While unprotected left turns can be nerve-wracking for novice drivers, many FSD Beta participants still experience anxiety when their car is faced with such a turn.
Unprotected left turns are one of the harder driving maneuvers to make for humans and AI, as they leave your vehicle vulnerable while turning (instead of turning with traffic).
Tesla quickly recognized the difficulties their AI was experiencing in safely executing these turns and has been working diligently to improve the AI’s ability to discern oncoming hazards.
Solve Chazman's Complicated Left Turns
FSD Beta 10.12 improved unprotected left turn issues, but there are still some lingering issues.
Chuck Cook (@Chazman) has been iteratively testing FSD Beta's ability to make unprotected left turns on a busy route.
It's a complicated turn that involved crossing three lanes of traffic before reaching the median and then turning left.
Often it involves crossing the three lanes and waiting at the median before finding enough clearance to get into a lane.
It's complicated, even for humans. However, Elon Musk said in a recent tweet that beta 10.13 would solve Chuck's complicated left turns 'most of the time.'
Chazman on FSD Beta 10.12.2
Smoother Intersections
Elon also added that 10.13 would "smooth out intersection control," hopefully reducing the vehicle's hesitation and steering jerkiness that can happen in busy intersections.
Going Deep on Roundabouts
In addition to unprotected left turns, traffic circle/roundabout navigation has become a focus of FSD engineers.
While popular abroad, roundabouts are seldomly used in the US. Although there are estimated to be 2600+ roundabouts across the country, so FSD Beta needs to be able to handle them well.
FSD Beta's navigation of roundabouts has been spotty, although one could argue that multi-lane roundabouts are challenging even for experienced drivers.
With FSD Beta 10.13, Musk says that Tesla is going 'deep on roundabouts,' and that it should be noticeably better in that iteration of FSD Beta.
There are certainly some complicated roundabouts out there that can challenge even the most skilled drivers. Some roundabouts include multiple lanes and may require you to change lanes within the roundabout, some may even include roundabouts leading into or out of the roundabout, such as the 'Magic Roundabout' in Swindon, England.
Magic Roundabout in Swindon, England
Navigate without Map Data
Musk also hinted at another major improvement that may be included in 10.13: the ability for FSD beta to navigate roads with no map data.
The vehicle will be able to navigate to a specific GPS point or pinned location (ex: rural roads), says Musk.
Dead Reckoning Navigation (Navigating without GPS)
In addition, Elon alluded to the fact that Tesla is also working on the AI’s ability to complete 'dead reckoning' navigation (navigating only on “inertial measurements, wheel movement & vision”).
He gave underground parking garages as an example of where FSD would need this ability to navigate without GPS or map data.
The car will be able to do this by using its last known GPS location and then determining its future location using only a compass, wheel movement and speed.
Yes, car will navigate to a pin location, even if in a complex surface parking lot or hotel entrance.
When in covered or underground parking lots, car will have to navigate using only inertial measurement, wheel movement & vision, as GPS signal is no longer available.
Elon said that he expects FSD Beta 10.13 to be available in about two weeks.
Why is it always two weeks? Tesla may use an agile approach to software development. In agile development work is planned in 'sprints' that span one or more weeks, with two weeks being a common length.
It's possible Tesla uses two-week sprints when planning and developing upcoming features.
For drivers that have experienced the intense nature of FSD left turns through busy intersections, it looks like they won’t have to wait long for FSD Beta 10.13.
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Tesla signaled its intention to launch its first Robotaxi network in Austin, Texas, with company-owned and operated vehicles, back in January. This network will be Tesla’s first foray into truly autonomous vehicles - ones that aren’t being directly supervised by a driver. Later in February, Tesla’s executive team confirmed that the plans were on track for the launch of the Austin network both on X and during several interviews that they participated in.
At the end of February, we also found out that Tesla has applied for a Supervised Robotaxi license in California, where the network will also launch, but with safety drivers in place.
This is an ambitious plan, but FSD has really come a long way in the past year. FSD V12 was a massive step forward from V11, and V13 has made the experience smoother and safer than ever before. FSD V14 is expected to be another big step up with auto-regressive transformers and audio input.
