It doesn’t have to be approved in some states, including Texas - where they’re planning their first rollout of a thing they’re calling Robotaxi, but which is expected to start with safety drivers. (Note - federal approval used to be required to take out all the driver controls, but that has been changed). And they haven’t even applied for approval in the other early robotaxi state where it is required (California).
So it’s almost certainly not ready for fully autonomous driving, and it seems improbable that it would be close to ready but that Tesla wouldn’t begin the process of getting full Level 4 approval in CA, since that will take some time.
Thing is, we don’t really now how well the technology works, one reason is Tesla is obfuscating the data.
If FSD provably worked as well as a human, or even close to as well, Telsa would be screaming it from the rooftops.
Texas law allows for fully autonomous vehicles to operate on public roads regardless of whether a human driver is present. In a just-released promo video for the June cybertaxi rollout in Austin, a safety driver is shown in the vehicle. Which means Tesla doesn’t fully trust it.
Nope. I was adamant that the removal of the driver controls meant that the cars did not comply with the FMVSS, and that the waiver programs in place did not cover what Tesla wanted to do. All of which is true.
I didn’t anticipate that a highly…transactional President would forge an alliance with Musk which might lead to the NHTSA rulebook getting thrown out the window. Although in terms of our earlier discussions, the fact that NHTSA felt the need to make that change is just further evidence that the rulebook in effect when we had our conversations didn’t allow a car without driver controls. Else, why change the rules?
Personally, I’m a conservative driver. On Sunday mornings, little old ladies are lined up behind me honking their horns and giving me the 1-finger salute as they pass me on their way to church.
I’m not looking forward to being a Guinea pig for full service driving.
Unfortunately, people get upset when I drive on the sidewalk, so Guinea pig it is.
I believe that rule only applies to the design of the vehicle, not an approval for how it is operated. (Though I agree that a vehicle without driver controls can only be operated one way.)
For example, would a vehicle with a full-time remote driver who could step in “online” if the car got in trouble still be FSD? (This is how Waymo operates. They apparently have 2 people on the payroll for every taxi on the road.)
That was the crux of our whole discussion. Albaby is a traditionalist and thinks that the future is not going to come. I believe in the future and might be a little bit to optimistic. Albaby got bit by the future this time and so excuses are not tolerated. IE I could have hit that fast ball if the pitcher only threw a 98 mile an hour fastball instead of a 102 mile per hour fast ball. The future waits for no one.
It wasn’t our discussion. I argued the rules prohibited cars with no driver controls. You argued that they did not. The government just changed the rules so that cars with no driver controls would be allowed. Generally speaking, that’s a point in support of my position, not yours.
Regardless, Tesla doesn’t have to worry about in any more. The rules have been (or are being) changed. So now they don’t have to meet them.
“Personally, I’m a conservative driver. On Sunday mornings, little old ladies are lined up behind me honking their horns and giving me the 1-finger salute as they pass me on their way to church.”
That is hilarious, lol.
I’m the opposite, I’m old and retired, but I’ve learned in my town that if you don’t drive at least 8 mph over the speed limit, you will get stopped at Every Single Traffic Light going across town. I hate that,lol. But it’s a smaller town, and even if you are stopped at every light, it only takes about 20 minutes to drive east to west during non-rush hour. So that’s not worth getting all riled up about.
Just my opinion, but some unknown decent-sized percentage of baby boomers are amongst the most distracted drivers on the road. FSD would be a large benefit to society if it took the decision making out of their hands.
People are going to be very surprised that self-driving cars are going to go the speed limit, not 10 or 20 miles over - and that they’re going to get stuck behind them.
Then watch the one finger salutes increase dramatically.
Oh, the horror. To go the speed limit, no less! Around these parts (the USA), the speed limit is a speed floor - that which you should never go below and always go at least 5-8 mph above, if not more.
99% isn’t even close to “there”! Even five 9s (99.999%) may not be enough in this case. A vehicle that is truly autonomous (no steering wheel or pedals or remote driver) MUST have some way to recover when it can’t continue for some reason.
I used to think that this would annoy the hec4 out of me. But in reality it doesn’t. It is just so luxurious to allow the car to do the driving for me, and quite relaxing even, so I don’t mind if it takes a tiny bit longer. And I enjoy the better efficiency driving at the speed limit instead of 9+ miles over the speed limit like I used to do when I was doing all the driving.
Yes, that is how it will work in a car with no user controls. But in the level 2 FSD in a Tesla you can adjust the speed using the scroll wheel on the steering wheel just like with any cruise control.
