Posted on 11/04/2025 12:17:18 PM PST by nickcarraway
An Iowa man decided to put the latest version of Tesla's Full Self-Driving to the test, using the autonomous-vehicle technology on an 800-mile drive to Colorado, according to Supercar Blondie.
The YouTuber, who goes by Iowa Tesla Guy (@iowatesla), posted about his journey online.
From the YouTuber's perspective, the trip ended up being a resounding success.
"There you have it," he said after completing the journey, per Supercar Blondie. "The FSD experiment is done. 800 miles from Iowa to Boulder, Colorado, using nothing but FSD — I would say 99.9% of literally all of the driving."
However, not all Tesla enthusiasts who have put the latest supervised Full Self-Driving to the test have enjoyed similar success.
Two other Tesla influencers attempted to pull off a comparable, yet more ambitious, experiment, aiming to drive from California to Florida without human intervention.
The trip was intended to belatedly fulfill Elon Musk's 2016 promise that, by the end of 2017, a Tesla would be able to drive itself coast-to-coast autonomously.
Despite setting out on a 3,000-mile journey from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, the Tesla enthusiasts found their vehicle unable to continue any further after experiencing a crash only about 60 miles into the trip. Running into trouble so early may have been bad luck, but it seemed to highlight how Tesla's optical detection system has had documented cases of missing or underestimating objects in the road.
While Iowa Tesla Guy might have successfully completed his 800-mile trek using Full Self-Driving, some experts have remained skeptical of the technology's reliance on cameras without lidar or radar to assist in detection.
In a recent analysis of the newest version of Full Self-Driving, Forbes found the technology to be "error-prone." In fact, the software made so many serious mistakes that the author questioned whether it should even be legal.
Under California law, drivers in both directions must stop when a school bus is flashing its lights.
Such glaring performance issues have led some to question why the technology has been allowed on the streets at all.
"A drug company wouldn't call something a universal, full cancer cure when it didn't actually cure cancer," Dan O'Dowd, a software developer who has become a vocal critic of Tesla's Full Self-Driving, told Forbes. "But [Tesla CEO Elon Musk] does it every day because no one in government will take action. No regulators will take action at this point."
"It should never be in a customer's hands," O'Dowd added. "It's just a prototype. It's not a product."
For those interested in an EV, such as a Tesla, and concerned about self-driving capabilities, the good news is that drivers can choose not to use the Full Self-Driving feature if they own a Tesla, as it is actually sold as an add-on.
Furthermore, those looking to upgrade to an electric vehicle have never had as many options as they do today, with an increasing number of EV models entering the market each year. There hasn't been a case of an EV forcing self-driving mode on a user, though both electric and gasoline-powered cars often come with passive driver-assist features nowadays that may help avoid obstacles or drifting across lanes.
EVs are not only responsible for considerably less planet-heating pollution per mile than gas-powered cars, but they also can save drivers thousands of dollars per year on fuel costs.
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It only has to be better than you...for what? For you to feel comfortable going to sleep while you're car keeps going? Because "better than me" isn't good enough for me not to take the additional precaution of staying alert and engaged in the event something does go wrong.
Also, while we can certainly make a determination of whether it is more or less accident prone than the average driver, that determination is going to vary quite widely between individual drivers. So what tells me, as an individual driver, whether or not it is better than me?
I had a 67 with a 289 for a short while in the early 00s.
Sadly the car had to be sold partly for financial reasons and mostly to keep the peace at home for reasons I can’t remember now.
I have a die cast 1:18 in a case at least.
I just can’t put my foot on the floor. My brain won’t allow it. But my first car was a stick. That could explain it.
More screen time. Sheesh.
I could give you a number. But NO.
2014 Z51 ‘Vette with dual turbos and updated (2019) brains.
My usual touring car is a 2015 Camry SE hybrid. The driving assist infuriates me.
Lots of trips Mpls to DesMoines to Denver to Albuquerque.
Now I usually lauch west on I-10 from JAX.
- - -
As a retired biophysicist/biomed engineer who wrote life-support software, the aids are nice but don’t match an alert human.
My first was a stick.
My last four were stick.
I urge everyone to read Matthew Crawford’s “Why We Drive.”
He has a very different take on what “driverless cars” are all about, and it isn’t you getting more work done or resting. It’s about prepping you to SELL YOU SOMETHING.
Cars in that era were solidly made, with lots of horsepower and rear wheel drive traction. If I win a lottery jackpot . . .
I-80.
I-70 is Missouri, STL to KC.
I-80 is Iowa, Davenport/QCs to Council Bluffs/Omaha.
The Tesla self-drive isn't driver assist. It's not even close. I've driven a Tesla model S with the full self-drive in a rainstorm on the 610 loop in Houston during bumper-to-bumper work traffic. It drives itself - literally. You don't touch it. It reacts to traffic situations faster than you do. I took this car from my moms house in suburban North Houston to my farm in NE Texas. I never touched the wheel, the gas, or the brake. It went door to door, dirt roads, etc. The only thing it doesn't do is blow the horn. Tesla says they will soon add this option in an update.
They only have to approve anything that has the capability of backfeeding into the grid. Charging an EV doesn't qualify.
Correct. My error. Still boring.
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