On Friday, we finally got a glimpse at a long-awaited feature that Elon Musk rolled out this week for a select group of Tesla owners: Full Self-Driving mode.
Only a small group of Tesla-chosen drivers with safe driving records were given the software update to test the new autonomous feature, known as FSD, which goes beyond what's currently available on Tesla's advanced driving system, Autopilot.
As longtime Tesla vlogger Tesla Raj showed in the video above, FSD now lets his electric Model X navigate itself on city roads. Previously Autopilot, which featured abilities like autosteering, braking, and lane changing, only worked on highways and major thoroughfares with clear lane markings.
Now with the beta update, the car can maintain the speed limit and its position in the lane, stop at stop signs, make turns, and even more on its own. Though it's called "full self-driving," the driver still has to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, so it's not a true autonomous driving experience.
Other early FSD testers posted their experiences on Twitter and YouTube:
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It wasn't all fawning Tesla fanatics: One video showed how road construction and one-way streets threw off the self-driving mode.
The price for adding the FSD package to the car is going up next week — from $8,000 to $10,000 — as Musk announced on Twitter Thursday evening. During Tesla's latest earnings call, Musk said he hoped to make FSD available to even more early testers next week before a wider rollout at the end of the year.
