Yesterday I took our Tesla for its first charge at a Tesla Supercharger, mainly to check it out, see how simple the process was. Seriously, it was easy. Literally, as long as there’s a credit card linked to your Tesla account, you plug in and go, and you’re charged directly.
I decided to try getting there using Full Self Driving which is included for three months as I used a referral to purchase.
I started on the road in our relatively quiet neighbourhood which was a good place to start getting up to speed and then turning on FSD. I was nervous having researched some of the challenges, times you need to take over, etc.
Remember, you need to pay full attention when using any driver assistance system, especially one in beta. You can and should override the system anytime you’re feeling unsafe.
There areas where I was nervous:
- Turning on to a busy street
- The on ramp onto a highway
- Exiting the highway and being placed in the correct lane – where I exit has, I believe, six lanes – two turning lanes left and right, and two go through lanes
I’d be curious to see how the vehicle does when the busy street is busier. The car turned flawlessly.
I was nervous that entering the ramp to get on the highway that it would take the ramp quickly and it initially did, but then slowed down appropriately and then accelerated up to speed beautifully. I’m used to merging sooner than the car did, and in this case the car chose to use the full acceleration lane.
People had moved over so it was clear to merge. That is one of my concerns – people often won’t move over for me in our other vehicle and I have to be aggressive getting on to the highway. It’s super annoying.
Exiting the highway at a particularly busy exit, it chose the correct lane and drove fully to the Supercharger.
I am impressed with the system and I hear that FSD 12 (we currently have FSD 11) is way better.
Do I need a Full Self Driving system in a car? I’d say not, I’m quite happy with a more “basic” lane keep assist and traffic aware cruise control which still uses AI. I still want to drive rather than give up that control. Yes, I want to be in control. LOL
If you’re interested in a Tesla and this blog has helped, feel free to ise my referral link to book a demo drive or to buy a Tesla. and get awards like 3 months of Full Self-Driving Capability.