5 Summer Months Driving with Tesla Full Self Driving Supervised 12.3.6 in Northern Wisconsin — Fabulous, But Robotaxi Capable? Not Even Close – CleanTechnica

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Most of our summer travel has been within 100 miles (more frequently 30 miles) of Three Lakes in Northern Wisconsin. However, we have made a number of 200+ mile trips to airports in Minneapolis, Green Bay, and Appleton, Wisconsin as well as trips to Ontonagon, Michigan, and Madison, Wisconsin. You would expect the demands on FSD Supervised in this rural situation would be much less than trying to navigate a busy interstate system in Minneapolis/Saint Paul or on the streets of Manhattan. To a large extent, I have found this to be true. However, FSD Supervised doesn’t work perfectly even here.

Full Self Driving Supervised 12.3.6 Review

Where it is amazingly good!

1. Steers the car right down the center of your lane like your car is on rails.
2. Even does this on back roads with no painted center or side lines.
3. Even does this driving into the sun where you have trouble seeing yourself.
4. Even does this in pouring rain (you do get the warning: “Self driving may be compromised”).
5. Almost always slows down the right amount automatically for curves in the road and takes even the sharpest curves correctly.
6. Handles rotaries (roundabouts) perfectly.
7. Will drive you to the address you have entered into the navigation with no interventions 95% of the time.
8. Steers smoothly — as well as or better than a good human driver.
9. Steers smoothly well ahead to avoid: cars, trailers, pedestrians, cyclists, etc. that may be blocking even your entire lane.
10. Moves over to avoid oncoming traffic on narrow roads.
11. Slows down for speed bumps, puddles, deer, etc. that are in your lane.
12. Reacts properly to construction barrels that signify your lane is closed on a 4-lane highway.
13. Slows down properly going into a town when the speed limit is reduced.
14. Resumes speed properly when leaving a town.
15. Note: There are no school speed limit signs here in Northern Wisconsin. When we observed them last Spring, FSD did not slow down for them.

Where it could do better

1. It’s a little too slow at stops signs — if someone is behind me or I want to keep up the pace, I add a little accelerator. (Note: the turn is still done perfectly.)
2. Not very good at finding a break in cross traffic when merging onto a major highway.
3. Speed control: If I set the speed to 10 mph over the limit, I would like it to do that. It’s always making some judgement as to the speed it thinks you should be going. If I want go 40 mph over the speed limit, I may need to do that. Frequently, the “map” speed limit here up north is too slow (wrong). I would like to be able to correct that. I find myself constantly twiddling the maximum speed control and adding accelerator when it is too conservative.
4. There are 35 mph curves on State Highway 32 just out of our neighborhood in Three Lakes. When the max speed is set at 10 miles over, it will take these turns at 40 mph. This is the one occasion where the autosteer doesn’t keep you right in the middle of your lane. On a curve to the right, the car drifts to the left on top of the yellow double-painted center lines. Taking these curves several hundred times during the summer, there was one occasion where the steering control failed. (See below.)

Where FSD Supervised 12.3.6 screws up!

(Generally, these failures are repeatable: If it makes a mistake once, it will almost always make exactly the same mistake in the same location every time.)

1. Occasionally it will miss a turn the navigation has set (or add a turn).
2. Going from State Highway 32 and turning right onto US Route 45 entering Three Lakes, Wisconsin, from the South: It consistently turns into the shoulder lane instead of the main lane and will often put two wheels on the gravel before it finally joins the main lane.
3. Twice, FSD Supervised 12.3.6 ran the stop light (it missed the blinking red light) at the Bruce Crossing 4-way stop on US Route 45 in the Northern Peninsula of Michigan going both directions.
4. Broke loose one time going 40 mph on a 35 mph turn on State Highway 32 just out of our neighborhood here in Three Lakes.

Note: 3) and 4) are fatal flaws. In 3) the car would have driven off the road and hit trees the woods. In 4) the car would have hit a vehicle in the cross traffic at 60 mph.

Other:

• You must constantly tug at the steering wheel to tell the car you are paying attention to the road. There is also a camera above the rear-view mirror watching your face. You will be dinged if you don’t tug at the wheel or look at the screen to your right for too long. (Note: The screen is the place you must look to see your speed, your navigation map, your navigation path, ventilation controls, music, etc.) If you ignore the flashing blue signal on that screen or the audible warning beep for too long, you will get a Forced Disengagement. If you have 5 Force Disengagements, your FSD privileges will be suspended for exactly one week.
• I purchased my Model 3 in October of 2019. Tesla cars manufactured after spring of 2019 were equipped with compact “super” computers known as HW3. Starting recently, new Teslas are equipped with HW4 computers. I am seeing reports of new Teslas running FSD Supervised 12.5. I’m still at 12.3 and have not been offered this latest version of the software. Presently, Tesla is only releasing FSD Supervised 12.5 to its newest cars.

Anyone who has worked with older computers is aware that the manufacturers only update the operating systems of computers for about 5 years after purchase. Until I recently upgraded my 10-year-old iMac to a new Mac Mini, my operating system was no longer being updated. I could not upgrade to the latest version of Final Cut Pro video editing software and other new software, and I could no longer backup my iPhone to my computer. Certainly, such a situation cannot be allowed to happen with rolling computers (cars with sophisticated computer systems). The cars would be unsafe to drive and would have to be junked. This can work in other ways, too. I understand that up to now, FSD is not available for Teslas in China. I also understand that up to now, FSD is not available on the Cybertruck even though all of those sold until recently have been Foundation models sold at a $20,000 premium, which is supposed to include FSD. However, FSD should be coming to Cybertrucks very soon, and reportedly older Teslas, too.

I don’t have any trouble avoiding Forced Disengagements for local travel. However, for day-long cross-country travel, I am distracted by following the navigation, adjusting the music, etc. often enough that I have lost access to FSD twice during the summer.

Summary

Full Self Driving Supervised 12.3.6 is fabulous! It has amazing capabilities! My wife and I use it constantly even when driving for only a few blocks in the city. You just have to remember to choose your destination in the navigation system. It greatly reduces stress for long-distance driving. We hear from reports of FSD Supervised 12.5 that it is supposed to be even better. However, in the 2+ years we have been using FSD through multiple updates, there have been persistent issues that haven’t been addressed. It fails often enough that I cannot imagine its use in a robotaxi in the foreseeable future. I hope I am wrong.

If you are buying a new Tesla, Tesla has reactivated its referral program. If you find any of my articles helpful to you, please use my referral link: https://ts.la/arthur73734 (be sure to use it when you make your order). If you are buying a new Tesla and use my link, I believe you’ll receive $1,000 off the purchase price of a Model S or X, or $500 off the price of a Model 3 or Y. You will also get 3 months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised). Just be prepared to intervene immediately if it screws up.