My prior foray into FSD Beta was documented here: Thoughts from a first time FSD Beta User: HW4.

TLDR for that take: Highway drives = Good, "around town" (suburban and rural driving), long way to go. That was version 11.4.4.

I received software update 2024.3.6 (FSD 12.3.2.1) and the free month trial yesterday, I drove around for about 6 hours on mostly suburban roads plus some highway miles. TLDR for this version: I am pretty blown away. All of the talk about "much more human like driving" is accurate IMO. It passed the wife test. Of the few actual disengagements I had, only one was what I would say is not a "corner case". That being said...the one constant (still) issue...the one thing that is not "natural" feeling, is how it handles unprotected turns. To get it to fee "natural" I am constantly pressing the accelerator to push it through and commit sooner than it would otherwise.

On to the details:

I drive a 2023 Model S, HW 4, Non USS. Northern NJ driving. My drives used the "auto speed" mode set in the "normal" position. Note: Elon had made a tweet recently that FSD 12 does not utilize HW4 performance: it runs HW4 in "HW3 emulation mode", which ultimately means that for now, HW4 performance will actually lag that of HW3. This will continue to be the case until Tesla provides specific support for HW4 (whatever that entails....specific training, recompiling, etc.).

I am the kind of person that would roll his eyes every time Whole Mars Blog made another X post about his latest "zero disengagement drive" seemingly every day for the past 2 years. That has just not been anything closely resembling my experience. I don't see a need for FSD myself as I enjoy driving locally. I do appreciate FSD on the highway for long road trips. This is why I purchased Advanced Autopilot on my S, but not FSD. So after my original FSD trial expired this past Dec, I have not used it since. It was potentially more nerve wracking using it than not.

I do have an investment in Tesla, so I keep tabs on FSD progress, and the best way is to try out the new beta for myself as a consumer, and of course the new 30 day free trial provides that opportunity.

Overall impressions: Night and day difference from the past version. No "herky jerky wheel spasm movements." No "what the hell is this car thinking" moments. The best way I could describe it in one sentence: "Imagine if you are a driving instructor, teaching a 30 year old driver who has had a handful of lessons to date." What I mean by that is you have a good level of base confidence in how it's going to drive...the driver may be more tentative in situations where a more experienced driver would not...and while you pay extra attention when you see "novel conditions" on the road, you are more often surprised vs. disappointed at how those situations are handled.

Over my several hours of driving (mostly suburban roads), these were my only disengagements:
1) On a narrow road, car did not see a (I assume fallen) "branch" sticking out of a hedge at about headlight height. If I did not disengage to avoid it, it may have been sticking out into the road enough to hit / scratch the car.
2) On a two way street downtown...a car two ahead of mine stopped to parallel park. The car directly ahead of me stopped to wait. My car stopped for a couple seconds, then appeared to start to want to go around. (In some cases, it may be appropriate to go around...like if a car is double parked, but not this one.)
3) Car was approaching an intersection and deciding "which lane" to go in. It appeared to still be indecisive as it was approaching the car in front. Just as I was about to manually hit the brake to stop, the tesla stopped itself using Emergency Braking. This is actually good to know: that Tesla's emergency safety features are always at work no matter who is driving (you or FSD).
4) Before crossing a one lane bridge, my direction is supposed to yield to on-coming traffic. I did not feel the car was slowing enough to yield to an oncoming car, so I stopped it myself.

I did have one disengagement on the highway. (I believe the highway stack is using FSD 11.x....but someone would need to confirm.) FYI...You can tell for sure when you are diving on the Highway stack vs. FSD 12 stack, because when driving on the highway stack you no longer have "auto speed" indicator, but the original "set speed" options. The highway disengagement was for making a turn onto an exit ramp so aggressively that made me uncomfortable enough to not trust it was going to correct in time.

That's it.

Even the "auto speed" worked fairly well. YEs, there were times when I would have driven a few MPH faster, but overall very good and comfortable. I do know that I tend to drive faster than most.

