Image credit: Austin Ramsay
Demand from Tesla drivers to be included in the electric vehicle car-maker’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) program is apparently high, Elon Musk said on Sunday (US time).
Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he. But Musk insists the interest is so high that – rather than approaching Tesla owners who have paid for the company’s self-driving package and who may want to be a part of its beta rollout, the company will now simply add a “Download Beta” button on the the car’s service interface.
“If you want the Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta downloaded to your car, let us know,” said Musk on Friday via Twitter just two days after saying he thought the FSD package would be made a package by the end of June, 2021.
Tesla FSD beta is currently on version 8.1, having been rolled out in October last year to approximately 1,000 Tesla drivers in California. Musk has said that version 8.2 will be a “step change” beyond that.
On Sunday, he said that Tesla would double the size of its beta program for version 8.2, and invite those interested to get in touch.
After that, a subsequent rollout would be offered to 10,000 drivers in total.
“Doubling beta program size now with 8.2 & probably 10X size with 8.3. Still be careful, but it’s getting mature,” said Musk.
Tesla is the subject of some criticism for selling its FSD package without it yet being able to drive without a driver. The company only counts portions of revenue from the package, which in Australia currently costs $10,500 on top of the price of the car, as features are made public.
Even with the 8.2 update, it would appear that there are easily more than 1,000 extra drivers keen to try out the company’s self-driving software, which collects route data including driver interventions
“Due to high levels of demand for FSD Beta, adding “Download Beta” button to Service section of car display in ~10 days,” Musk tweeted on Sunday.
Unfortunately the new button – which would be available to FSD customers from mid-next week – will not be available globally, but will be subject to “regulatory approvals” and “internal development and testing,” according to Musk, noting that drivers must not become complacent when using the software.
Musk has previously said Norway and Canada would be the first other countries in which Tesla drivers could opt to undertake the FSD beta program, although it would seem rolling out to other countries is trickier than one might think.
“Many subtle differences between US & Canada roads, so harder than it seems,” Musk said in response to a question about Canada.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.
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