As we all know, Tesla has launched its new Full Self-Driving (FSD) Suite last week. Tesla rewrote the entire code for the driverless program. Combined with the Navigate on Autopilot, the car can drive on its own in the city and on the highway with zero human intervention. A selected number of customers considered to be expert and cautious drivers have been given access to this beta version. The first reactions to this beta version were quite positive. Many people are also saying that this will revolutionize the industry. Now, a user has released a clip with 30 minutes of realistic footage of the new FSD version.
A 30-Minute Realistic Trip Using Tesla FSD Beta
The clip has been uploaded to YouTube by Tesla user James Locke, who is one of the customers to receive access last week. The video demonstrates the capability of the self-driving program to roam around in traffic on a normal commute. He mentioned that the route was simulated from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena back to the Santa Clarita Superchargers. The route consisted of city streets and highways with interchanges, before going back into the city and into the Supercharger parking lot.
Reviewing the Trip
The bulk of the video consists of highway driving, but almost every daily commute consists of highway driving. The beta version combines with the pre-existing Autopilot features to give a smooth working of the vehicle. The 27-minute mark showcases this, where highway navigation transitions into the FSD beta on streets with intersections. This transition seems quite smooth, and Tesla has done a good job of integrating the new technology.
There is quite a bit of delay between the initiation of the lane change decision and its execution. The 28-minute mark also sees the car move two lanes to the far left in order to take a turn but doesn’t turn on the turning signal. Of course, whether or not to activate the signal while moving into a turn lane is the driver’s choice and not a rule.
At the 31-minute mark, we can see the extent of Tesla’s sensing range when the car is at the intersection. The sensors detect almost all cars moving perpendicular to the car’s direction, and the intersection is quite a wide one.
The lane changing seems a bit slow and the approach to a speed bump seems aggressive, but this is just testing #1. Tesla has already mentioned that they are collecting data and are ready to release an update to this beta version. All in all, they are few kinks to be ironed out, but Tesla seems set to create a truly driverless experience.
