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.
However most importantly is that the release also addresses a bigger safety issue. Tesla’s FSD software has been under investigation by NHTSA for certain safety issues and was subject to recall in mid-February of this year. The recall would be addressed via a Tesla issued OTA (over the air) software update.
In the release notes for FSD Beta v11, Tesla says, “In accordance with a recent recall (campaign #23V085 for U.S. and #2023-063 for Canada), Tesla is making improvements to the following specific behaviors within FSD Beta,” and lists a number of items addressed.
The four main items addressed under this portion of the release notes include improved decision logic when proceeding through or stopping at certain yellow lights, improvements leading up to stop sign intersections, improvements to speed adjustment when entering speed zones and detecting speed limit signs, and updates for certain scenarios where the vehicle may drive straight when in a turn only lane.
It appears Tesla will then be in compliance with NHTSA’s recall mandate if the FSD Beta v11 addresses those issues. Since Tesla does not have a press relations or media department, Yahoo Finance has not been able to confirm this report with Tesla, however Yahoo Finance did reach out to a Tesla sales representative for further information.
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Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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