Tesla FSD Beta users show CNBC how the system works — and doesn't
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been promising customers a driverless vehicle since at least 2016.
While the company hasn't delivered on that promise, Tesla lets thousands of employees and customers try new and unfinished driver assistance features on public roads in the U.S. through a program called Full Self Driving Beta, or FSD Beta.
Only Tesla owners who have the company's premium FSD driver assistance system installed in their cars can join the FSD Beta program. (That option costs $12,000 up front or $199 per month in the U.S. today.) Owners must then obtain a high driver-safety score, as determined by Tesla software that monitors their driving habits, and maintain it to keep FSD Beta access. No safety certification or professional training is required.
FSD Beta can best be summarized as a host of new features that are not yet debugged. Chief among them is “autosteer on city streets,” which lets the car navigate around complex urban environments automatically.
In January and February, CNBC rode along with three Tesla owners who are participants in FSD Beta to get an uncensored look at how the system works -- and doesn't -- today.
All three drivers understood that the technology does not make their Tesla electric cars fully self driving, despite the brand name. The vehicles with FSD Beta engaged maneuvered around some suburban and rural roads successfully, but suffered some dramatic glitches as well, especially in crowded urban environments.
Tesla bull, FSD skeptic
One owner, Taylor Ogan, took CNBC for a drive using FSD Beta version 10.8.1 on his 2020 Model Y vehicle in Brooklyn in January.
Ogan is the founder and CEO of Snow Bull Capital, a hedge fund that invests in green and high-tech sectors, and a self-proclaimed Tesla fan. But after becoming part of the FSD Beta program, he's become increasingly critical of Tesla's approach to autonomous vehicle tech development.
During the Brooklyn drive, his vehicle ran through a red light without stopping or warning him to take over steering. The main display screen in his Tesla went blank in the middle of the drive. And Ogan apologized sheepishly to those who shared the road with him as his Tesla lurched to a near-stop when a pedestrian standing at a curb triggered a sudden slow down, even though his vehicle and others had a green light and right of way.
Ogan is generally bullish Tesla, but the test drive in Brooklyn left him saying, “I don't think it's right that customers are able to just test this.”
He's also skeptical that Tesla will be able to turn their cars into autonomous vehicles with an over-the-air software update based on their current driver assistance performance.
Recently, Elon Musk said on Tesla's 2021 year-end earnings call, “My personal guess is that we'll achieve Full Self-Driving this year at a safety level significantly greater than a person.” He added, “The cars in the fleet essentially becoming self-driving via software update, I think, might end up being the biggest increase in asset value of any asset class in history.”
Another Tesla owner posted a video to his YouTube channel, AI Addict, showing an FSD Beta drive where the car plowed into bollards along the road in San Jose, California this month.
Cost of making it better
Another Tesla Model Y owner and FSD Beta participant, Kevin Smith, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, sees glitches and disengagements during drives as inevitable, and part of the process of making FSD Beta into a truly, autonomous system someday.
Smith has driven more than 5,000 miles with FSD Beta, he told CNBC.
“Any time the car could just make a mistake,” he said. “And I have to be ready for that. My stress levels go up, not down from using Full Self-Driving... But that's that's the cost of of making it better,” Smith said.
On the ride-along, CNBC witnessed his vehicle automatically stopping and navigating through an intersection, without Smith having to steer.
He's generally impressed with the technology so far, but notes it hasn't worked in snow or inclement weather, and that every new version of FSD Beta, released via over-the-air software updates to his car, can solve one problem while introducing a new one.
By using the FSD beta on public streets, Smith says, “I don't feel I'm increasing the assumed risk that people are putting themselves in by also being on those public streets. We share those streets with people who are, you know, using a car for the first time with their learner's permit.”
Another Tesla owner, Dan Eldridge, took CNBC for a ride in his Model 3 in San Francisco on Feb. 1. He said that he's been able to use the feature safely by remaining attentive.
“I haven't really been in a situation where I felt like I couldn't gain control, like I didn't have enough time to gain control,” he explained at the outset.
