Tesla Full Self Driving Supervised V12.6.4 — Going on 6 Years with My Model 3 – CleanTechnica

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I’ve been driving with Tesla’s Full Self Driving now for 3.5 years, probably going through 20 different versions. I use it obsessively on the busy roads and 12-lane Interstate in northern Utah. I use it driving cross country 1551 miles on mostly Interstate between Lindon, Utah, and Three Lakes in northern Wisconsin. I also use it for 5 months each summer here in rural northern Wisconsin.

My car just dodged a puddle in the road and braked for a deer crossing in front of me. I put my destination into the navigation and sit back while it drives as smoothly as and more accurately than the most experienced human driver using full concentration … most of the time. I marvel at how it moves left just enough to give the bicycle rider on my right breathing room and navigates perfectly around a big truck and trailer parked facing the wrong direction on my side of the road on my quite narrow rural street. On the super highway, it observes the slow-moving truck well ahead, moves into the passing lane, and quickly returns to the right-hand lane before an impatient fast-moving driver behind me is tempted to pass on the right. These are a result of fairly recent improvements in FSD.

I read announcements that Tesla is planning to initiate full driverless robotaxi service in geofenced areas of Austin, Texas, using a version of this software soon. How close am I to being able to read a book while FSD (no longer supervised) drives me more safely than I could drive myself? See below. It looks like it will never happen for my 2019 Model 3. Those of us who have lived through those 20-some versions of FSD were amazed what it could do when first released, and we continue to be amazed at the improvements we have seen during the whole journey, including just the last few days. However, we continue to see it fail on edge conditions. Some of the failures happen in situations that seem easy to fix, while in other situations, it’s hard to imagine a solution.

Some FSD Supervised faults

For example: FSD Supervised observes stop signs, speed limit signs, and traffic lights, including turn signals and responds appropriately. You get additional reassurance that it understands because it not only sees the signs and lights but also presents the correct icon representing the sign or light on the touchscreen. However, my Tesla does not yet slow down for 20 mph school zone speed limit signs with the big yellow alternating flashing lights. This is baffling to me! My only imagined explanation is that Tesla just hasn’t gotten around to programing the system to do it. They have team of hundreds of software engineers working on FSD and they haven’t had time to correct a glaring fault like this? Maybe there are no school zone speed limits in California or Austin, Texas.

For correcting other faults, it’s hard to imagine solutions. Remember my car neatly dodged a puddle in the road and braked for a deer. However, it also braked for some big tar stripes in the road which was not appropriate. We call this phantom braking. It even happens quite frequently when we don’t observe anything that could cause it. How to get the system to differentiate between true dangers and phantoms? I have no idea.

Another nagging problem with FSD Supervised is the occasional failure to get in the proper lane prescribed by the navigation at a stoplight or stop sign. Sometimes it will then even make a turn not prescribed by the navigation. However, it will recover taking a longer route to your destination.

Aggressiveness setting plusses and minuses

Aggressiveness has three settings: Chill, Average, and Hurry. I’m amazed how aggressively FSD finds a small spot between cars and changes lanes on a busy freeway. This is needed when you need to move right in time to exit on a multilane highway. However, I’m uncomfortable following the car in front of me so closely. It’s just too close, even in the Chill setting. Unfortunately, I can no longer get the over-speed amount that I set. I set the over-speed setting to 10 mph, but even in the Hurry mode, it never reaches 10 mph over like it did in earlier versions of FSD.

Do I have the latest version of Tesla’s FSD software?

No! Back in 2019–2020, Elon said that anyone with the latest cameras and HW3 computer would be able to rent their cars out as robotaxis within 12 months. At that time, Tesla agreed to upgrade owners with HW2 computers to HW3 computers at no cost. 5 years later, we seem to be no closer to full Level 5 automation on any Tesla cars. Not only that, but Tesla has recently been shipping cars with improved cameras and more powerful HW4 computers. Owners of HW3 computers like myself are now stuck on FSD V12 with no upgrade path for the better computers. HW4 computer owners are now using FSD V13. However, it is reassuring that we are still getting software upgrades with apparent improvements in FSD performance. It is also reassuring with schadenfreude to hear reports that FSD V13 users are not getting any quantitative improvement in performance.

How does Tesla know that drivers are paying attention to the road?

Since early versions of lane assistance software, Tesla has required drivers to apply a small amount of torque to the steering wheel to let the system know that the driver is paying attention to the road. This is a flawed system because the driver could be reading a book or texting with one hand and still apply the torque. I personally found applying torque to be very annoying because you had to apply just the right amount of torque. Too much and you would “break loose” from the system. Too little and it would say your hands aren’t on the wheel.

I addressed this problem by strapping a 2-lb steel weight to my steering wheel, which worked great for 5 years. However, Tesla has a much better way to monitor driver attention. There is a camera just above the mirror that observes the driver’s face and eyes. Tesla is very strict with this system. If you look away from the road, look at the navigation screen, or look down at your phone for more than a few seconds, you get a blue flashing warning at the top of the screen. If you persist with prohibited behavior, that is followed by a full-screen, flashing, red steering wheel; and then finally, disengagement from FSD. The system works great in daylight as long as the driver is not wearing dark sunglasses. I found this to be enough improvement that I have cut off and thrown out my steel weight. When I drive at night (rarely), I rest my hand on the crossbar of the steering wheel to apply the torque.

Tesla also punishes you if you are naughty more than 4 times. On the fifth time, you are sent to the corner of the room and made to sit on a stool wearing a dunce cap for exactly 7 days. During this period, you only have access to traffic-aware cruise control (TACC). You not only lose access to FSD, but you also get no access to steering assist. I am a good boy most of the time when driving locally, but on long-distance trips, I can get distracted getting my phone Bluetooth paired or something like that. I usually lose access to FSD and steering assist by the middle of the second day of a long trip. I then have to remember how to drive manually for the rest of the trip. It definitely makes me appreciate FSD. During the first 4 times you have bad behavior leading to a forced disengagement, you lose access to FSD until you pull off the freeway, stop, and put the car in park.

Why I still appreciate driving my 2019 Tesla Model 3 EV with 150,000 miles

We recently flew back to Utah for a few days for the graduation ceremony for our two granddaughters. We rented a very nice 2024 Mazda CX50 gasmobile for the three days. As we climbed a fairly steep grade on limited-access highway 40 near Park City, Utah, the speed dropped to 10 mph below the 70-mph set in the cruise control. There was a terrible whining noise as the car downshifted and painfully tried to regain the set speed. Similarly, when I went to pass a car on a two-lane highway with the Mazda, there was a noticeable delay before the whining began to get the power to pass the car. I am very spoiled by the instant, whisper-quiet, very strong acceleration I get in my dual-motor Model 3. And I don’t even have the performance model. Also, when I am pulling my 2500 lb ski boat out of the water at a boat ramp, I can barely feel it behind me. Renting a gas car is a reminder of how lucky we are to be normally driving an EV.

My granddaughter had a rather nice, old, reliable 2010 Toyota Camry. However, it did have just about 200,000 miles on it when it refused to go more than 4 mph. After a $148 diagnostic fee at the mechanic, I was informed that the timing chain and gear were shot and it would cost $4,000 for the repair. We sold the car to a junkyard for $700. I am so glad that my Tesla Model 3 has a simple electric motor with no timing chain.

Referral Program: 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.