The one, still consistent, issue on FSD is the unprotected turns. I am constantly...constantly having the push the car through unprotected intersections with the accelerator because I can see that it is clear to go...and the car is just creeping. Mind you, it is steering fine (no freaky wheel spasms)...it's motion is smooth (no stop-start-stop-start)....it really feels like a first time driver that you just need to ensure it "yes...it's really OK to go now...GO!".

I still think that one reason for this is still NHTSA's insistence on certain behavior "at stop signs." The car stops much, much too soon at intersections....then it starts to creep forward. 75% of the time when it comes to the first stop...there is no visibility (for me, and presumably the car).

This is not how people actually drive naturally, and this is behavior that I hope Tesla can lobby NHTSA to relax on.

In sum: I am now very bullish on FSD...where if you asked me 4 months ago I would say "they are a long way away." Other than the stop-sign / unprotected turn behavior, I really feel that they are now legitimately in the "chase the 9s" (address corner case) era. Kudos to the FSD team at Tesla!

For anyone else taking advantage of FSD...I encourage you to:
1) Of course, always stay alert. Don't be complacent.
2) Once you get a feel for how FSD generally behaves, make sure you
a) Always disengage when you are uncomfortable. Don't "try" and "force" zero disengagement drives. The only way to feedback improvements to Tesla is to disengage in these situations where it is appropriate.
b) Likewise, use the accelerator pedal to push though intersections / situations where you would do so if driving manually. DON'T think "I'll just see if it eventually makes it through." Again, the way we will help out training, is to provide feedback that is consistent with how you would actually drive.


"I'm probably not driving" by Edsel L is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

Discretionary Commission Agreements claims have been in the news a lot. Plenty of help and advice from Martin Lewis.

I made 3 sets of claims from Smart, Mercedes and Tesla.

Smart said no.

Mercedes said yes to one and no the my 2nd car.

Tesla (oddly via BMW) acknowledged my 2 letters and I’ve heard nothing back since.

Anybody else care to share their experience with Tesla over the Discretionary Commission claims.

This is doing my head in. I added my car to Intelligent Octopus via the IOS app along with the octopus virtual key. When I plug my car in the Octopus app comes up with a charging schedule but it has never been able to actually start a charge. I just get lots of error messages telling me that the app couldn't control my car. I'm using a Zappi v1 charger (in Fast mode) linked to a myenergi hub which has no charging schedules loaded. I've also tried with the myenergi hub powered off. Octopus insist that it's because there is another app trying to control the charging but I have disabled third party app access via this touchscreen, changed my Tesla password and re-connected the Octopus app with the same result. I also called Tesla and they have confirmed that there are no other apps or access tokens showing on my logs or account, only Octopus. This happened with my last Model 3 as well. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Just thought I would start this thread around non tesla aftermarket mobile chargers. Has anyone have one, what brand, do they work ok?

For the past couple of weeks, the front passenger seat in our MY has started occasionally moving position when we open the car.
I was under the impression that this sear had no memory setting but something is making it move.
It has happened when someone is using the seat as well as when it is just me in the car.

Does anyone have any suggestions before I log a service ticket? I have had a look but have been unable to find anything on it.

based on what my project advisor and the electrician and panel installers said, but I have no solar that I know of, as I am still using exact same amount of electricity via the smart meter. I am with PG&E and am extremely familiar with my smart meter and I am the type that looks at it several times with different things operating so I know what the usage would be.

While the electrician was here he had me add the product to my Tesla app, and it shows "installation incomplete" as waiting for city to inspect and PGE to do the backup switch and permission to operate. He commented at one point how much charged the powerwall was, and I asked them if I would right then start using solar thus reducing my usage with PGE and the smart meter and I thought they said yes.

The powerwall has a cover on the ON switch not on the OFF switch, which I dont know if I understand that logic, but I suppose I can move the cover if I have to but it appears to be switched on.

