How Tesla insurance determines 'good' drivers for FSD Beta

By Henry Farkas

Those of us who paid for Full Self-Driving but who were not included in the initial test groups, Tesla employees and carefully selected customers, will get access to the BUTTON on Friday, September 24th.

Tesla insurance

But the BUTTON doesn't mean that you will be added to the widened group of beta testers. You have to earn it. Here's how.

This article is likely of interest only to people who paid for FSD, are in the US and who want to volunteer to teach the computer how to drive. I want to stress that this is a volunteer job. You won't earn a penny for doing this.

Pushing the button is not enough. You have to agree to allow Tesla insurance to absorb data from your driving for a week. Then Tesla will decide if it wants you in the expanded group of beta testers.

Remember, becoming a beta tester doesn't mean that your car can drive itself without your intervention. Quite the reverse. Tesla is looking for volunteers who will teach the neural network how to drive like a professional chauffeur. That's professional chauffeur, not professional race car driver.

Factors Tesla Insurance Uses

Luckily for us, a while back Reddit user /u/Callump01 reverse engineered the Tesla app to determine exactly which events Tesla uses when determining a driver's safety rating.

Callump01 was able to determine that Tesla uses these metrics when determining a driver's premium:

  • ABS Activation - Number of times ABS is activated
  • Hours Driven - Average daily driving time
  • Forced Autopilot Disengagements - Number of times Autopilot is disabled due to ignored alerts
  • Forward Collision Warnings - Number of times car detects a potential forward collision
  • Unsafe Following Time - Portion of time spent at an unsafe following distance
  • Intensity of Acceleration and Braking - Speed variance due to extreme acceleration and braking. Shown on a scale from 0-10 as measured against Tesla's internal fleet.

So here's what to do during the week where you are being evaluated by the insurance software.

Drive places. If your car is parked all the time, the software won't be able to assess your driving skill.

Engage FSD whenever possible. Tesla will want to recruit volunteers who are actually interested in using FSD. Elon Musk has said that someone who uses Autopilot would fall into the “good" category.

Drive on city streets and country roads. Autopilot is already pretty good at driving on limited access highways.

Don't accelerate aggressively unless you must do so to avoid a crash. Insurance algorithms don't like aggressive drivers.

Reduce ABS Usage

Focus far ahead. One of the statistics that is kept is the number of times ABS was activated. Reducing this number shows less aggressive driving. If you see that you are going to have to stop for a light or a stop sign, tap the brake to go out of FSD so you can slow down with regenerative braking. Insurance algorithms don't like aggressive braking, and, unfortunately, Tesla FSD, waits too long to slow down for signals and stop signs. Then it brakes aggressively. So using FSD to come to a stop will hurt your score.

Don't Accelerate Too Quickly

Don't speed very much. The Tesla insurance algorithm will look at your intensity of acceleration in addition to braking. Sometimes, you have to go faster than the posted speed limit in order to keep up with traffic. If you are in a situation where all the traffic is going faster than the posted speed limit, then you can speed up a bit, but try to stay as close to the speed limit as you can without blocking traffic. Remember, if you have to speed, keep up with the slower speeders, not the faster speeders.

If the car is braking for no apparent reason, phantom braking, use the accelerator to move the car along.

If you are approaching a sharp curve there are two things you need to think about. Without the beta version of FSD, some curves are too sharp, and standard FSD will stop working in the middle of the curve. I've experienced this at certain curves in my area. If this happens, it will lower your score. So the two things to do are, first, lower your speed before the curve by tapping the brake, and second, steer the car around the curve yourself before re-engaging FSD.

When you're using Autopilot, pay attention to the alerts. Tesla will track the number of times that Autopilot has been disengaged.

Keep Your Distance

You'll also want to pay close attention to objects in front of your. Tesla will be looking at the number of times Forward Collision Warnings have gone off.

Use a follow distance greater than one or two. Another metric that Tesla insurance uses to measure how safe someone is driving is by their follow distance. If someone follows too closely for long periods of time, this will lower their Tesla insurance rating as well.

Obey traffic rules whenever possible. Yield the right of way when you don't have the right of way. Take the right of way when you do have it, but don't crash just because you are entitled to the right of way.

Be careful to yield to pedestrians and bicyclists. Even if you have the right of way, it will mess up your day if you hit a pedestrian or a bicyclist. And you won't get to be a beta tester for FSD.

After you activate the button on September 24th the Tesla insurance calculator will show your rating in real-time so that you can tell how you're driving and can adjust accordingly. It'll also provide additional details on what is rated a “good" driver.

The button will be available this Friday, presumably in your car. Stay tuned for more details. Tesla FSD Beta 10.1 which is set be released on October 1st, will introduce new features such as merged NNs for highway and city driving, as well as the ability to go in reverse.

