My Model 3 was delivered in mid-August 2018. While I originally just had Enhanced Autopilot (EAP), I quickly paid the extra $2000 to get FSD as rumors swirled about Tesla charging more in the future. What's my opinion after 5 years of testing and playing with Tesla EAP and FSD? TLDR: It's pretty much still just a gimmick and hardly worth the extra $2K I paid for FSD, much less the $15,000 they charge today.
So a little about my experience so you understand my evaluation. Since receiving the car in August of 2018, I have done everything possible to have the latest firmware, latest features, and test and provide feedback on the latest software and capabilities. I am an engineer by training and education, and have participated in a lot of software Beta Test programs for lots of products, and I take the whole thing fairly seriously because to me it's lots of fun. So I don't feel like I have (or had) unrealistic expectations of what FSD would be able to do, what the testing process would be like, or when the features would become polished and truly usable.
All that said, let's start with what works: Navigate on Autopilot (NoA) and Auto Lane Change. NoA is an L2 ADAS feature that combines TACC and Autosteer to drive the car on limited access highways, and includes features like automatic speed-based lane changes and highway interchange transitions. IIRC, the initial version was released in October of 2018 and, since then I have put thousand of miles on it. Now a part of FSD-beta on highways, while it has improved somewhat, it basically the same functionality as NoA on release five years ago. Phantom braking is noticeably better (happens less frequently but still happens) and the system now has some subtle safety improvements, like cheating to the outside of the lane when passing a truck. But passing behavior is still wonky and can be harrowing, and lane selection for passing and exit/transition ramps is still really bad - maybe even a bit worse than in original NoA now that it doesn't use maps as much. In addition, when it came out in 2018 I felt like NoA was "best-of-breed" for these L2 ADAS highway-driving systems, but I feel like it has now been surpassed by BlueCruise, SuperCruise, Drive Pilot, and the like, many of which offer some level of hands-off and/or eyes-off driving for a truly L3 autonomous driving experience. But NoA is still a very useful feature, IMO, offering reduced workload, fatigue, and stress on long highway trips, especially if you do your own passing with Auto Lane Change instead of the automated speed-based lane changes.
Another thing that works is Summon. Remote control your car into and out of a garage or tight parking space. Only useful in very limited circumstances but it does what it does well when you need it (as long as you still have USS, evidently).
Everything else: AutoPark, Smart Summon, Autosteer on City Streets, and Traffic and Stop Sign Control? Gimmicks. Barely usable and hardly ever useful. Setting AutoPark and Smart Summon aside (because they just plain don't work), Autosteer on City Streets is a massive undertaking and has improved immensely since "beta" testing began almost three years ago now. But to engage it, you have to be ready to be extremely alert and ever vigilant - hardly a relaxing way to drive. And while it can get you from point A to point B - even sometimes without intervention (which has never happened to me) - it is most often still a harrowing experience to use it. As an ADAS feature, it has zero utility, IMO. Fun to show off to your friends, and fun to test the latest and greatest to see what it can do. But from a practical standpoint, it can't get me anywhere I need to go faster, more efficiently, more relaxing, or, regardless of how many people quote statistics to try and prove otherwise, safer than I can get there by driving myself.
And now looking back 5 years and thinking where we've been and how far we've come, it's actually quite sad to me that this is all we got. I don't know how much more appetite for "testing" FSD beta I have, and often think I would be much better off or newer firmware just driving myself or on plain, old AutoPilot (I, personally, would still have my NoA in my EAP). But if there's anybody out there thinking whether they want to invest $15,000 in Tesla's autonomous driving systems, just take a tip from me and go into it with (very) low expectations of what you will be getting.
So a little about my experience so you understand my evaluation. Since receiving the car in August of 2018, I have done everything possible to have the latest firmware, latest features, and test and provide feedback on the latest software and capabilities. I am an engineer by training and education, and have participated in a lot of software Beta Test programs for lots of products, and I take the whole thing fairly seriously because to me it's lots of fun. So I don't feel like I have (or had) unrealistic expectations of what FSD would be able to do, what the testing process would be like, or when the features would become polished and truly usable.
All that said, let's start with what works: Navigate on Autopilot (NoA) and Auto Lane Change. NoA is an L2 ADAS feature that combines TACC and Autosteer to drive the car on limited access highways, and includes features like automatic speed-based lane changes and highway interchange transitions. IIRC, the initial version was released in October of 2018 and, since then I have put thousand of miles on it. Now a part of FSD-beta on highways, while it has improved somewhat, it basically the same functionality as NoA on release five years ago. Phantom braking is noticeably better (happens less frequently but still happens) and the system now has some subtle safety improvements, like cheating to the outside of the lane when passing a truck. But passing behavior is still wonky and can be harrowing, and lane selection for passing and exit/transition ramps is still really bad - maybe even a bit worse than in original NoA now that it doesn't use maps as much. In addition, when it came out in 2018 I felt like NoA was "best-of-breed" for these L2 ADAS highway-driving systems, but I feel like it has now been surpassed by BlueCruise, SuperCruise, Drive Pilot, and the like, many of which offer some level of hands-off and/or eyes-off driving for a truly L3 autonomous driving experience. But NoA is still a very useful feature, IMO, offering reduced workload, fatigue, and stress on long highway trips, especially if you do your own passing with Auto Lane Change instead of the automated speed-based lane changes.
Another thing that works is Summon. Remote control your car into and out of a garage or tight parking space. Only useful in very limited circumstances but it does what it does well when you need it (as long as you still have USS, evidently).
Everything else: AutoPark, Smart Summon, Autosteer on City Streets, and Traffic and Stop Sign Control? Gimmicks. Barely usable and hardly ever useful. Setting AutoPark and Smart Summon aside (because they just plain don't work), Autosteer on City Streets is a massive undertaking and has improved immensely since "beta" testing began almost three years ago now. But to engage it, you have to be ready to be extremely alert and ever vigilant - hardly a relaxing way to drive. And while it can get you from point A to point B - even sometimes without intervention (which has never happened to me) - it is most often still a harrowing experience to use it. As an ADAS feature, it has zero utility, IMO. Fun to show off to your friends, and fun to test the latest and greatest to see what it can do. But from a practical standpoint, it can't get me anywhere I need to go faster, more efficiently, more relaxing, or, regardless of how many people quote statistics to try and prove otherwise, safer than I can get there by driving myself.
And now looking back 5 years and thinking where we've been and how far we've come, it's actually quite sad to me that this is all we got. I don't know how much more appetite for "testing" FSD beta I have, and often think I would be much better off or newer firmware just driving myself or on plain, old AutoPilot (I, personally, would still have my NoA in my EAP). But if there's anybody out there thinking whether they want to invest $15,000 in Tesla's autonomous driving systems, just take a tip from me and go into it with (very) low expectations of what you will be getting.
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