A Tesla analyst nearly crashed after attempting to use Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system.
According to Bloomberg, William Stein, an analyst at Truist Securities, reported that he was trying out FSD on a Model Y when the vehicle “accelerated through an intersection as the car in front of us had only partly completed a right turn.”
“My quick intervention was absolutely required to avoid an otherwise certain accident,” Stein wrote.
Stein, whose role involves evaluating and providing recommendations on Tesla’s stock, maintained his hold rating on Tesla’s stock, and kept his price target at $215. He was puzzled about what Tesla might reveal at an upcoming event to showcase robotaxi prototypes. This event, initially scheduled for October, has been delayed by about two months, as Musk confirmed last week.
Tesla did not comment on Stein’s report. On Monday, Musk announced on X that Tesla is releasing an updated version of FSD, which still does not make the vehicles fully autonomous.
Stein tested FSD in April and again this month, writing mixed reviews. He described the system as “stunningly good, but not useful today” after the first test, and “no better, arguably worse” after the second.
Currently, Tesla’s cars require users to keep their hands on the wheel to avoid accidents, but Sten wrote that the system allowed him to keep his hands on the wheel and take his eyes off the road. He noted that while he was trying out the system, his son was watching the road for danger.
“I turned my head completely away from the road,” he said. “The system continued for 20-40 seconds before issuing a warning.”
Stein had to intervene twice to avoid accidents: once to prevent rear-ending a car and once to pull over for a funeral procession. He also noted that the Model Y changed lanes twice on a narrow, curvy highway, despite a solid white line indicating no lane changes.
Stein concluded that while the FSD system is impressive, it is “not even close to ‘solving’ autonomy,” a goal Musk frequently mentions.
Musk has been emphasizing FSD and Tesla’s broader AI efforts as sales of its electric vehicles slow down.
In May, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz accused Tesla of “massive fraud” and said Elon was lying to his customers about his FSD system.
“The data is presented in fraudulent ways, and it doesn’t say what they claim it says even when they make it up,” he wrote. “Tesla has committed consumer fraud on a massive scale, from lying about FSD, ranges, and (recently, unconfirmed!) even inflating odometers…also securities fraud.”Back in 2015, Musk predicted that his cars would have completely unmonitored self-driving systems by 2017. That never happened, of course.