Musk Confirms Robotaxi on Track for June, More Cities Coming, Customer-owned Cars in 2026

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla signaled its intention to launch its first Robotaxi network in Austin, Texas, with company-owned and operated vehicles, back in January. This network will be Tesla’s first foray into truly autonomous vehicles - ones that aren’t being directly supervised by a driver. Later in February, Tesla’s executive team confirmed that the plans were on track for the launch of the Austin network both on X and during several interviews that they participated in.

At the end of February, we also found out that Tesla has applied for a Supervised Robotaxi license in California, where the network will also launch, but with safety drivers in place.

This is an ambitious plan, but FSD has really come a long way in the past year. FSD V12 was a massive step forward from V11, and V13 has made the experience smoother and safer than ever before. FSD V14 is expected to be another big step up with auto-regressive transformers and audio input.

Still on Track

Now, Elon has tripled down on the fact that Tesla will be launching their first autonomous robotaxi network in Austin - just two months away at this point. It seems that Tesla is fully set to launch their first fully unsupervised self-driving vehicles that will carry paying passengers in June.

Additional Cities

The best part is that Elon also confirmed that they’re targeting robotaxi networks launching in many cities within the United States by the end of this year. However, remember that this will be a Tesla-run network at first - Tesla owners won’t be able to add their vehicles to the Robotaxi fleet right away.

Adding Customer Vehicles

It will take some time before Tesla meets their strict internal safety requirements before it lets customers add their own vehicles to the network. Tesla’s executive team mentioned that they intend to let owners add their own vehicles to the fleet sometime in 2026. This happens to be the same time frame that Tesla plans to launch the Robotaxi across the United States, Mexico, and Canada — something that could only be done with customer-owned cars.

That final step will be bold—and it may come with complications, especially given that autonomous vehicle approval spans municipal, state or provincial, and even federal levels. There are plenty of regulatory hurdles ahead, but this is undoubtedly shaping up to be one of the most exciting times for Tesla.

Launch Event

With the Robotaxi network launching and Unsupervised FSD just around the corner, there’s a lot to get excited about. Tesla is expected to host a launch event at Gigafactory Texas in Austin to mark the debut of its first Robotaxi network. The company previously hinted that referral code users could receive invites—offering a rare chance to score an early ride in a Robotaxi outside the Hollywood studio lot.

Tesla Mule Model 3 Spotted With Front Bumper Camera

By Karan Singh
Ready_Medium_6693 on Reddit

Tesla’s engineering mule vehicles—used to test autonomy for future platforms—have resurfaced after an extended absence. The last time we saw them was back in July, when Tesla was gearing up for its initial We, Robot event. Since then, sightings have been scarce.

These vehicles typically signal that Tesla is testing new camera placements or validating FSD ground-truth data. This time, however, they appear to be outfitted exclusively with the updated camera hardware seen on the Cybercab.

New Sightings

The mules have now been spotted in Boston, Massachusetts, and Concord, New Hampshire—their first known appearances this far east. This suggests Tesla is actively collecting data to evaluate and optimize FSD performance in new regions. Thanks to Reddit user Ready_Medium_6693 for catching the one in Concord.

Elon Musk recently mentioned that Tesla plans to expand Robotaxi networks beyond the initial Texas and California launches. So while these sightings aren’t entirely unexpected, the speed of their arrival is. It suggests Tesla is confident in its ability to train FSD for local traffic rules and driving behaviors to the point it no longer needs a driver.

Bumper Cameras

The vehicle that’s been spotted in Boston is the usual Tesla engineering Model 3… except with one unique twist. It includes a front bumper camera. Shout out to @Dylan02939106 for catching the bumper camera in these photos.

The Refreshed Model 3 Mule with a Bumper Camera!
The Refreshed Model 3 Mule with a Bumper Camera!
@Dylan02939106 on X

We previously released an opinion piece regarding whether the front bumper camera would be required for Unsupervised FSD. In our eyes, Tesla will require a bumper camera for Unsupervised FSD - if only to improve direct visibility in the bumper area of the vehicle. This is key for low-speed maneuvering in crowded areas like parking lots and garages, as well as for key features like Actually Smart Summon. 

It isn’t surprising that Tesla is continuing to evaluate vehicles with a bumper camera - the Cybertruck, Cybercab, and Refreshed Model Y all have them now - and the rest of the lineup, including the flagship Model S and X, as well as the refreshed Model 3 - were supposed to eventually receive them as well.

With the Model S and Model X set for refreshes this year—and the front bumper camera on this Model 3 looking well-integrated rather than a temporary setup—it seems likely that front bumper cameras will soon become standard across Tesla’s entire lineup.

The Robotaxi Mule in Boston
The Robotaxi Mule in Boston
@Dylan02939106 on X

In fact, Tesla’s newest iteration of the FSD computer has a slot for the Bumper Camera on all AI4/HW4 vehicles, so a future retrofit could even be possible.

These are some pretty exciting times - we may see Robotaxi networks actually deploy in time for Tesla’s lofty goal of “sometime in 2026” for cities throughout North America. Once many American cities begin to accept their deployment, it will be easier to seek homologation in Mexico and Canada, enabling deployment throughout the continent.

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