Tesla: Full Self-Driving Will Not Be Self-Driving

By Sean Tucker 03/10/2021 11:21am

Tesla executives have been promising that the brand’s Full Self-Driving feature will make its cars fully autonomous. Now, the company has admitted to regulators that that is not true.

To tell the story properly, we first need to explain some industry jargon. The Society of Automotive Engineers sorts automation systems into five levels. Level five is true automation, with no need for driver input of any kind. Levels zero through two are “driver support features” that don’t allow the driver to take their attention from the task of driving.

Tesla sells an optional feature it calls Full Self-Driving for $10,000 on each of its cars. The feature is still in beta testing. Thousands of buyers have paid for it but don’t yet have access to it. CEO Elon Musk has told buyers and investors that the company’s Full Self-Driving feature would be a level five system several times, and set a series of target dates for it to meet that goal. At least two of those targets – by the end of 2019 and by the end of 2020 – have come and gone with little change.

Tesla’s Response to the California DMV

California’s Department of Motor Vehicles asked Tesla for clarification in a series of letters in late 2020. The transparency site PlainSite has now published Tesla’s response.

In a letter to state regulators, the company explains that its system is “not capable of recognizing or responding to static objects and road debris, emergency vehicles, construction zones, large uncontrolled intersections with multiple incoming ways, occlusions, adverse weather, complicated or adversarial vehicles in the driving path, and unmapped roads.”

In a follow-up, Tesla elaborated that Full Self-Driving “do not expect significant enhancements” that would “shift the responsibility for the entire dynamic driving task to the system.” Instead, Full Self-Driving “will continue to be an SAE Level 2, advanced driver assistance feature.”

Full Self-Driving remains one of the most extensive suites of driver aids on the market. Beyond the usual lane-keeping assist and collision-avoidance many automakers often, Tesla’s system includes Stop Sign Control and Auto Lane Change. It will soon offer “Autosteer on City Streets,” Tesla says.

Tesla announced last weekend that the beta testing version of Full Self-Driving would soon be available for download.