If you follow InsideEVs, you've probably seen our regular coverage of Tesla's Full Self-Driving Beta technology in use in downtown Detroit, Michigan. FSD Beta tester Toni Ezero, who uses the YouTube channel name "Detroit Tesla," has been producing videos of Detroit drives after each Tesla FSD Beta update.
While we don't know Toni personally, and we're obviously not in the car with him while he's testing the technology, it seems he's been very objective with his coverage. While he has shown areas where the feature has impressed him, he's quick to point out its faults. With each new video, Toni sheds light on some areas Tesla could be working on to improve the FSD Beta software, which seems to be the point of the beta testing.
The last few videos revealed that Detroit Tesla didn't really see any obvious improvements. He had some issues driving on snowy roads, which was to be expected. However, after the snow melted, he took the Tesla back out and experienced some of the same issues.
Toni points out that he didn't get updates for a few months, though other people were getting them. We've noticed that while Tesla continues to update the software and expand on the number of beta testers, many folks don't always seem to get the updates. In fact, some beta testers have regularly pointed out online that they seem to have been removed from the updates altogether, which means they're using versions of the software that are now quite old.
Fortunately for Toni, he got the most recent update, so it was time to put together a new video. Overall, he sees the progress of FSD Beta as a "two steps forward half a step back" situation, which is similar to how Tesla CEO Elon Musk has described it. Toni shared with InsideEVs:
"Although it’s not perfect and still has a little bit of ways to go before we can go wide release I have to say this is the most refined and solid version I’ve ever had since I’ve join the beta program. Everything feels a lot more natural and feels more human like."
He goes on to remind people that the FSD Beta program has only been active for about a year and a half. That said, there's been significant progress since the first beta testers began using the technology. Despite Toni's previous concerns with the software system, he's now much more confident that it will be able to be widely released by the end of 2022.
While we have no clue when Tesla will be able to release FSD Beta fleetwide, the technology is already being used by 100,000 owners. As far as we understand, there have been no notable accidents or injuries during that time. However, this likely has much more to do with the beta testers' diligence than the tech itself. It will be interesting to see if the same situation will prove true once Tesla allows all paying owners to use the system.
The video covers about 45 minutes of driving with FSD active. Toni says he only had three disengagements during that time. As always, we encourage you to share your takeaways in the comment section after you've watched the video.