The ONLY things added to my main panel is the two breakers for the powerwall or one breaker with 2 switches. There is no PV solar inverter switch that the video on the app talks about as to starting up the program. I think I have deduced based on research that the Powerwall 3 includes the inverter therefore there should not be a breaker on my main panel for it???

I have a call scheduled Monday with project advisor, and hopefully will get my answers, mainly why am I not producing solar to use. Is it because PGE has to install the switch or did the installer forget something?

On app in "settings" then "powerwall" it shows 16% backup and 84% Self-Powered, not sure what this means but I can ask. Under "operational mode" "self powered" is checked. Permission to operate has YES greyed out and NO is lit up. And says right there the powerwall will provide backup and produce solar for the home, but it isn't.

I just was hoping the solar would be working now, so that is what I am asking about, please.

(under advanced options if I tap yes to permission to operate BEFORE i have permission does the next screen allow me another step before that wrong answer becomes official?)

My wife took in our 2016 model S for a warranty replacement of the battery fuse on March 27, and while in the waiting room overheard a conversation between another customer and a sales person. They were discussing trade-in of her model S with lifetime charging. Apparently there has been a promotion on since the first of the year, enabling you to transfer that feature to a new model S. We also are in that small number of owners with the feature and decided to investigate since we were never notified about the promotion and make a lot of road trips. Turns out the promotion ends tomorrow (March 31). Took a test drive, loved the car but, given the short timeframe, decided we'd have to pass (for now).

Since we didn't really have enough time to check everything out, I'd like to hear thoughts about what might be some of the reasons to (eventually) pull the trigger. The wife will be the main driver and had some issues - hated the turn signal buttons, lack of 'creep' mode, and the $6k charge for EAP - the latter would be transferable also if the trade-in had FSD (we only had EAP).

Thoughts about the promotion and current features (compared to 2016)? I've heard this may or may not be the last time these transfers will be offered.

Until FSD belongs to the owner (me), it makes no sense to buy it when you only keep a car for one to two years. I'm on my 3rd model Y and would be out $40k since FSD belongs to the car.

Wake up Elon!!!

I only have Autopilot safety features (so no real AP) however I do have HW 3.0 upgrade. Will I get the trial FSD that’s going around? Or no since I don’t even have basic AP

I have reserved a model 3 LR and Arnold Clark sent me a video and I noticed about enhanced pilot what exactly is it please ?

Having spent the last 11 1/2 years with our Model S, I really miss the "Creep" setting. I found it much smoother starting or backing than the new constant hold setting the car goes to. Oh well...nothing changes but the changes!

Interesting article on the BBC today. Fairly balanced too, I have to say. Would've loved the fire services mentioned to give the number of vehicle fires in total though, EV and otherwise

I signed everything, agreed to financing, paid downpayment, agreed to and paid for insurance for a Tesla Model Y due for delivery tomorrow afternoon.
Two hours ago, I get a call saying the truck is delayed, which means my car is no longer available before April 1st, and I basically need to get a different inventory car.

I currently don't have a car and have been getting Ubers/renting a car. The delivery center is 2+hours away and $100+ for a rental.

Three options

1. Same car, later delivery date, pay $1000 more because I can't keep the same deal that we already agreed to.
2. Similar car, same delivery date, pay $2000 more.
3. Upgrade to LR and pay $5000 more.

Are these really my only options?

We park our car in the garage behind our house (the alley behind our house vs the street.)

Is it possible to set my back drive way (or garage) as a pin and save that pin as home, so the FSD can navigate there when coming home instead of the front of our house?

Im looking into getting a Model Y during this end of quarter rush. I put in my information for my 2023 RWD with 15k miles last week and received an offer for $24,900. A couple of minutes ago I received text saying my offered had changed to $26700 plus $1k off my preferred paint color or interior. Not bad, but not sure I'll go through with it.

For anyone looking to get a better offer for their trade in, I would try now. Caravan was $26k and CarMax won't do online, in store only.

