Tesla’s ‘Supervised Full Self-Driving’ (FSD) feature has shown little progress over the past year, raising concerns among users and industry observers alike.
The last major update, version 13, released in December 2024, was initially touted by CEO Elon Musk as a breakthrough that would increase mileage between critical disengagements by five to six times compared to the previous version.
However, crowdsourced data suggests only a two-fold improvement, casting doubt on initial claims.
Frustration Grows as Tesla’s Robotaxi Project Hinders FSD Promises
The newly released version 13.2.9 has underperformed expectations, displaying only 371 miles between critical disengagements—a decline from its predecessor, version 13.2.8.
This stagnation in performance is particularly concerning given that Tesla has diverted its focus towards a robotaxi pilot program in Austin, Texas, which operates within a geofenced area and relies heavily on teleoperation. This approach raises scalability questions, as it is not applicable to the broader fleet of Tesla vehicles.
Musk hinted at a forthcoming version of the FSD software that could provide a four to 4.5 times increase in parameters. However, his historical patterns of making ambitious claims without subsequent fulfillment lead many to remain skeptical regarding timelines.
The promise of significant enhancements to unsupervised self-driving capabilities, which many customers have paid for, appears to remain unfulfilled and inaccessible.
The ongoing frustration stems from Tesla’s inability to deliver on the long-promised unsupervised self-driving capabilities for vehicles built since 2016. As the robotaxi program emphasizes teleoperation in a limited area, it further complicates the potential for wider application and customer satisfaction.
If Tesla cannot achieve closer to 1,000 miles between critical disengagements, it raises serious questions about the company’s ability to meet the expectations of FSD’s true potential.
