Tesla's FSD Suite Likely Won't Be Certified For Driverless Operation This Year

It seems like Musk has flipped again.

In a call reported on by Automotive News, Musk sort of Reneged on a promise recently made on Twitter; that the brand would have full self-driving, hands-free autonomous driving by the end of 2022. Just in early October, the brand said that any Tesla driver who opted into the full self-driving (FSD) suite would have access to the software by the end of the year. Currently, the program is restricted to certain users in specific locations.

Yet, when pressed on the brand’s 2016 promise to have hands-free, autonomous driving, several news outlets noticed that CEO Elon Musk was a bit choosier with his words during different Tesla earnings calls. According to Electrek, Musk was adamant that although maybe he personally was comfortable trusting FSD in its current state to essentially be self-driving, proving that to the regulatory bodies, like the NHTSA, is a bit of a different story. At the end of the day, fully autonomous, hands-free level 4 or level 5 autonomy hinges on the NHTSA’s word. And it seems like Musk is forthright that approval probably won’t happen this year.

Is that a good thing? Maybe. The brand is currently under investigation by the NHTSA for multiple incidents happening under FSD control. Also, Musk himself has said even more updates and improvements to the FSD suite are coming later this year. Now, there’s plenty of debate in the tech, automotive, and regulatory spheres about the viability of fully autonomous driving, and Tesla’s ability to deliver that, but there’s one thing for sure – it’s not happening this year.

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