'Full Self-Driving' Teslas Still Can't Reverse. That May Change Soon

Tesla has hyped up FSD as the future of driving for years. Soon, Tesla says it'll finally be able to drive in reverse.

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Tim Levin

By: Tim Levin

Sep 5, 2024 at 5:00pm ET

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Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" system will gain the ability to reverse in October, the automaker said.
In a post on X detailing upcoming features, Tesla also said that FSD will be able to automatically park soon.
Tesla's self-driving efforts are under the microscope as it gears up to reveal a robotaxi in October.

Elon Musk has hyped up Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) software for years, but it's still a work in progress with major limitations. For one, it requires constant driver supervision as it navigates the world, making it not autonomous at all, actually. It still makes hair-raising mistakes, too.

What's more, FSD can't reverse, which I'd argue is a pretty important skill for any system calling itself "Full Self-Driving." However, according to Tesla, that's about to change. On Wednesday, the Tesla AI X account posted a roadmap for future feature releases that includes "Reverse in FSD" in October.

That capability seems pretty key for Tesla's lofty goal to deploy millions of Teslas as driverless taxis someday soon. Robotaxis operated by Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous-vehicle unit, can and do reverse. Plus, backing up is just a very normal part of everyday driving. Just this morning, I reversed out of my parking spot. On that very same drive, I backed up a few feet to let a car in front of me parallel park. The other day, I overshot an intersection and scooted backward a bit to get out of a crosswalk.

This is pretty basic stuff that FSD, despite all the hype and ambitious promises around it, can't do yet. Remember: For years, Tesla owners have been forking over thousands of dollars to buy the prototype feature under the assumption it will live up to its name soon enough. FSD can do some impressive stuff, to be sure—like navigate along a route while paying attention to traffic lights, other cars and pedestrians. But Tesla drivers can't take a nap at the wheel or anything like that, which would be the mark of a true autonomous system. Drivers remain responsible for everything it does, so even when it's controlling the wheel and accelerator, it isn't legally "driving."

Some other details from the roadmap: This month, the Cybertruck will finally get FSD capability, nearly a year after its release. In October, FSD-enabled Teslas will be able to automatically park and un-park themselves. Early next year, FSD will launch in China and Europe, assuming regulators give it the green light. And all of this is contingent on Tesla hitting its deadlines, which the automaker rarely does.

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Will Tesla nail these milestones when it says it will? That's anybody's guess. Musk said that a Tesla would be able to drive from New York to Los Angeles without a driver by 2018.

But the timing of this roadmap and the new features likely isn't accidental.

What do you think?

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Tesla plans to reveal its purpose-built robotaxi on October 10. That's put Tesla's self-driving efforts under more intense scrutiny than ever. So the automaker likely wants to assure the world it's making progress on autonomous driving and not just pumping out vaporware.

Contact the author: tim.levin@insideevs.com

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