Tesla offers two futuristic-sounding suites of automation capabilities known as Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD). On the surface, their names may imply to everyday drivers similar self-driving functionalities. In reality however, Autopilot and FSD differ substantially in history, technical abilities, limitations, market availability and ongoing progress toward fully autonomous cars of tomorrow. This in-depth guide will decode their differences to help clarify what sets Tesla‘s driver assistance technologies apart.
A Historical Timeline Contrasting Progress of Autopilot Versus Full Self-Driving
While casual observers may group together all evolution of Tesla‘s vehicle automation, Autopilot and Full Self-Driving actually showcase distinct eras marked by notable milestones:
Autopilot Origin (October 2015) – Tesla officially launched its "Autopilot" driver assistance system to great fanfare, delivering auto-steering, lane changing upon driver confirmation, adaptive cruise control based on surrounding traffic and autonomous self-parking [1]. This made Tesla the first automaker introducing mature L2 autonomy to consumers at scale.
Major Enhancements Through 2016-2018 – Via over-the-air software updates in the initial years post-launch, Tesla steadily augmented Autopilot‘s capabilities. Improvements included tighter integration with onboard navigation data, exiting highways autonomously and streamlining the user experience for requesting lane changes [2].
By mid 2018, evidence emerged that properly engaged Autopilot could reduce driver fatigue and curb mistakes that contribute to collisions [3]. However, critics also blamed improper safeguards and design choices for potentially encouraging misuse or overconfidence in automation [4].
Full Self-Driving Unveiled (April 2019) – CEO Elon Musk unveiled plans taking vehicle autonomy a significant step further. Dubbed "Full Self-Driving", the vaporware-sounding upgrade promised enabling autonomous navigation on urban roads and through complex intersections – not just controlled highway environments [5].
Two Diverging Paths (2019 Onward) – With Autopilot maturing as an ever-present driver assistance system seeing widespread adoption, Tesla split resources toward creating new driving autonomy capabilities fitting its grand Full Self-Driving vision. Teams focused on core Autopilot tweaks to improve existing highway functionality, while FSD development uniquely concentrated on unlocking urban street-level automation using custom neural network training and expanded sensor fusion [6].
Ongoing FSD Beta Testing (October 2020-Present) – After initial FSD pack pre-orders in 2019, preliminary beta releases kicked off limited public testing cycles by late 2020. Tesla continues gradually granting access to requestors while warning testers they must actively monitor current FSD software at all times [7]. This constrained opt-in testing marks relatively early progress, though truly hands-free autonomous urban driving remains elusive years later.
The visual timeline below summarizes major waypoints in the diverging evolution of Tesla‘s dual automation suites:
Fig 1. Key capability milestones differentiating maturation focus areas for Autopilot vs. Full Self-Driving
Comparing Driving Capabilities: Where Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Diverge
Beyond rollout timeframes, exactly how do core Autopilot and Full Self-Driving abilities differ? Analyzing where each system operates sheds further light:
Auto Steering
Both can steer vehicles within clearly visible lanes on controlled access highways without human input. However, FSD builds in more advanced object recognition and path planning algorithms better equipped to interpret partially worn road markings in denser urban environments [8].
Traffic Light/Stop Sign Detection
A major gap lies in recognizing traffic lights and stop signs – FSD implements AI specifically tailored to handle intersections absent from highway-focused Autopilot [9]. This expands potential automation to multidimensional city/suburban roads.
Automatic Lane Changes
While Autopilot allows lane changes upon driver tapping turn signals, FSD takes further initiative in its navigation suggestions based on route mapping and surrounding vehicles. Tesla touts future enhancements where FSD would determine optimal lanes automatically with no human prompt at all [10].
Vehicle Summoning
In a parking lot, both systems can navigate to a driver‘s GPS location without passengers aboard – a feature branded "Smart Summon" for FSD. However, Tesla places slower speed limits on basic Autopilot Summon without FSD‘s more robust sensor fusion and activity classification [11].
Self-Parking
Autopilot and FSD share automated perpendicular and parallel parking assuming sufficient room and detectable spaces – but a key planned upgrade to FSD is enabling vehicles to autonomously drive to find suitable parking locations in the first place [12].
