THE TRUTH ABOUT TESLA’S FULL SELF DRIVING (Supervised)

by Carl Morrison, Carl@TeslaTouring.com

https://teslatouring.net/TruthAboutFSD/

Tesla’s own description of 

“Full Self-Driving (Supervised)

Under your supervision, Full Self-Driving (Supervised) can drive your Tesla almost anywhere. It will make lane changes, select forks to follow your navigation route, navigate around other vehicles and objects, and make left and right turns. You and anyone you authorize must use additional caution and remain attentive. It does not make your vehicle autonomous. Do not become complacent.

[When others were offered a month of FSD free, after I had been paying for FSD, they added this note:]

^{*If you have an active FSD (Supervised) subscription, 30 days of free Full Self-Driving capability will be added to your vehicle.”}

After receiving a free month of Full Self-Driving (FSD) from Tesla, our son purchased a year of a monthly $99 subscription for me as a Christmas '23 present.

All Tesla’s come with Autopilot – Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer. The car, when following another car will slow down or stop when it stops for a light and will continue when the car in front continues. Autosteer keeps you in your lane, off of Botts' Dots on all lines in California. You can tell if a Tesla near you has Autopilot or FSD on when it stays perfectly centered in the lane...no drifting.

Beyond those features, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving includes following the route you put into the Navigator, making all turns, lane changes, stops at red lights, right turns on red when safe, park in a spot you select, summon from a distant parking spot, and moving out pretty aggressively when a light turns green.

Elon Musk says, "The Model 3 is the safest car”.  and I believe him. The Supervised part of the FSD is reminds you to keep your eyes forward (in case you spend too long selecting something on the screen or doing something with both hands off the wheel). It even has a 5-times-being-warned penalty for misuse that you cannot use FSD for two weeks.

I like the feature to keep the speed at the posted speed limit, even slowing down when the posted speed limit is slower since it is so easy to drive over the speed limit.

I recently had my eyes dilated by the optometrist and as you know it is very bright in the sunlight, so I told the Navigator to go Home, and it did everything necessary to get me home safely.

When I tell the Navigator to go to a destination, it will give me two choices and highlight which is faster, depending on traffic or the speed limit on that route. To activate FSD, I just pull down on the right stalk twice and it takes over; tapping “end trip” or turning the steering wheel or braking takes it out of FSD.

On a highway with stop lights, it selects the shortest line at a stop light and the fastest lane during regular driving, still within the speed limit. You can set a certain percentage or actual number of miles above the speed limit if you like.

FSD also stops at caution lights, but I keep an eye on the rear view mirror in case the car behind plans to go through the caution.

Changing lanes is done by FSD turning on the turn signal, showing the lane on the pillar camera, and when safe, it will go to that lane. You can just turn on the turn signal manually and FSD will take you into that lane when safe. I am finding the Tesla FSD changes lanes too often even though I have selected “fewer lane changes”.

You must keep some torque on the steering wheel, or you will be prompted to do so. I have found that touching either scroll wheel will tell the computer you hands are on the wheel.

One thing I do not like, FSD does not slow down for dips in the street; you can use the right scroll wheel to decrease the speed. It also does not swerve to void objects in the road, so keep your hands on the wheel to take over when needed. However, it does slow down if your on ramp is a sharp curve like a cloverleaf intersection.

Merging, either onto the freeway or another car coming onto the freeway, is handled very nicely, slowing for a car merging in.

To use self park, as you drive through a parking lot at 10 or less mph, the screen will show open parking spaces. You tap the screen for the space you want, and it will back into it, like backing into a Supercharger spot. Summon will bring your car to you. Keep your finger on the screen of your Tesla app while summoning so if you see a problem, you just take your finger off the screen. I also use Summon to bring my Tesla out of the garage.

When turning right, the car stays in the right lane of the street you are entering, and if, after your right turn, no one is in the left lane, it will signal and go into that lane. In California, there are solid lines before and after intersections meaning no lane changes in an intersection. FSD honors this.

What it looks like from the driver’s seat (I’ve moved right to center the screen):

Photo above is what the center screen looks like during Full Self-Driving. Top left corner: The blue steering wheel indicates Full Self Driving is engaged. I am stopped at the red light, to the right the posted speed limit is 40 and I have my speed set at 40. All the cars you see through the windshield are on the screen including my red Tesla. In the center you see I have .9 mi. to go then turn right on Wagner. My destination is Anaheim United Methodist Church on State College. I have 79% battery left; I charge to 80%. It even gives me what battery percentage I would have left if I went back home as a round trip. On the right are the two routes it gave me when I entered the church’s address. Upper right, the red triangle/arrowhead is my car on the route.

Here are some screen shots of selections you can make in FSD:

Above:  FSD (Supervised) has been selected and the “Strikeout” for 5 times of improper use is mentioned.

Activation is a Single Pull on the right stalk.

I have selected “Chill” for a larger follow distance and fewer lane changes

Above, I have asked for a steering wheel vibrate before FSD makes lane changes.

I need to select, “Minimal Lane Changes for Current Drive”

“Expanded...Visualization” means the traffic image takes up more of the screen,.

I didn’t select “Automatic Set Speed Offset"

I selected my speed to be the posted limit, but you can select a percentage or mph above the speed limit.