Skip to main content

Watch this Tesla drive from SF to LA with almost no intervention

A Tesla enthusiast has posted a video showing a Model 3 Performance vehicle traveling from San Francisco to Los Angeles, California in Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta mode, with almost no human intervention necessary during the entire trip.

The video (above), spotted by Teslarati, has been sped up to compress the 380-mile journey int0 15 minutes of footage, though it’s still easy to see the vehicle’s driving decisions play out on its touchscreen display.

Tesla began a limited FSD beta rollout in late October 2020, though the electric car company said the feature requires additional driver caution, warning them to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road while the vehicle is in motion.

The only apparent intervention during the SF-to-LA trip took place when the vehicle approached some debris in the road. Video poster World Mars Catalog (WMC) said the debris “popped up suddenly after a car moved out of the way,” adding, “I couldn’t wait to see if FSD would avoid it and had to make sure to move over myself.”

The Tesla fan also said that at one point his car “exhibited some strange behavior and changed into the adjacent lane,” adding that while he should’ve perhaps intervened, he was monitoring the situation closely and felt it was safe to continue without taking control.

WMC acknowledged that while “the drive was not perfect … it was such an impressive milestone that I had to share it anyway.”

And, yes, according to the video, the drive is certainly remarkable, though it should be noted that there’s still much development work to be done — and regulatory hoops to jump through — before our streets become full of highly autonomous vehicles that let you simply sit back and relax.

FSD offers additional driver-assist features over Tesla’s current Autopilot offering. For example, it lets you navigate on Autopilot, change lane automatically, park automatically, direct your vehicle in or out of a tight space via a command issued by the mobile app or key, recognize and respond to traffic lights and stop signs, and autonomously navigate city streets.

In a recent interview, Tesla boss Elon Musk said that in his own experience of using FSD, he’s able to “go through a very complicated series of intersections and narrow roads, without ever touching any of the controls. All the way to work and back.”

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Ex-Apple employee pleads guilty to nabbing Apple Car secrets
The Apple logo is displayed at the Apple Store June 17, 2015 on Fifth Avenue in New York City

A former Apple employee on Monday pled guilty to the theft of trade secrets from the tech firm.

The material stolen by Xiaolang Zhang was linked to Apple’s work on its first-ever automobile, a project that’s been in and out of the headlines for years though never officially confirmed by the company.

Read more
Check out Baidu’s futuristic robotaxi
Baidu's next-generation autonomous robotaxi.

Chinese tech giant Baidu says its next-generation autonomous taxi features the capabilities of a "skilled driver with 20 years of experience.”

The Beijing-based company, which operates a ridesharing service similar to Uber’s, unveiled the all-electric Apollo RT6 at a special event on Wednesday, July 20.

Read more
A weird thing just happened with a fleet of autonomous cars
A passenger getting into a Cruise robotaxi.

In what must be one of the weirder stories linked to the development of autonomous vehicles, a fleet of Cruise self-driving cars gathered together at an intersection in San Francisco earlier this week, parked up, and blocked traffic for several hours. And to be clear: No, they weren't supposed to do that.

Some observers may have thought they were witnessing the start of the robot uprising, but the real reason for the mishap was more prosaic: An issue with the platform's software.

Read more