Automatic Off-Ramp Exits
Transitioning between highways and intersecting streets represents a very challenging leap toward full urban autonomy. While described as a future FSD target, Autopilot currently lacks any ability to maneuver across traffic onto off-ramps and new multi-lane roads [13].
The table below summarizes Tesla‘s claimed capabilities for each system:
| Driving Automation Features | Basic Autopilot | Full Self-Driving (FSD) |
|---|---|---|
| Auto Steering | Yes | Enhanced |
| Traffic Light/Stop Sign Recognition | No | Yes |
| Automatic Lane Changes | Requires Blinker | Automatic Suggestions |
| Advanced Summoning | Basic Summon | Smart Summon |
| Self-Parking | Yes | Enhanced Seeking |
| Automatic Off-Ramp Exits | No | Planned Add-On |
Fig 2. Core driving capability differences between Autosteer versus upcoming Full Self-Driving additions
Reviewing where basic Autopilot ends and Full Self-Driving aspirations take over demonstrates significant gaps between present-day limitations and Tesla‘s vision for full urban autonomy.
How Safe Are Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Today?
Safety represents the most critical consideration around vehicle automation on public roads. Here we must examine available data behind Tesla‘s driver assistance systems along with reasonable precautions.
Autopilot Safety Track Record
Per reporting by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), Tesla vehicles equipped with Autopilot technology registered nearly 10 times fewer airbag deployments from crashes than all vehicles where automation was not a factor [14].
However independent studies also indicate over-reliance on current Autopilot can increase distraction outside its operational design domain of highways [15]. Researchers call for stronger user safeguards and warnings against misuse – backing recent moves by Tesla to add cabin cameras monitoring driver attention [16].
Full Self-Driving Safety Concerns
As cutting-edge beta software facing limited real-world exposure, FSD data remains much spottier. However NHTSA did launch an investigation after citing vehicle crashes involving FSD across multiple states [17].
Tesla also faces lawsuits doubting whether FSD‘s existing capabilities provide true full autonomy ready for hands-free operation [18]. The automaker itself admits FSD cannot drive unattended, and should not serve as an excuse for drivers foregoing engagement [19].
Open questions around Full Self-Driving readiness also draw scrutiny from traffic safety advocates and regulators who expect thorough, transparent proof of extensive testing prior to consumer activation [20].
While imperfect, present-day Tesla automation delivers verified collision reductions when properly used as intended – so accurately setting expectations and encouraging responsible adoption appear vital for consumer safety.
12 Must-Know Facts Comparing Tesla Autopilot and Full Self-Driving
Given their distinct capabilities and deployment timelines, how can everyday drivers make sense of Autopilot versus Full Self-Driving? These 12 facts quickly highlight key differentiators:
- Autopilot focuses specifically on enhancing highway portion of drives, while FSD targets autonomy across all road types.
- Unlike FSD‘s $12,000 add-on pricing, Autopilot comes standard on appropriately configured Teslas.
- Base Autopilot utilizes fewer cameras and sensors than the 360-degree vision FSD equipment.
- FSD aims to eventually drive hands-free for entire journeys; Autopilot is limited to highways and requires regular human supervision.
- To date, FSD beta testing has logged over 100 million miles – a mere fraction of real-world mileage accumulated under Autopilot activation.
- While both can steer and change lanes on highways automatically to some degree, only FSD recognizes traffic lights and stop signs critical to urban areas.
- Unique core competencies like Smart Summon parking, automatic off-ramp exits and street-level turns sit squarely in the FSD roadmap.
- Major Autopilot milestones came between 2015-2018 – FSD news centers around preliminary beta releases as recently as 2020-2022.
- According to NHTSA, suitable Autopilot use shows strong statistical safety benefits per miles driven so far.
- Unlike publicly deployed Autopilot, FSD suffers from extremely limited data given restricted unfinished testing.
- Autopilot enjoys widespread global use, while FSD remains geofenced exclusively to the United States.
- Continually expanding new Autopilot capabilities focuses mainly on refinement for highways – FSD constitutes the testing ground tackling vastly increased complexity of urban autonomy.
I hope these Autopilot and FSD clarifications help provide helpful guidance choosing Tesla‘s automation technologies! Always remember responsible operation safeguarding all passengers and bystanders remains mandatory no matter what capabilities modern vehicle automation enables under the hood today or years down the road. Please reach out with any other questions around comparing Tesla‘s offerings beyond this introductory overview!
