Tesla's Latest 'Full Self Driving' Features May Go Live in Q2

author: Manish Kharinta   

Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla is currently in the midst of a major technological overhaul. 

Last month, the company's Chief Executive Elon Musk announced that Tesla's Model S and Model X nameplates will be the first products to ditch the 12 volt lead-acid accessory batteries in favor of lithium-ion replacements. In addition, a recent leak revealed that Tesla is considering migrating its driver's profile data to a cloud-based platform.

Most recently, Musk shared more information on the latest version of Tesla's full self-driving (FSD) technology via his Twitter handle, which almost immediately became the subject of an exciting discussion and much speculation, as expected.

Musk even joined the lively online discussion from time to time, commenting and replying to users about the public rollout of Tesla's FSD beta version 9. He answered questions related to the introduction of Tesla's FSD beta and hinted that the company might introduce the latest version sometime in Q2.

In true Musk fashion, he started the conversation by posting a vintage advertisement for horse harnesses, which grabbed people's attention on the social media platform. The tweet was intended to highlight the obsolete nature of cars that do not offer full self-driving capabilities.

However Musk did say that the latest version of FSD will be a major upgrade to the current version, which the CEO says he currently uses in his personal car. He said that Tesla is working improving the system with more advanced artificial intelligence.

Tesla's full self-driving beta version is expected to be widely available in Q2, so the final version could go live as early as next month. In the interim, the beta version will be offered to a much wider group that originally planned. 

It's also worth noting that only testers will get access to Tesla's FSD beta version 9 initially. It's still not clear when Tesla will roll out the latest version of  its FSD technology to other Tesla owners.

However, Musk also shared his reservations about the FSD launch and clarified that the company wants to stay vigilant during its current transition period. 

A letter submitted to California's Department of Motor Vehicles on Dec 28, 2020 by Tesla revealed that the company considers its FSD to be an SAE Level-2 system, despite Musk proclaiming how great the latest version of FSD is.

Manish Kharinta

Manish Kharinta is a automotive writer based in the Los Angeles area. He has worked for automotive industry websites TheSmokingClutch.com, CarDekho.com and CarBikeindia.com. His experience ranges from covering auto shows, to car reviews and breaking automotive news. Manish aims to bring forth his unique perspective on automotive design and technological innovations in the automotive industry.