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Tesla Expecting To Have Full Self Driving By The End Of This Year In US And Europe

Tesla's FSD package is in the top ranks for autonomous performance; however, Elon Musk wants to go further and hopes to launch the first truly autonomous electric vehicles later this year.
Tesla FSD, Courtesy of Tesla Inc.

It is not actually the first time we hear Musk speak good things about FSD and autonomous driving; Tesla's FSD Beta package has positioned itself as one of the best in the industry thanks to its continuous improvements and updates. However, we all know that it is only an intermediate step to achieve the greater goal of full autonomy. Elon Musk himself has recently announced that all his efforts are focused on offering Teslas with full autonomous driving capacity before the end of this year, 2022. Will it be another promise or finally become reality?

Most of the new cars in the world currently offer level 2 autonomous driving systems. According to international safety protocols, level 2 allows the car to take certain actions autonomously, but it is the driver who must always be aware and take responsibility as regarding everything that happens in the car while circulating. In other words, the car can turn, accelerate and brake on its own, but under no circumstances can the driver relinquish all responsibility to the car itself, always as per level 2 protocols.

Tesla Model 3, Courtesy of Tesla Inc.

According to the legislation approved this year, the European Union gives the green light to the circulation of autonomous vehicles with up to level 3 autonomous driving, the very previous step to total, full autonomous driving. Few cars in the world actually have this certification, the first of them being Mercedes Benz, and as a matter of fact no certification for Tesla yet. Despite this fact Elon Musk is confident they will be able to launch the full Tesla FSD on an international scale; off course, they make sure that American drivers will be able to have this FSD option, while for Europe there may still be complications, depending on the regulatory authorities. In the end, it is each member country within the European Union that determines the actual conditions to allow circulation at level 4.

All this information basically emerged as a result of an interview in which Elon Musk acknowledges that his greatest efforts are focused right now - before the end of the year - on putting the Starship into orbit and on having cars that can circulate on their own, that is, FSD. Regarding this second hope, he specified that he hopes to carry out a general launch this year, although it must be remembered that European drivers still do not enjoy the latest updates of the FSD Beta program, since up to this day they have only been deployed among American drivers, and not among all Tesla owners so far.

Tesla has been very strict about who to actually provide the latest enhancements to its FSD Beta package: the first drivers to enjoy such advantages are those who obtain a high driving safety ratio. The latest update, known as 10.69.2, includes a series of improvements and new features that take Tesla's autonomous driving capability a step further. The problem that nobody is actually talking about is how much it will finally cost to have such an advanced software feature in the car: after the latest revision of the FSD package, Tesla increased the price considerably, now at a cost of $15,000.

All images courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Nico Caballero is the VP of Finance of Cogency Power, specializing in solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.

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