Tesla (TSLA) started rolling out the new version 12.4.2 of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software to external beta testers yesterday.
Elon Musk previously said that it would be deployed to non-employee testers on the weekend but it got delayed by a couple of days. Tesla employees have been testing it since Thursday last week.
The rollout of FSD v12.4.2 (2024.15.10) to external testers suggests that Tesla was satisfied with internal testing and felt safe to release it to non-employees.
Like the previous FSD version 12.4.1, the rollout of v12.4.2 is also apparently slow. More than 24 hours after the start of its release to external Tesla owners, TeslaFi.com tracking shows only 3 confirmed installations of the FSD v12.4.2 (firmware version 2024.15.10) out of a total of 20,065 data-contributing vehicles. TeslaScope.com tracking shows no installations yet.
Tesla is most probably cautious with the first wave of external testing. Tesla might expand the user base for FSD 12.4.2 after the first batch proves to be a good move.
According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the rollout of FSD v12.4.2 got delayed because this version — although —had significantly fewer interventions but lacked a smooth drive. Elon Musk wrote a the following post on X:
Sorry for the delay. This release had far fewer interventions, but suffered in driving smoothness.
Part of the issue was too much training on interventions and not enough on normal driving.
It’s like a doctor training too much on patients in the emergency room vs training on preventative care.
Our next-gen AI model after this has a lot of promise: ~5X increase in parameter count, which is very difficult to achieve without upgrading the vehicle inference computer.
Elon Musk on FSD v12.4.2 and the next-gen Tesla Autopilot AI Model
FSD v12.4.2 First Impressions
It’s becoming a norm when Tesla rolls out an FSD update to a limited non-employee group of Tesla owners, they are usually Tesla influencers, YouTubers, and retail investors. FSD (Supervised) v12.4.2 is no different.
This strategy also gives Tesla expert reviews from experienced FSD beta testers and additional video data to analyze issues and bugs as well. This limited circle is also known as the Original FSD Beta testers. Original FSD testers can be identified by a camera (camcorder) icon in the middle of their car’s center touchscreen when the vehicle is on Autopilot (see image below).
Dirty Tesla is from the group of original testers. He posted a detailed test video on YouTube. He shared more useful information in small video clips showing a specific scenario and its explanation.
He tested FSD 12.4.2 on unmarked dirt roads. The result was mildly surprising, as Autopilot drove good dirt roads with this version of FSD. Dirty Tesla shared the following timelapse video of the FSD v12.4.2 drive on dirt roads.
However, at a left turn on these roads, Autopilot got stuck. Accoding to the FSD beta tester, it has gone through the same left turn many times before but was totally confused with this latest version.
Another FSD tester from the original testers group Black Tesla / YouTube gave his first impressions of the drive in a half-hour long video (watch below).
In his FSD 12.4.2 test drives, he found out that Phantom Braking was almost non-existent. Despite the shadows this unexpected braking behavior did not take place in these initial tests.
Black Tesla also gave his own ranking to FSD 12.4.2 in four different areas. He gave it 9 out of 10 for Comfort, Confidence, Decision-Making, and Safety.
In the previous FSD version 12.4.1, Chuck Cook found out that now the system has now improved in quick decision making. He extensively tested this version on a complex unprotected left turn (UPL). Chuck has received FSD v12.4.2 on his 2020 Tesla Model Y but is away from his vehicle for a few weeks.
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 to the first wave of non-employee beta testers (watch and read their first impressions and more).){kind=link}