Elon Musk announced an enormous surprise about a week ago on “X”. Tesla would begin sending an over-the-air software update to every Tesla owner in America giving them the full self-driving (FSD) feature for the entire month of April to celebrate the feature graduating beyond the beta version.
This no small gift considering this feature normally goes for a whopping $12k for as long as you own the car or $199/month if you prefer Tesla’s subscription model. Every single Tesla sold has this self-driving capability built in but you have to pay dearly to have it enabled.
I’ve never tried FSD myself because I wasn’t prepared to pay $12k for a feature that was still in beta and that I would lose when I sold the car. It’s a horrible investment because in today's market you don’t even recoup anywhere near the price of FSD in the car's resale value. I, personally, think if you pay the $12k then full self-driving should follow you to every Tesla you own or drive. Tesla does have the capability of accomplishing this by attaching FSD to your driver profile.
Prior to a year ago FSD worked with the help of a multitude of ultrasonic sensors, which are essentially radar. In 2023 Tesla made the controversial decision to discontinue these sensors in new cars and inactivate them in older ones (like my 2022 Model 3), only using the eight cameras mounted around the car and an A.I. neural net for self-driving. This system was trademarked by Tesla as “Pure Vision”.
Before Pure Vision, the backbone of what made FSD work was over 300k lines of computer code. After Tesla made the switch to Pure Vision the capability of FSD began to improve unbelievably fast.
I received the OTA software update a week ago, on Easter Sunday, and let me tell you it was much more exciting than getting a chocolate rabbit. I took my first FSD ride that afternoon. I typed a random address about a mile away into the car’s navigation and the car drove me there.
We have a lot of traffic and distracted driving in our neighborhood. I have to admit, my heart was beating like a drum for the first few four-way stops the car navigated. FSD gained my trust quickly though. As soon as I got over the initial shock of the car driving itself I was surprised by how smooth and confident it drove. FSD was cautious without being overly so, very human-like.
I was amazed to see on the car’s display everything Pure Vision was paying attention to. FSD didn’t make one single mistake on the drive and felt like a chauffeur. This experience was so overwhelming that when I got to my destination I sat there on the side of the road for a few seconds to digest the impact this will have on the world. It will be a Godsend for senior citizens and the handicapped/impaired who are unable to drive themselves.
Hallelujah! After many years of work Tesla finally did it. All it took was not being afraid to rethink their original approach.
With FSD being enabled in every Tesla in America, during the month of April, the Pure Vision neural nets will have added probably another billion miles of self-driving experience. This free trial was the most brilliant business decision I've seen in a very long time.
Tesla's full self-driving is already 5x safer than an average human driver but beginning the month of May FSD will be many more magnitudes safer. Sometimes technology just completely wows you and this was one of those occasions.
Will I buy it?
The answer to that question is probably not yet but I'm thrilled to know it's this capable and I have the option exists for those who want/need it. The world is about to change pretty drastically and I’m astonished by how few people currently realize this. Soon everyone will know. I just experienced a glimpse of a very near future where people will sit back and wonder how we all survived with so many distracted drivers behind the wheel.
Be well and make the most of this day. Thank you for reading!
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