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Since 2014, Elon Musk has been saying full self-driving functionality on Tesla vehicles is just around the corner.
Musk even suggested an entirely driverless Tesla vehicle would be able to drive from LA to New York as early as 2016.
First Person to Camp Overnight Inside a Tesla Cybertruck Reveals Why the Cybertruck is the Worst Tesla to Sleep In @Tesla @elonmusk #Tesla
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— Torque News (@torquenewsauto) January 22, 2024
It’s now seven years since Musk made his initial promise. Still, Tesla has yet to ship even a level 3 self-driving software in its vehicle, let alone a level 5 solution that can drive coast to coast without a driver behind the steering wheel.
Due to missed deadlines and broken promises, most people don’t give too much weight to Elon Musk’s FSD pronouncements.
Given all the delays, the public’s weariness to take Musk at his word is understandable; however, unbeknownst to most people, Tesla appears to be on the verge of achieving level 5 autonomy.
A few days ago, Tesla rolled out the next-generation FSD software to non-employee Tesla owners. This software, dubbed FSD version 12, is a fundamental architectural rewrite of the FSD software.
FSD v12 moves Tesla’s full self-driving software stack from a rules-based system with 300,000 lines of code to one that’s entirely governed by AI that has learned to drive by watching millions of miles of driving footage by actual human beings on the road.
With Tesla’s new approach to solving FSD, the company simply trains the AI, which only has 3000 lines of code, and the AI model determines all traffic rules and etiquette for itself.
Although most people doubted his statement, for the past year, Musk has been saying FSD v12 is the final approach that will once and for all solve vehicle autonomy.
The Official Full-On Iron Man Spec Tesla Cybertruck Hits the Streets @Tesla @elonmusk #Tesla https://t.co/fvTlEVeWHv
— Torque News (@torquenewsauto) January 23, 2024
A few months ago, Elon Musk live-streamed an FSD v12 drive in Palo Alto, California, near Tesla’s engineering headquarters. At the time, Musk described his drive as smooth and human-like and said that the software should be rolling out to regular customers in a few weeks.
In typical Musk fashion, a few weeks turned into a few months; however, as I already mentioned, a few days ago, Tesla finally started rolling out FSD v12 to regular customers, and the software is already performing some seemingly magical driving feats.
One such FSD v12 demo drive shared online by Whole Mars Catalog shows FSD v12 skillfully navigating around traffic cones that partially occlude a narrow street; the maneuver is so clean it’s almost impossible to believe it was pulled off by none other than a human being.
As Musk described a few weeks ago, the drive also appears smoother than before, and the turns appear tighter and cleaner.
If all this wasn’t enough, FSD v12 identifies and automatically parks the vehicle at the end of the drive. This is as opposed to how the previous FSD version approached this exact situation, which was to disengage in the middle of the street.
Musk appears to be thrilled with FSD v12's performance, and seeing this demo driven by a Tesla owner, he has declared, “FSD version 12 is a breakthrough.”
FSD version 12 is a breakthrough
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2024
Musk has hyped Tesla’s FSD software without any real results for so long; however, with FSD v12, a lot more people other than Elon Musk are starting to be convinced that Tesla is on the verge of achieving level 5 vehicle autonomy.
It’s only been a few days since Tesla started rolling out FSD v12 to customers; however, we’ll be sure to keep you posted as the new software gets into more hands. Until then, make sure to visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.
So what do you think? Do you agree with Elon Musk’s assessment that FSD v12 is a breakthrough? Also, do you think Tesla will achieve level 5 autonomy this year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Image: Courtesy of Whole Mars Catalog
For more information, check out: First Person to Camp Overnight Inside a Tesla Cybertruck Reveals Why the Cybertruck is the Worst Tesla to Sleep In
Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and The evolution of the EV space on a daily basis for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.
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