Tesla rolls out 'Full Self-Driving' beta update, addresses recall issues

Tesla (TSLA) has started rolling out a huge update to its FSD (Full Self Driving) software, one that addresses the big recall the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued for its autonomous driving software.

As a primer, Tesla Autopilot is a highway driver assistance feature that comes standard on new Teslas and allows for “traffic-aware cruise control” which is a type of adaptive cruise control that can follow a car in front of you. Autopilot can also steer in marked lanes using the traffic aware system. Enhanced Autopilot which can be bought as an option or subscription, adds auto lane change, navigate on autopilot (assistance from on-ramp to off-ramp), autopark, and other features.

FSD, on the other hand, offers all the features of Autopilot plus traffic and stop sign control. FSD’s beta software, which has around 400,000 Tesla vehicles have opted into the program, allows for “autonomous” driving from destination to destination as entered into the car’s navigation system, from end to end. All of these systems require full driver attention and hands on the steering wheel.

Tesla’s FSD Beta v11 is reportedly a huge update to the FSD beta program as it will, among other things, merge the FSD Beta software stack with Tesla’s Autopilot highway software stack. In theory this will improve Tesla’s legacy highway feature which hasn’t had a significant update in four years, per the release notes as posted by Tesla blog Not a Tesla App.

Among other things, the FSD Beta v11 release will address issues like close cut-ins by other vehicles, positioning in wide lanes, improved behavior for lane blockages and lane changes, smoother turns, enhanced communications to the driver, and number of other improvements as listed in the release notes.