Which feature rocks the most, if you had to pick one?
Navigate on Autopilot is by far the most useful feature in the Full Self-Driving Capability package. It removes a lot of stress on long trips - keeps your speed down (more range and less tickets) and you aren't stiff and tired when done. I occasionally use Summon (not "Smart Summon") to move my car in and out of my garage which is also my shop, especially when I am covered in paint, mud, drywall dust, etc. Auto Lane Change is nice when not on Navigate on Autopilot but really should just be an Autopilot feature, IMO. The rest are pretty much parlor tricks that have no real value as driver-assist features, IMO.
To add my 2 cents to the OP, yes all the terminology is confusing, and it's made even more confusing by all of the interpretations from Elon, the media, and other posters here being different. My advice is to ignore conventional meanings of words like "self-driving" and "beta" and just accept the explanation from Tesla's website, the owner's manual, and the on-screen displays for what everything is. Using this, here's my take:
"Full Self-Driving Capability" is a technology package add-on for the car that provides a number of driver assist features. It is available at time of purchase, as a later-purchased add-on, and as a monthly subscription. It includes the following features, according to the website:
- Navigate on Autopilot (Beta): Actively guides your car from a highway’s on-ramp to off-ramp, including suggesting lane changes, navigating interchanges, automatically engaging the turn signal and taking the correct exit
- Auto Lane Change: Assists in moving to an adjacent lane on the highway when Autosteer is engaged
- Autopark: Helps automatically parallel or perpendicular park your car, with a single touch
- Summon: Moves your car in and out of a tight space using the mobile app or key
- Smart Summon: Your car will navigate more complex environments and parking spaces, maneuvering around objects as necessary to come find you in a parking lot.
- Traffic and Stop Sign Control (Beta): Identifies stop signs and traffic lights and automatically slows your car to a stop on approach, with your active supervision
Note that several of these features are listed as "Beta." Again, accept this as an indication that Tesla is actively working on the functionality and it may not be "feature complete," but they are not running a conventional beta test on these features as one familiar with the term might expect - these are production features in the Full Self-Driving Capability package.
In addition, Full Self-Driving Capability package includes a feature that is not yet available:
Autosteer on City Streets. Autosteer on City Streets provides L2 (driver supervised) navigation of surface streets and operates when Autopilot is engaged on non-limited access highways (with the Navigate on Autopilot taking over on limited-access highways), and includes the capability to navigate through intersections, including turns and stops, along with other general surface street driving capability. This feature is "Coming Soon" or "Upcoming," depending on which page you view.
"FSD Beta" is an early access program for invited drivers to utilize the Autosteer on City Streets feature. Folks opting into the "FSD Beta" program get different firmware versions that include the Autosteer on City Streets feature. Again, while the program is invitation only and there is a mechanism for feedback, it is still not quite run like a "beta testing" program in the conventional sense, despite the name. You have to have purchased or be subscribed to the Full Self-Driving Capability package in order to be invited to participation in the FSD Beta program.