Ordered 1/13/24 Grey, WHITE INTERIOR. EDD Jan-Feb. it is the end of March and no sign of it . ED unknow with no explanation from Tesla.

Hi All,

First time posting here, excuse my ignorance with some questions. I am looking at buying a model y 2023 performance currently asking for 80k. Chip on the front windscreen, scratched tires and slight bump under the Tesla logo of the front bonnet. The car has driven 47,000km which is quite alot obviously.

As I am new to the world of Tesla, does this seem like a good deal? Should I be looking for anything else? He mentioned he hasn't done a 24hour battery test so can't really say much about that.

Any advice will be much appreciated

Last week my 2023 MYP finally got FSD 12.3 in 2023.44.30.25. Now 2024.3.6 with FSD 12.3.2.1 is downloading. Looking forward to using new features like autopark, and of course the latest FSD.

My tesla model X vin was assigned. I got my loan completed with the vin, and the insurance ready to go. Delivery was scheduled for this Saturday (tomorrow), the SA congratulated me lol.
Then this morning, they called me and said that my car got stuck in Tennessee during transit, so they gave away my vin to someone in Tennessee instead.

I don't mind getting my car later, and who knows maybe this is a blessing in disguise and I actually end up getting ambient light and front camera but I'm reminded how crazy this company is when it comes to customer service. I currently own a Tesla and am fully aware of their 'sorry you're *sugar* out of luck' attitude toward their paying customers but I still come back for more . I'm more upset that they're also telling me if I get my delivery a month later, my current trade in offer won't apply, and I'll have to go through loan process all over again.

Not looking for advice unless people have some similar experience and have a way to squeeze them for some benefits. Otherwise just venting.

2024MY running FSD 12.3.2.1 but doesn’t have auto park or summon. I’m on the 3 month free FSD as a part of my MY purchase. Do you have to purchase enhanced or FSD to get these features? Would like to be able to try them out during my free trial period.

My car was hit on Thanksgiving morning parked in front of my home. At fault carrier is Allstate & live in Portland, Oregon.

Any idea how much I should be paid for diminished value? Repairs totaled to $24000. Major damage to front driver side with panels shifted across the whole car.

Should I hire an appraiser or has anyone had success requesting DV without?

Mocht je een probleem met je Tesla hebben of een reparatie willen laten uitvoeren kan ik forumlid Gtech (Marcel) aanbevelen. Hij is naar mijn mening zeer kundig, behulpzaam en werkt uiterst precies en netjes.

Hij heeft voor mij het stuurhuis in mijn Model 3 vervangen en dat ging allemaal zeer professioneel. Een echte aanrader!

Urgent help needed. I need tk buy my car today. I am in Southern California (not a cold place). Can you tell me which of these options make sense to you:

1. MY long range 2024 $44K
2. MY RWD 2024 $40K
3. MY RWD 2023 $37K

I am budget conscious. $37K option requires me spend $1K as I need to get on a flight and a 7 HR drive back home

Last month Tesla had to tow my MS 200 miles from Clayton, NM to Santa Fe, NM for an HV battery replacement. Road side assistance incorrectly stated that my car was past its extended warranty - it was not and Tesla service verified that - and that the towing was going to be $1600 and that was not covered. However I had Tesla insurance so the first 50 miles was covered and that dropped the fee to $1200.

Tesla service in Santa Fe claimed battery failure warranty should cover all the towing, and that my car was also covered by Tesla's extended warranty. None-the-less I had to pay $1200 to the towing company and was assured by the service center that I would be reimbursed. I submitted the invoice a month ago and nothing from Tesla. A follow-up email has been unanswered for a week.

Suggestions?

I am considering purchasing a used Model Y from Tesla inventory. I want to make sure whatever I get has the latest tech and updates as possible. I've searched but information on why two seemingly identical cars have a 4 mile difference in range (see image). I want to know if there was some change to the car that makes the range estimate different. I'm also seeing this with 2023 models. TIA