Tesla disappoints owners with updated language around ‘Full Self-Driving Beta’
Tesla has updated some of the language around its “Full Self-Driving Beta” program following the NHTSA recall, and some owners are quite disappointed.
If you were to take the pulse of Tesla owners on social media this morning, you would find that many of them are confused or even disappointed.
We are seeing a lot of comments like this one from well-known FSD Beta tester Chuck Cook:
The concern arises from a new support page that Tesla created regarding the NHTSA recall for FSD Beta earlier this month.
On the support page, Tesla admits that FSD Beta can sometimes break the rules of the road, which is something that anyone who used the system already knows, but the biggest concern for Tesla owners seems to be Tesla qualifying the system as a “level 2 driver assist system”:
FSD Beta is an SAE Level 2 driver support feature that can provide steering and braking/acceleration support to the driver under certain operating limitations. With FSD Beta, as with all SAE Level 2 driver support features, the driver is responsible for operation of the vehicle whenever the feature is engaged and must constantly supervise the feature and intervene (e.g., steer, brake or accelerate) as needed to maintain safe operation of the vehicle.
Tesla always qualified it as such, but some believe that the automaker is saying that it will always be “Level 2.”
The company also confirmed that it has stopped the expansion of the FSD Beta program until it propagated the “recall update”.
Electrek’s Take
Everyone knows I’m not the biggest fan of FSD Beta. The very first tweet I sent to Elon Musk after he unblocked me last week is to suggest Tesla should offer refund for FSD:
With that said, I am not particularly concerned about what Tesla is saying on this new support page.
Yes, it does make it sound like “FSD Beta” is only intended to be “Level 2,” but that’s the beta. In my view, it doesn’t go against what Tesla has said in the past. Under the beta, Tesla is trying circumvent a lot of complications and regulations that come with anything more than a level 2 driver-assist system, but the goal is to use the program to eventually take it out of beta and become a level 4 or 5 system.
Now whether Tesla can achieve that is a completely different question, and I have my doubts, but I don’t think anything changed here.
I still believe Tesla needs to offer the option to be reimbursed for people who bought the FSD package and still don’t have the beta or are disappointed in the beta since it’s nowhere near what Tesla promised years ago.
I think that will go a long way to create some goodwill as the inevitable lawsuits start to pile up.
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Hyundai is about to launch a new electric SUV in China. With its big debut coming up, Hyundai just dropped a sneak peek, and it looks like it could be the IONIQ 4. Check it out for yourself in the video below.
Is Hyundai teasing the IONIQ 4?
We caught our first glimpse of the new EV model last month after Beijing Hyundai released a few official “spy” photos.
Despite the camouflage, you can see a few design elements, like a light bar across the front, slim LED headlights, and a closed-off grille. At first, it almost looks like a smaller version of the IONIQ 9, Hyundai’s first three-row electric SUV, but with a much sportier, shaped profile.
Beijing Hyundai released a new teaser for the upcoming electric SUV this week. The video shows “a wave of high-end operations” as the vehicle dances across the snow.
The video highlights features like real-time torque control, high-speed cornering, and the SUV’s impressive body control while driving around cones.
Hyundai’s new electric SUV is being called “OE” internally, according to The Korean Car Blog, suggesting it could be an IONIQ model.
All other Hyundai IONIQ EV models were also codenamed with an “E” internally, which is raising speculation that this could be the IONIQ 4.
Like most global OEMs, Hyundai is fighting to compete in an intense Chinese EV market, which is dominated by domestic automakers like BYD.
Hyundai opened its first overseas R&D center last year in China to spearhead its comeback. It will work with local suppliers and tech companies to develop EVs designed for Chinese buyers. The new electric SUV is expected to launch in China later this year, followed by three new energy vehicles, including EVs and EREVs.
Beijing Hyundai will release more information on April 16, with the electric SUV set to “challenge the limit of driving performance.”
What do you think of Hyundai’s new electric SUV? Is this the IONIQ 4? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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Charge point provider char.gy has secured a £130 million contract to install 6,000 curbside EV chargers for Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) – the UK’s largest installation of its kind.
London-based char.gy has also been awarded a 15-year contract to operate and maintain the charging network.
Installing Level 2 chargers curbside, where most drivers in the UK park, will enable more people to take advantage of cheaper charging rates while juicing up their EVs overnight. (charg.gy’s pay as you go night tariff, between midnight and 7 am, is £0.39/kWh, compared to its £0.59/kWh day tariff.)
John Lewis, chief executive of char.gy, said the project is “a huge moment for the UK and its EV ambitions. This partnership alone will empower thousands of residents to confidently make the switch to electric vehicles, knowing they have easy access to chargers.”
Brighton and Hove City Council is among the first to tap into the government’s Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund, designed to help English local authorities roll out charging solutions for residents without off-street parking. Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood said making EV charging as accessible as possible is “crucial to making the switch to electric a success.”
The UK now has over 75,000 public EV chargers, according to the Department for Transport—and it looks like the country’s on pace to hit its 2030 target. Back in December, the National Audit Office said the rollout is “on track” to meet the DfT’s estimate that at least 300,000 chargers will be needed by the end of the decade.
Read more: Meet the UK’s largest solar + storage EV charging ‘Superhub’
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