After the long-awaited Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta 10 started rolling out last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed on Twitter that FSD would be moving into public beta around September 24, with a ‘Request’ button for the beta becoming available to Tesla owners who have purchased the Full Self-Driving upgrade.
Musk has been hinting at a public release for the FSD beta since August. Following the announcement, Musk clarified that beta access would only be granted following a driving behavior assessment using the Tesla insurance calculator.
In response to a tweet from Tesla board member Hiro Mizuno (@hiromichimizuno), Musk also offered a word of warning to Tesla owners that join the public beta once it goes live: “Any beta user who isn’t super careful will get booted” from the program.
Ironically, yes at this time. FSD beta system at times can seem so good that vigilance isn’t necessary, but it is. Also, any beta user who isn’t super careful will get booted.
2000 beta users operating for almost a year with no accidents. Needs to stay that way.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 18, 2021
Musk also expressed his agreement with Mizuno, in that ironically, at this time, “you must be a good driver not to drive.” Even though FSD “at times can seem so good that vigilance isn’t necessary, […] it is,” added Musk in his tweet.
FSD beta users are putting in the work to test and perfect the semi-autonomous driving software so it eventually gets to a point where driver vigilance isn’t even necessary. With the FSD beta opening up to the public, the number of beta testers will grow exponentially.
Musk went on to reveal that 2,000 testers have been “operating for almost a year with no accidents” during the private beta, and stressed that it “needs to stay that way” moving forward.
As Tesla opens testing up to the public, the FSD beta has finally started making its way up north to Canada. While Tesla has been running a private FSD beta in Canada since last year, it may be some time before we see a public beta launch north of the border.