Still on Track
Now, Elon has tripled down on the fact that Tesla will be launching their first autonomous robotaxi network in Austin - just two months away at this point. It seems that Tesla is fully set to launch their first fully unsupervised self-driving vehicles that will carry paying passengers in June.
Additional Cities
The best part is that Elon also confirmed that they’re targeting robotaxi networks launching in many cities within the United States by the end of this year. However, remember that this will be a Tesla-run network at first - Tesla owners won’t be able to add their vehicles to the Robotaxi fleet right away.
Adding Customer Vehicles
It will take some time before Tesla meets their strict internal safety requirements before it lets customers add their own vehicles to the network. Tesla’s executive team mentioned that they intend to let owners add their own vehicles to the fleet sometime in 2026. This happens to be the same time frame that Tesla plans to launch the Robotaxi across the United States, Mexico, and Canada — something that could only be done with customer-owned cars.
That final step will be bold—and it may come with complications, especially given that autonomous vehicle approval spans municipal, state or provincial, and even federal levels. There are plenty of regulatory hurdles ahead, but this is undoubtedly shaping up to be one of the most exciting times for Tesla.
Launch Event
With the Robotaxi network launching and Unsupervised FSD just around the corner, there’s a lot to get excited about. Tesla is expected to host a launch event at Gigafactory Texas in Austin to mark the debut of its first Robotaxi network. The company previously hinted that referral code users could receive invites—offering a rare chance to score an early ride in a Robotaxi outside the Hollywood studio lot.
Tesla’s engineering mule vehicles—used to test autonomy for future platforms—have resurfaced after an extended absence. The last time we saw them was back in July, when Tesla was gearing up for its initial We, Robot event. Since then, sightings have been scarce.
These vehicles typically signal that Tesla is testing new camera placements or validating FSD ground-truth data. This time, however, they appear to be outfitted exclusively with the updated camera hardware seen on the Cybercab.
New Sightings
The mules have now been spotted in Boston, Massachusetts, and Concord, New Hampshire—their first known appearances this far east. This suggests Tesla is actively collecting data to evaluate and optimize FSD performance in new regions. Thanks to Reddit user Ready_Medium_6693 for catching the one in Concord.
Elon Musk recently mentioned that Tesla plans to expand Robotaxi networks beyond the initial Texas and California launches. So while these sightings aren’t entirely unexpected, the speed of their arrival is. It suggests Tesla is confident in its ability to train FSD for local traffic rules and driving behaviors to the point it no longer needs a driver.
Bumper Cameras
The vehicle that’s been spotted in Boston is the usual Tesla engineering Model 3… except with one unique twist. It includes a front bumper camera. Shout out to @Dylan02939106 for catching the bumper camera in these photos.
The Refreshed Model 3 Mule with a Bumper Camera!
@Dylan02939106 on X
We previously released an opinion piece regarding whether the front bumper camera would be required for Unsupervised FSD. In our eyes, Tesla will require a bumper camera for Unsupervised FSD - if only to improve direct visibility in the bumper area of the vehicle. This is key for low-speed maneuvering in crowded areas like parking lots and garages, as well as for key features like Actually Smart Summon.
It isn’t surprising that Tesla is continuing to evaluate vehicles with a bumper camera - the Cybertruck, Cybercab, and Refreshed Model Y all have them now - and the rest of the lineup, including the flagship Model S and X, as well as the refreshed Model 3 - were supposed to eventually receive them as well.
With the Model S and Model X set for refreshes this year—and the front bumper camera on this Model 3 looking well-integrated rather than a temporary setup—it seems likely that front bumper cameras will soon become standard across Tesla’s entire lineup.
The Robotaxi Mule in Boston
@Dylan02939106 on X
In fact, Tesla’s newest iteration of the FSD computer has a slot for the Bumper Camera on all AI4/HW4 vehicles, so a future retrofit could even be possible.
These are some pretty exciting times - we may see Robotaxi networks actually deploy in time for Tesla’s lofty goal of “sometime in 2026” for cities throughout North America. Once many American cities begin to accept their deployment, it will be easier to seek homologation in Mexico and Canada, enabling deployment throughout the continent.
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