It appears to be a long shot but according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Full Self-Driving will be released with full autonomous functions in 2021. And this is happening in select jurisdictions, and with that Musk meant that FSD in full display will greatly depend on regulatory approval.
To be clear, FSD and Autopilot are not yet in full deployment and this is true in all the markets where Tesla is present. A beta release in the United States is the closest that FSD can get to real-world use of the AI-powered feature, and it came as a surprise that Musk seemed confident of achieving a remarkable too soon.
The Tesla boss gave his bold prediction but made clear that for FSD to be fully autonomous, governments will need to be convinced that self-driving is totally safe. Musk conceded it will be unrealistic to expect that regulators will give FSD the greenlight.
"I am extremely confident of achieving full autonomy and releasing it to the Tesla customer base next year. But I think at least some jurisdictions are going to allow full self-driving next year," Teslarati reported the Tesla chief as saying.
His words, while seemingly defiant of regulatory hurdles, obviously alluded to the likelihood of delays. As the same report noted, complete self-driving has yet to win unbridled approval in markets where Tesla electric vehicles are sold and Musk's qualified projections can still be characterized as a moonshot.
FSD, for instance, will require configuration with traffic laws in the U.S. and it will be the same in Europe and Asia before self-driving can be permitted to function with little or no restrictions at all.
Musk clarified too that while Tesla is hard at work to push FSD to near-perfection, it was not the design for people to stop driving altogether. FSD's main benefit is convenience, which can be experienced while commuting between one's home and workplace.
This aspect of FSD is the one thing that could be boosting Musk's confidence that Tesla will have its way with regulators as early as next year.
Despite the misses on the numerous project timelines set previously by Musk, it should be fair enough to give the CEO's latest prediction the benefit of the doubt. One thing going for Tesla is that the FSD beta release is progressing and with more user-provided data becoming increasingly available, the AI-based feature will only get smarter.
Per Electrek, Musk in claiming that self-driving will be fully autonomous in 2021 has some sense of credibility now than before. But a lot of work is still ahead before Tesla can realize its ambitious goals in self-driving.
