Tesla introduced its Full Self-Driving beta last October to around 1,000 vehicles. An unearthed letter sent from Tesla’s general counsel and the head of California’s autonomous vehicle branch claims that the system is more limited than its name might suggest.
“Currently neither Autopilot nor FSD Capability is an autonomous system, and currently no comprising feature, whether singularly or collectively, is autonomous or makes our vehicles autonomous,” Eric Williams, Tesla’s associate general counsel wrote the California DMV in December.
As reported by Jalopnik, the letter, found by PlainSite via a public records request, was written to Miguel D. Acosta, the head of the department’s autonomous vehicles branch. The letter explicitly states that both Autopilot and Full Self-Driving represent Level 2 technology.
That matters a lot as, despite being labelled Full Self-Driving, the system must constantly be monitored by the driver. It is also noteworthy because many automakers offer Level 2 autonomous technology and some claim to even have Level 3 technology.
Also Read: Tesla Offering Three Months Full Self-Driving Package For Free
This contrasts Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s promises that Level 5 autonomous technology is right around the corner. Williams claims that although eventually Tesla will develop a Level 3+ system, he writes that the company does not expect “significant enhancements” in the near future and the current system will be a Level 2 one.
So-called Full Self-Driving has been delayed multiple times. First promised for 2019, then 2020, the latest timeline suggests it will be ready before the end of 2021.
Although Williams appears to be claiming that Tesla never explicitly said that its system would be fully autonomous, it’s hard to imagine that the name won’t lead to some misunderstandings.
Tesla has allowed its customers to prepay for the $10,000 option, which it will be possible to install via an over-the-air update.
Hm, interesting docs @PlainSite got from CA DMV wrt Tesla communication about "FSDBeta" and it's future plans for it. Start from ~page 16. https://t.co/f1iYcYC2fu
In particular it looks like FSD Beta is planned to ever remain L2 ADAS? pic.twitter.com/4MA7zomiie
— green (@greentheonly) March 7, 2021