I didn’t expect to ever qualify for the FSD Beta because of my Safety Score of 93. Because you need 100 or 99 to be able to get the special beta release. But due to my needing to go on a long business trip recently, my bad record was cleared out. And I could start over again. What luck!
It turns out that driving with a Safety Score of 100 is not that difficult if you simply drive ultra-conservatively. Given how you are penalized by getting too close to other cars on the road, you soon realize that you are better off driving when there is little to no traffic. That is not easy to arrange, of course. So as a result you drive in a way that almost feels unsafe because you’re so conscious of not getting close to any other cars that your judgement gets slightly impaired. At least that was the case for me.
I received the update message today that I had qualified for the beta. It was unclear to me how to turn on the feature. Luckily I read the manual and found the part where you go to Autopilot > Activate FSD. And the suddenly the display changes into a mode that reminded me of the SFX of The Flash running around at superspeed due to the ethereal quality of the lines in the cockpit display.
Overall it felt a bit shocking for the car to be driving by itself. I noticed that when it makes turns, it doesn’t make them all too gracefully. But they are turns, nonetheless. Because it is Beta software I am super conscious to guide the steering wheel all the time — just in case it does something weird.
Verdict? Wow. What a cool capability! The experience felt incredible. And given the iterative nature of Tesla’s software development program, it will only get better.
