media posts on FSD so far, it's not yet primed for full deployment.
Elon Musk said FSD beta will likely move to the final cut before the end of 2020 but the online clips seemed to contradict his claim. For the most part, Tesla's autonomous driving feature is still in the rough version and there are no convincing signs that Musk will deliver as promised in the next few months.
There were instances of FSD causing fear in those manning the driver's seat. Videos shared by Tesla EV owners showed cars swerving suddenly and going on full-stop in the middle of an intersection. These indeed are heart-stopping episodes for drivers and could have led to serious accidents.
Similar images, moving and still, were seen widely online and all the tales amounted to one thing - that Tesla's FSD is far from ready and it is unlikely to achieve perfection in so short a time. Musk is sounding overly optimistic when he projected that the FSD experience will only get better.
CNET described FSD in its current form as a "wild technology" and warned that users should be extra careful when trying out the Tesla EV feature. At the very least, the report indicated that Tesla's take on autonomous driving is still from showing off jaw-dropping precision.
And with the FSD beta release, Musk was able to prove one thing - that self-driving is not yet a reality, added the report.
Such an assessment was echoed by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has been probing the numerous accidents in the last four years that involved Tesla's Autopilot. To be fair, the agency said some of the crashes that occurred were caused by drivers misusing the technology.
However, the NHTSA is firm in its position about autonomous driving. The agency stated clearly that self-driving cars are not yet commercially available, and according to Business Insider, this statement was issued shortly after the FSD beta has started rolling out last week.
Even as the pieces of evidence are up on the internet that showed FSD is not yet perfect, Musk was clear on one thing. If there were errors seen while experiencing autonomous driving, the Tesla chief insisted that some drivers were likely misusing the technology.
Musk has indicated that data gathered by Tesla during the FSD beta rollout will be used to make necessary adjustments on the feature, which will be included with the final release. But given that the errors seen led to near-accident situations, it seemed fair to assume that the arrival of FSD's full version could be delayed.
