I received this email from Tesla.
This came a total surprise to me. They price this package at about $10,000 per car. They also have a month-to-month subscription for it.
Needless to say, I had to try it out. I drove to Berkeley and back using complete FSD.
Supervision
The best way to describe it is driving with a 16 year old kid that you are teaching to drive. You can’t lose focus for one second. You must be ready at a moments notice to grab the wheel and jerk it back into the lane. On the way to Berkeley, I did not need to grab the wheel until the very end when it tried to drive into a fire hydrant. It was trying to park maybe? Anyway, I had to grab the wheel.
On the way back, it got confused 3 times. Once when it could not figure out how to exit the highway and was about to hit the median. Another moment it tried to make a right turn into a very narrow street with cars and people there and I had to take over. Lastly, it was being inappropriate at a 4 way stop sign and it was confusing the other drivers.
It absolutely needs supervision. This car can NOT drive itself 100% of the time. With that said, it drove itself extremely well, especially when the circumstances were normal. In other words, like a new 16 year old driver, it did great with no surprises and completely fucked up when the situation was abnormal.
I use the cruise control often in the Tesla to drive on the highway, especially in stop-go traffic. It actually reduces my stress to do this. However, when it is merging lanes and making city turns, my stress levels went through the roof. The absolute focus required is more than I can deal with on a long term basis.
- Normal Driving = Level 7 focus
- Cruise Control self driving = Level 4 focus
- FSD Driving = Level 10 focus
Getting in and out of parking situations is also clearly a shortcoming.
Ultimately, I think it creates a false sense of security. This happens to young drivers all the time. You have to stay focused or you will not react quickly enough when something pops up.
Why are they doing this?
Is it purely to juice the sales? If so, I certainly am not buying it. The stress is way too much. I appreciate that it can do this cool party trick, but I can’t go back and forth to work with this level of concentration. It would give me a heart attack.
Maybe it is for some other reason. Publicity? Maybe even data gathering to train the AI on more real world situations. It’s certainly interesting.
Did everyone get this? What are other people’s impressions of it?
I think Tesla is in a weird spot. They are doing well, but Elon Musk is a crazy person. The benefits of the gigapress are going to be enormous. I think they will truly be able to deliver a $25,000 electric car before rebates. There is alot of upside. The competition is coming on strong though. How long can Tesla stay ahead? Only time will tell.
Whatya think?