Tesla’s newest iteration of its autonomous driving system is still not fully self-driving – and according to some brand-new reports, engineers are taking a step back after several major issues with the 10.3 version of FSD that was trying to emerge from beta.
In coverage today, Richard Lawler at The Verge cites a tweet by Elon Musk that referenced “some issues,” and suggested that Tesla teams are going back to the drawing board with the prior version, 10.2.
“Please note, this is to be expected with beta software,” Musk wrote. “It is impossible to test all hardware configs in all conditions with internal QA, hence public beta.”
One of these issues in Lawler’s coverage is characterized as “phantom forward collision warnings.”
While it may be better to have false alarm collision warnings than insufficient collision warning coverage, it’s easy to see how a rear-end accident could result from these types of false alarms.
Other issues mentioned include a “disappearing Autosteer feature,” as well as cruise control issues and an occasional “Autopilot panic,” vague language evoking images of Toyota’s ghost acceleration problem of a decade past.
Lawler also reveals that Tesla’s 10.3 version was messing around with unique driver profiles. That sophistication could have contributed to more gray areas and potential driving problems with the software.
Through all of the development, Tesla has continued to stress that these are not fully autonomous systems. Drivers have to be sitting up front and ready to take control. Drivers who have been forward on their skis in testing the equipment aggressively have died.
Now, with engineers continuing to work on Tesla FSD, the stock seems to be faring well despite these setbacks, with Tesla price rising over 10% during the last month, from around $800 to over $950.
In other words, Tesla is still a leader in electric vehicle design, and a blue-chip stock that continues to demonstrate massive growth in a chaotic automotive industry.