Tesla Full Self-Driving V9 Completion ‘Hopefully’ by April, Says Elon Musk

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has shared some new updates regarding the status of the company’s Full Self-Driving add-on for Autopilot.

According to Musk on Tuesday evening, he reiterated the FSD beta build he’s using “normally” can drive him around without any interventions. He also teased the next version is a “big step change” beyond version 8.1.

“FSD beta build V8.1 normally drives me around with no interventions. Next version is a big step change beyond that. Tesla is solving a major part of real-world AI. This is not widely known,” said Musk.

In a follow-up, Musk said, “Yes, beta will be offered much more widely when version 9 is done, hopefully next month.”

Earlier today, Musk poked fun at an old ad comparing the ‘Horse vs Automobile’, while adding, “There was still a surprisingly high usage of horses in 1940, but the trend was obvious.” He also agreed with a reply from @teslaownersSV that guying a car without FSD would be like buying a horse, with a simple “yup”.

It’s worth noting these dates should be considered on “Elon time”, as in the past Musk had made promises for Full Self-Driving. In late December, he said FSD beta would be coming to Canada “very soon”, however it has been over two months since that update, and Canadians continue to wait for a FSD beta release, which currently is limited to the United States.

Back in December, Musk also said he was “extremely confident” there would be a Full Self-Driving release in 2021. Let’s wait and see if Tesla can make this happen.

Currently, FSD costs $10,000 USD in the United States and includes standard Autopilot features, but adds:

  • Navigate on Autopilot
  • Auto Lane Change
  • Autopark
  • Summon
  • Full Self-Driving Computer
  • Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control
  • Autosteer on city streets (coming later this year)

Earlier this week, Musk said FSD subscriptions would be launching in Q2.