Elon Musk does the impossible and manages expectations on Tesla\’s next Full Self-Driving update

Elon Musk, who is known to hype Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta software updates with adjectives like “fire” and “mind-blowing,” surprises by actually managing expectations on Tesla’s upcoming v11 FSD Beta software update.

FSD Beta enables Tesla vehicles to drive autonomously to a destination entered in the car’s navigation system, but the driver needs to remain vigilant and ready to take control at all times.

Since the responsibility lies with the driver and not Tesla’s system, it is still considered a level two driver-assist system despite its name. It has been sort of a “two steps forward, one step back” type of program, as some updates have seen regressions in terms of the driving capabilities.

Tesla has frequently been releasing new software updates to the FSD Beta program and adding more owners to it.

The last update came in May, so it has been a little while since Tesla has pushed something new to the FSD Beta fleet.

When asked on Twitter about it this week, Musk said that FSD Beta testers should expect a 10.13 update next week:

10.13 goes to internal beta tomorrow, external next week. Should handle Chuck’s complex left turn.

When talking about “Chuck’s complex left turn,” he is referencing Chuck Cook, an early FSD Beta tester, who has been posting videos of attempting an unprotected left turn that has been giving Tesla’s systems some issues:

In the same tweet, Musk commented on Tesla’s upcoming v11 update – a bigger FSD Beta software update that should deliver a single software stack for both highway and city driving.

Interestingly, instead of his usual superlative about these bigger software updates, Musk managed expectations and said that most of the improvements were already incorporated in the number 10.x releases:

Beta v11 hopefully end of next month, which just amounts to incorporating highway. Importance of “v11” has been reduced by all the 10.x releases. We’re already mostly at v11.

The update is now expected in late August, but Musk and Tesla have been known to deliver those late.

Electrek’s Take

Knowing what the “mind-blowing” FSD Beta updates actually looked like, we certainly know to manage our expectations if that’s how Musk talks about this one.

With that said, I think a single stack for both highway and city driving is an important step closer to Tesla delivering on its promise of delivering a full self-driving system.

But after driving with FSD Beta for two months now, I have to say that I still have a hard time seeing getting from here to there. The computer vision system is impressive and extremely good at detecting its environment, but the decision-making is still the equivalent of a 14-year-old who has been learning to drive for the last week and sometimes appears to consume hard drugs.

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