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In late 2020, Tesla released the next generation of the company’s full self-driving software called FSD Beta.
This software version is a significant architectural rewrite of Tesla’s Autopilot software and unlike previous iterations of Autopilot, requires merging all images coming from 8 cameras into a vector space that the vehicle uses to execute driving in the real world.
In simple terms, the new software creates a representation of the real world by piecing together images coming from the 8 cameras, and the vehicle uses this virtual representation of the real world to make driving decisions.
The new approach has allowed Tesla to enable vehicles to tackle more complex driving settings such as surface streets, roundabouts, and unprotected left turns, which are currently impossible for Tesla’s previous Autopilot software.
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Tesla initially released FSD Beta to the 3000 or so individuals in the company’s Early Access Program. However, that number has currently grown to more than 285,000 vehicles.
Since FSD Beta’s initial rollout in late 2020, the software has seen several upgrades which have improved the smoothness and capabilities of the self-driving software.
Tesla’s last FSD update was FSD Beta 10.69. This iteration of FSD Beta was released at the end of August and has brought with it several improvements getting Tesla one step closer to the goal of having the software completely take over the driving task.
Having said that, FSD Beta 10.69 is still far from a level 5 fully autonomous solution and the software still needs a lot of work to make it fully self-driving.
One significant area the current iteration of FSD Beta could improve is on the highways. This improvement has less to do with functionality but rather with the fundamental software architecture the vehicle uses to navigate highways.
On highways, Tesla still uses the pre-FSD Beta iteration of autopilot that doesn’t use all 8 cameras to create a vector space and heavily relies on manually written codes as opposed to AI to make driving decisions.
However, the Tesla autopilot team has been working hard to bring FSD Beta to the highway.
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And on November 11, all that hard work paid off as Tesla started releasing FSD Beta v11 to a select group of employee vehicles. Following Tesla was expected to roll out FSD Beta v11 to the wider fleet but the EV maker has chosen to be cautious with the rollout and even after 2 months the software is limited to vehicles owned by employees.
However, for those who can’t wait, today we have some good news as Elon Musk now says FSD Beta v11 “should start rolling out later this week, next week at the latest.”
Should start rolling out later this week, next week at the latest— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 14, 2023
This is certainly exciting and even though Musk hasn’t been super accurate with his predictions when it comes to FSD, we nonetheless think this one will fall on the more accurate side given the fact that he’s saying the software will come out in the next few days.
And we will be sure to keep you posted once FSD Beta V11 drives start being shared. Until then, make sure to visit our site torquenews.com/Tesla regularly for the latest updates.
So what do you think? Excited about all the improvements coming with FSD Beta V11? Also, how long do you think it will take Tesla to make FSD a fully self-driving system? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Image: Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
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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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