Tesla Full Self-Driving is getting harder and harder to distinguish from a driverless vehicle.
My latest drive (link to video) required no intervention despite fighting Los Angeles freeway congestion, wending across downtown Burbank, and even encountering a near-miss.
As background, I test Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) frequently on a variety of EVs. Most recently on a 2026 Rivian R1S with the latest version of Rivian’s Autonomy+ platform and a 2027 Chevy Bolt RS with Super Cruise. I test Tesla’s FSD regularly.
Good Doesn’t Mean Perfect
No ADAS is perfect. And never will be. Every ADAS I’ve tested makes mistakes. And every ADAS requires the driver’s full attention. But Tesla’s latest version of FSD, v14.3.3 (or v14.3.4 if you have the very latest), feels more like a Level 4 driverless ADAS than past versions of FSD. Not unlike Waymo’s driverless taxis, which I’ve taken many times in Los Angeles. (Waymo, contrary to popular opinion, also makes mistakes, which I’ve experienced myself.)
So, I’m not claiming infallibility. What I am saying is that when I drive with FSD now, I just sit there as a passenger and monitor the drive. There was one telling incident on Friday when the Model 3 was headed north on 5 and I looked away for a moment. When I looked up, a truck was drifting into my lane. I was about to take back control but FSD made a split-second decision and steered around the truck. No intervention necessary. That’s what an ADAS is supposed to do: enhance driver safety.
I won’t speculate what the truck driver was doing at that moment but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that an ADAS may have prevented him from drifting into my lane. My point: ADAS used responsibly isn’t the problem. The problem is distracted drivers.
And for all you Rivian fans out there, that American EV manufacturer is essentially trying to do what Tesla is doing now, as Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a recent interview. “This will look and feel very similar to Tesla’s FSD,” Scaringe said about upcoming versions of its Autonomy+ platform. You can’t get more explicit than that. Yes, Rivian is going about it differently but the goal is the same: driverless Level 4 autonomy.
Dare I Say Tesla Is Ahead?
Of all the car manufacturers today pursuing an advanced ADAS, Tesla is ahead. Way ahead. I just finished testing a 2026 Toyota bZ with Toyota’s version of an ADAS (Toyota calls it Lane Tracing Assist or LTA). It is a very basic lane centering technology. And this is from the largest car manufacturer in the world. Toyota’s LTA is fine for those needing a very basic driver assist but it’s a far cry from FSD. Companies like General Motors (Super Cruise) and Ford (BlueCruise) offer more advanced ADAS but still fall short of FSD. I’ve tested both extensively. They’re great at highway driving but stray onto a local street and they shut down. Rivian, as cited above, appears to be the company most aggressively pursuing Tesla. I look forward to what Rivian does in the coming months and years.