The car navigated some thoroughfares well, but Eldridge had to stop it from rolling through a stop sign, which it ne
至少自 2016 年以来，特斯拉首席执行官埃隆·马斯克 (Elon Musk) 就一直向客户承诺无人驾驶汽车。 尽管该公司尚未兑现这一承诺，但特斯拉通过一项名为 Full Self Driving Beta 或 FSD Beta 的计划，让数千名员工和客户在美国的公共道路上尝试新的和未完成的驾驶辅助功能。
只有在汽车上安装了公司高级 FSD 驾驶员辅助系统的特斯拉车主才能加入 FSD Beta 计划。 （该选项在美国的预付费用为 12,000 美元或每月 199 美元。）然后，车主必须获得较高的驾驶员安全评分，该评分由监控其驾驶习惯的特斯拉软件确定，并保持该评分以保持 FSD Beta 访问权限。无需安全认证或专业培训。
FSD Beta 可以最好地概括为许多尚未调试的新功能。其中最主要的是“城市街道上的自动驾驶”，它可以让汽车自动在复杂的城市环境中导航。
1 月和 2 月，CNBC 与参加 FSD Beta 的三位特斯拉车主一起骑行，以未经审查的方式了解该系统今天是如何工作的 - 而不是。
三位司机都明白，尽管有品牌名称，但这项技术并不能让他们的特斯拉电动汽车完全自动驾驶。使用 FSD Beta 的车辆成功地在一些郊区和农村道路上行驶，但也遇到了一些严重的故障，尤其是在拥挤的城市环境中。
特斯拉公牛，FSD 怀疑论者
1 月份，一位车主 Taylor Ogan 在布鲁克林的 2020 Model Y 车辆上使用 FSD Beta 版本 10.8.1 驾驶 CNBC。
Ogan 是 Snow Bull Capital 的创始人兼首席执行官，该公司是一家投资于绿色和高科技领域的对冲基金，自称是特斯拉的粉丝。但在成为 FSD Beta 计划的一员后，他对特斯拉的自动驾驶汽车技术开发方法越来越批评。
在布鲁克林驾驶期间，他的车辆闯红灯而没有停下来或警告他接管转向。他的特斯拉的主显示屏在行驶途中一片空白。当一名站在路边的行人突然减速时，奥根向与他同路的人羞怯地道歉，尽管他的车辆和其他人有绿灯和通行权。
奥根总体上看好特斯拉，但在布鲁克林的试驾让他说：“我认为客户只能测试这个是不对的。”
他还怀疑特斯拉能否根据当前的驾驶员辅助性能通过无线软件更新将他们的汽车变成自动驾驶汽车。
近日，埃隆·马斯克在特斯拉 2021 年年终财报电话会议上表示，“我个人的猜测是，我们今年将实现完全自动驾驶，安全水平明显高于人。”他补充说，“我认为，车队中的汽车基本上通过软件更新实现了自动驾驶，最终可能成为历史上任何资产类别中资产价值的最大增幅。”
另一位特斯拉车主在他的 YouTube 频道 AI Addict 上发布了一段视频，展示了本月在加利福尼亚州圣何塞的一次 FSD Beta 驾驶过程中，汽车撞上了路桩。
让它变得更好的成本
田纳西州默弗里斯伯勒的另一位特斯拉 Model Y 车主和 FSD Beta 参与者凯文史密斯认为，驾驶过程中的故障和脱离是不可避免的，并且是有一天将 FSD Beta 变成真正的自主系统的过程的一部分。
他告诉 CNBC，史密斯已经驾驶 FSD Beta 行驶了 5,000 多英里。
“任何时候汽车都可能犯错误，”他说。 “而且我必须为此做好准备。我的压力水平上升了，而不是因为使用全自动驾驶而下降......但这就是让它变得更好的成本，”史密斯说。
在骑行过程中，CNBC 目睹了他的车辆自动停止并通过十字路口，而史密斯无需驾驶。
到目前为止，他对这项技术印象深刻，但指出它在下雪或恶劣天气下不起作用，而且通过无线软件更新发布的每一个新版本的 FSD Beta 都可以解决一个问题，同时引入一个新的。
通过在公共街道上使用 FSD 测试版，Smith 说：“我不觉得我在增加人们在这些公共街道上置身的风险。我们与那些第一次持有学习许可证的人共享这些街道。”
2 月 1 日，另一位特斯拉车主 Dan Eldridge 在旧金山乘坐 CNBC 的 Model 3。他说，通过保持专心，他能够安全地使用该功能。
“我真的没有遇到过无法控制的情况，就像我没有足够的时间来控制一样，”他在一开始就解释道。
这辆车在一些大道上行驶得很好，但埃尔德里奇不得不阻止它通过一个停车标志，它没有
