The suspense continues. The long-awaited Full Self Driving Beta Version 10.69.3 should be arriving any day now. Yes, you've read that before. While it can be frustrating to some, it should demonstrate just how important this update is for Tesla. Elon Musk has already stated his confidence in the update and believes FSD is safer than human drivers.
Musk also announced during the third quarter earnings call that every FSD subscriber in the U.S. and Canada will get access to the program before the end of the year. That means the number of FSD vehicles operating is about to skyrocket. With regulators watching the program closely, Tesla must double and triple-check everything. When asked when FSD was coming, Musk tweeted, "Next week. It's actually a major release, so a lot more internal testing is needed before going to public beta."
Perhaps it's the decimals that are throwing people off. Usually, updates with two or more decimals are small that address minor bugs or allow access to slight enhancements. Given the long list of tweets Tesla's CEO has published promising significant developments, this update could be better suited to be a new number, like 11. However, Musk tweeted earlier this month, "10.69.3 will actually be a major upgrade. We're keeping .69 just because haha."
Many observers expected the "major upgrade" shortly after A.I. Day 2022 on September 30. Unfortunately, FSD enhancements played second fiddle to the unveiling of Optimus, the humanoid robot. Nevertheless, it was still impressive for the Autopilot program and the engineers behind the scenes. Tesla's director of the Autopilot program, Ashok Elluswamy, said, "FSD beta software is quite capable of driving the car. It should be able to navigate from parking lot to parking lot, city street driving, stopping for traffic lights and stops signs, negotiating with objects at intersections, making turns and so on."
FSD Beta 10.69.3 has been eagerly awaited every week since, as the tweets continue to pile up. Musk also doubled down on the improvements of the next FSD during the recent earnings call. He is sure that Tesla is well on its way to being fully autonomous and is preparing to challenge regulators to prove that this program will make roads safer. "Certainly, without a question whatsoever in my mind, next year. I think we'll also have enough data next year to be able to show to regulators that the car is safer than the average human," said Musk.
Release Date
Tesla has traditionally released FSD Beta updates toward the end of the week. It's possible we may see the first sightings of this beta this coming weekend when Tesla releases it to employees. Tesla will then slowly release to existing testers.
Other Features Included
It's almost certain that FSD Beta 10.69.3 will be based on update 2022.28 or 2022.36, which means that it will also bring some big features that are outside of FSD Beta.
This will be a big update for sure, not only for the improvements to FSD Beta, but all the additional features beta users have been without for the last couple of months.
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As Tesla update 2024.44.3 continues to roll out, we’re seeing more features in this update. While the update doesn’t include many new feature, it either improves existing features or rolls out a feature to new regions. Actually Smart Summon is rolling out to Europe, although with more strict restrictions. AutoPark is also rolling out to the UK and several other countries for the first time, and we’re now seeing improvements to Autopark arriving in North America and Europe.
As Tesla’s 2024.44.3 update continues to roll out, more features in the update are being revealed. While this update doesn’t introduce many entirely new features, it does refine existing features or expand the reach of others.
Notably, Actually Smart Summon is now rolling out in Europe, albeit with stricter regulations. Vision-based AutoPark is debuting in the UK and several other countries, while North America and Europe are receiving updates that further improve Autopark’s functionality.
Improvements to Autopark
As part of the same update, Tesla is making a batch of improvements to Autopark in Europe and North America. In the release notes, Tesla states that Autopark is receiving performance and visualization improvements. Unfortunately, Tesla doesn’t go into more detail here, but it sounds like these improvements could be the faster and more accurate Autopark enhancements Ashok Elluswamy talked about earlier this year.
Those improvements are expected to make Autopark more reliable, let it pick spots faster, move faster into them, and also shift between forward and reverse faster. The improvements would also let the vehicle park in tighter spots than before, with more accurate vision.
We’ll have to wait and see how this improved Autopark compares to the current version.
Your vehicle's Autopark performance and visualizatons have been improved.
Autopark in the UK and Other Countries
Countries in Europe that previously didn’t have access to Vision-Based Autopark, including the UK, will now have access to the new Autopark for the first time with update 2024.44.3 and later. This includes countries such as the UK, Ireland and Malaysia.
While these countries are receiving Autopark, it’s not clear whether it includes the Autopark improvements that other regions are receiving. The release notes don’t include the Autopark Improvements section in these countries, but that could be due to Tesla simplifying the release notes for these countries that are receiving Autopark for the first time.
With Autopark finally introduced in these regions, it’ll be the first time vehicles without ultrasonic sensors are capable of Autopark. Vision-Based Autopark is far more reliable, faster, and easier to use in more situations than the older USS-based solution.
Tesla has finally released Actually Smart Summon for Europe and the Middle East, albeit with several major restrictions. However, it's definitely a first step towards unlocking autonomy in Europe.
Europe’s autonomy laws are governed under UNECE regulation R79, which regulates autonomous features and is extremely restrictive in how autonomy can be used and applied. For example, the previous revision (Rev 4) of R79 required drivers to approve, with physical action, every decision made by an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) feature.
Limited Actually Smart Summon
Under Rev 5 of UNECE R79, Actually Smart Summon can actually function, but only to a limited degree. Owners have to be within 6 meters (19.5 feet) of the vehicle at all times, making it barely more usable than Dumb Summon (can we coin the term Dummon?).
In addition, you can only travel a total distance (under the regulation) of 100 meters (328 feet) - which means you’d have to run beside the vehicle or be inside it, rendering it mostly useless. However, Tesla has, for some reason, limited the total summon distance to 15-20m (50 to 65 feet) of travel. These limits are in sharp contrast to the distance limits of A.S.S. in North America.
Getting UNECE R79 Updated
Tesla has been hard at work getting R79 repealed or updated to allow for further autonomy after running demos for senior politicians earlier in the year. Back in March, we reported that updating DCAS regulations in Europe would help get FSD approved - but that covered driver assistance, not autonomy. In fact, Tesla was testing FSD with validation vehicles as far back as February of this year, hinting that Supervised FSD may be getting close.
Tesla FSD Validation Vehicle seen in Munich, Germany 👀
While FSD has a clear path forward in Europe, semi-autonomous features like Actually Smart Summon and Banish don’t just yet. The updated DCAS regulations do not cover semi-autonomy or autonomy and require clear interfaces, guidelines, and controls for drivers to be informed and engaged at all times.
It’ll take another big swing for Tesla to get autonomy regulations changed to allow for more semi-supervised autonomy like Actually Smart Summon - much less fully autonomous products like the Robotaxi Network, Cybercab, and Robovan.
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