"Much Better Than Beginner Driving"... Tesla's 10-Minute Hands-Free Autonomous Driving Sparks Buzz

SNS Reveals Autonomous Driving SW Demonstration Video
Performs Signal and Lane Changes Without Driver Intervention

American electric vehicle company Tesla has sparked attention by sharing footage on social media of so-called 'hands-free' driving, where both hands are completely off the steering wheel.

On the 18th (local time), Tesla uploaded a 5-minute video on X (formerly Twitter). The video demonstrates the Full-Self Driving (FSD) demo version of its autonomous driving support software on city roads in Austin, Texas. Considering the 5-minute video is played at speeds ranging from 2.5x to 50x faster, the actual driving time is estimated to be around 10 minutes.

Tesla's autonomous driving software FSD demonstration video
[Image source=TeslaX]

In the video, the driver inputs a destination on the display map while driving a Model S. Then, after activating the FSD feature, the driver removes both hands from the steering wheel and subsequently lifts both feet off the accelerator and brake pedals. The stationary vehicle then begins to steer itself and start driving.

Afterward, the Model S drives on the road without any driver intervention. It successfully handles traffic light changes, lane changes, and merging without issues, adjusting the vehicle’s speed according to the situation. The car smoothly enters a highway ramp after leaving the city roads. Tesla stated that the 'driver intervention required' feature was disabled in the demonstration vehicle.

In August, Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly turned off the driver intervention required feature during a live autonomous driving broadcast on his smartphone when he said he was “going to visit Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO, for a showdown.” However, that live stream was not successful due to poor filming methods and video quality, and several issues were found in the FSD system itself.

Tesla's autonomous driving software FSD demonstration video
[Image source=Provided by Tesla]

In response, Tesla has released an improved video related to the latest FSD beta. By properly showing the scene where hands are completely off the steering wheel, Tesla appears to emphasize its advanced autonomous driving technology once again.

However, disabling the driver intervention required feature is currently not possible for general Tesla customers. If the driver takes their hands off the steering wheel for a certain period, a warning is issued, and if ignored, the autonomous driving function is automatically disabled. This is to prevent past controversies such as driving under the influence or engaging in sexual activity while driving. Tesla stated, “Drivers must remain attentive during autonomous driving and be ready to take over control at any time.”

Tesla’s FSD has been continuously updated since its release in 2019 and is currently at version 11. There is also an FSD beta version capable of city autonomous driving. Tesla announced that the FSD beta shown in the demonstration video is V11.4.7, distributed since August.

The FSD version Musk used during the live broadcast is the unreleased version 12, which features a different 'pure artificial intelligence (AI) driving.' It excludes any human developer 'driving command' code and trains the AI solely with driving video footage.

Experts predict that FSD V12 will be commercialized around next year. Musk stated during the Q3 earnings call on the 18th, “I see significant potential in V12,” and added, “We will continue to invest in AI development, which is a game changer.”

In fact, Tesla recently added a feature in the European market that uses an interior camera to detect driver drowsiness and issue warnings. This indicates there are no significant technical issues in verifying whether the driver is focused on driving.

A Tesla investor in Korea said, “There is a high possibility that Tesla will apply ‘hands-free’ autonomous driving in FSD V12,” and predicted, “Updates will be made so that warning sounds do not go off even if the steering wheel is not held.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.