7 years ago, I paid Tesla $6000 for a permanent subscription to “Full Self Driving” for my new Model 3. At the time, FSD would navigate and drive automatically on limited access highways (mostly Interstates), but that was about it.
📌 The Core Development
I’m currently driving a 2026 base Model Y with FSD V14. Now, I can get into my car in my garage or a big parking lot or a Supercharger, and without touching anything, say “ Hey Grok ,” then verbally say “ Navigate me to [nearly any business, my home, or any address].” Then, FSD will drive me automatically out of my garage or the parking lot or the Supercharger to the location requested and park my car in a parking lot or on the street (but not yet in my garage). I sit back and “supervise,” but I seldom must intervene or complain about its actions as it drives.
What are recent improvements with FSD that I have observed? FSD now reacts properly to more and more edge cases.
🔍 Background & Sector Context
There is no question in my mind from personal experience: FSD is a critical safety feature that will save and has saved the lives of Tesla drivers and their passengers who have it activated (as well as other vehicles, pedestrians, bikes, etc.). However, Tesla is letting its own customers die if they haven’t paid the $99/month to activate FSD. This is Tesla choosing an income stream over the safety of its customers.
However: That still leaves at least 15% of Tesla customers that can and will be injured or killed because they don’t have a safety feature that Tesla has withheld from them . Note: even though the uptake rate for FSD is supposed to be 75%, lately, this is only for new customers. If a customer decides they no longer want or can’t afford the $99/month fee, they won’t have it any longer. It seems to me that Tesla could make the “Automatic Collision Evasion” feature available to all of their customers. I think this is a software option that could be implemented for customers without having to give them automatic driving functionality. Also, Tesla could make “FSD Engaged” the default and require the driver to turn it off if desired , rather than the other way around, which we have now.
📊 Industry & Real-World Impact
Warning! In my opinion, Tesla customers that don’t opt in for the $99/month FSD subscription are missing a very important safety feature of their Tesla.
Benchmark Telemetry & EV Fuel Savings
Put top supercars and EVs to the test in The Pit Stop Lab — launch head-to-head 1/4-mile drag strip battles & compute EPA electric fuel cost savings.
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🔮 Strategic Outlook & What Lies Ahead
It appears to me that Tesla’s FSD no longer needs to be supervised on highways. Can’t Tesla get this limited Level 5 automation approved? Being able to sleep, read, text, etc. while driving on long trips would be one of the most important advantages of L5 automation.
If you find any of my articles helpful to you, please use my referral link when buying a new Tesla: https://ts.la/arthur73734 (Be sure to use it when you make your order). Tesla keeps changing the program, but here’s the latest: If you are buying a new Tesla Model 3 or Y and use my link, you will get two months of free Full Self Driving (a ~$200 value) on top of the one month that comes free with every new Model Y right now. This will get you a total of 3 months free Full Self Driving. It will be $99/month after that. For a Cybertruck, you will get $1000 off your purchase price. At this moment, Tesla is offering a year of free Supercharging with the purchase of a new Model 3 Premium or Performance.
