The suspense continues. The long-awaited Full Self Driving Beta Version 10.69.3 should be arriving any day now. Yes, you've read that before. While it can be frustrating to some, it should demonstrate just how important this update is for Tesla. Elon Musk has already stated his confidence in the update and believes FSD is safer than human drivers.
Musk also announced during the third quarter earnings call that every FSD subscriber in the U.S. and Canada will get access to the program before the end of the year. That means the number of FSD vehicles operating is about to skyrocket. With regulators watching the program closely, Tesla must double and triple-check everything. When asked when FSD was coming, Musk tweeted, "Next week. It's actually a major release, so a lot more internal testing is needed before going to public beta."
Perhaps it's the decimals that are throwing people off. Usually, updates with two or more decimals are small that address minor bugs or allow access to slight enhancements. Given the long list of tweets Tesla's CEO has published promising significant developments, this update could be better suited to be a new number, like 11. However, Musk tweeted earlier this month, "10.69.3 will actually be a major upgrade. We're keeping .69 just because haha."
Many observers expected the "major upgrade" shortly after A.I. Day 2022 on September 30. Unfortunately, FSD enhancements played second fiddle to the unveiling of Optimus, the humanoid robot. Nevertheless, it was still impressive for the Autopilot program and the engineers behind the scenes. Tesla's director of the Autopilot program, Ashok Elluswamy, said, "FSD beta software is quite capable of driving the car. It should be able to navigate from parking lot to parking lot, city street driving, stopping for traffic lights and stops signs, negotiating with objects at intersections, making turns and so on."
FSD Beta 10.69.3 has been eagerly awaited every week since, as the tweets continue to pile up. Musk also doubled down on the improvements of the next FSD during the recent earnings call. He is sure that Tesla is well on its way to being fully autonomous and is preparing to challenge regulators to prove that this program will make roads safer. "Certainly, without a question whatsoever in my mind, next year. I think we'll also have enough data next year to be able to show to regulators that the car is safer than the average human," said Musk.
Release Date
Tesla has traditionally released FSD Beta updates toward the end of the week. It's possible we may see the first sightings of this beta this coming weekend when Tesla releases it to employees. Tesla will then slowly release to existing testers.
Other Features Included
It's almost certain that FSD Beta 10.69.3 will be based on update 2022.28 or 2022.36, which means that it will also bring some big features that are outside of FSD Beta.
This will be a big update for sure, not only for the improvements to FSD Beta, but all the additional features beta users have been without for the last couple of months.
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Tesla has begun to reach out to customers in the United States and is offering demo drives of the Cybertruck on an invite-only basis. @brandonhd on X shared the first invite image, and it looks like it's going out quite quickly to multiple locations that have Cybertrucks on display.
Up until now, display vehicles have been for just that – looking, but no touching. Some Tesla delivery centers and showrooms have also allowed viewers to take a seat inside and open it up, but most are still locked away behind the velvet rope.
It’s exciting to see that Tesla has begun to demo them – and it can only be so long until demo drives open up to everyone.
Advisor-led Demo
This Demo Drive is led by a Tesla Advisor – while you’re driving, the advisor will be in the passenger seat, walking you through the experience. They’ll explain steer-by-wire, off-road controls, and will introduce new-to-Tesla buyers to all the features that are currently available.
The list of locations so far for demo drives appears to be fairly limited, but we will hopefully see demo drives roll out throughout the United States, and eventually Canada too. Here is the current list of city/state locations that have seen demo drive invites.
Actually Smart Summon, the successor to Tesla’s Smart Summon feature, has been confirmed to be coming as soon as next month as per Elon Musk. Colloquially known as “ASS”, Actually Smart Summon is supposed to improve on the regular Smart Summon capabilities, which have historically used ultrasonic sensors (USS) to navigate parking lots.
We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon, and we’re quite excited about what other features will be unlocked once it finally shows up at our doorstep.
Vision-based Improvements
ASS is supposed to bring Smart Summon to vehicles that don’t have USS – using Tesla Vision. Most recently, Tesla has brought Autopark to vehicles without USS, and Vision-based Autopark has been a huge success. It is faster, more reliable, and smoother than the older USS-based solution. It can also park and maneuver in tighter locations.
Today, Smart Summon is sometimes useful at best, usually a party trick, or downright dangerous at worst. It’s excellent and best used in straight lines, where you have a clear line of sight of the vehicle, and can stop it if doesn’t see an obstacle.
I used Smart Summon today, just before writing this article – my 2022 Model Y (with USS) – did manage to show up just fine – in a straight-line location from where I was parked, after exiting the parking spot fairly cleanly. However, I’ve previously used Smart Summon and have had the vehicle turn towards obstacles, such as cart returns or curbs. Overall, it’s a sometimes-useful feature that has a lot of drawbacks right now.
Smart Summon is also restricted to a certain distance – and it's pretty small. The max distance is shorter than most parking lots, being only about 215 ft (65m). If you’re lucky enough to park close, it's very useful to bring your car right to you.
Actually Smart Summon
ASS will bring FSD V12-like capabilities to Smart Summon – the vehicle will primarily use Vision to drive toward you (or the location you’ve indicated). ASS has been supposed to be coming since about September 2022 and has seen many delays – we’re almost at the 2-year point today.
We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon being able to bring the vehicle – safely – right to you. ASS is also one of the key steps towards bringing some other cool features that Elon Musk has previously mentioned – Park Seek and Banish Autopark.
We’re also hopeful that Actually Smart Summon will increase the maximum range a vehicle can be summoned, because the current range is fairly small. Alongside Park Seek and Banish Autopark, we’re closing in on a Robotaxi-based future.
Park Seek and Banish Autopark
When the FSD v12.4 showed up, Elon also mentioned that going forward, vehicles would automatically park themselves when arriving in a parking lot – Park Seek – and that if you got out of the car at the entrance to a business, you could get it to automatically park itself in the parking lot – Banish Autopark. These are two features that are needed for Robotaxi to work – which itself is delayed to October 10th of this year. We’re looking quite forward to them – as in combination with Actually Smart Summon, Tesla has reached the cusp of vehicle autonomy.
A vehicle that arrives, driverless, at the location you’re at, then drives somewhere, parks itself there, and waits for you – is the definition of a Robotaxi.
While we’re likely to have to wait for Banish Autopark and Park Seek just a bit longer, Actually Smart Summon being around the corner is exciting! Gone will be the days of having to run out to your car when you forgot your umbrella – your car will just come right to you instead.
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