“You take the driver’s seat” he said, “besides, neither of us are really doing any driving…”
Full Self Drive (supervised) had been ‘switched on’ in my friend’s Tesla.
Feeling apprehensive, I did as instructed:
I surrendered control to a semi-sentient machine that could accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 3.1 seconds.
I hop in the car. Seat belt on, set the destination, push a single button, and off we go — my hands braced centimetres from the steering wheel.
The car squeezes itself out of the tight garage, navigating the suburban streets with a smoothness I find barely believable.
Roundabouts, Give Way intersections, stop signs, all handled with ease – with perfect indicating. At times it drove as confidently as if it had been navigating these roads for years.
I was being driven by a robot car — powered by sunlight (the car had been charged via rooftop solar panels).
Then we hit the highway, smoothly accelerating up to 100 km/h.
Cruising along SH36, I spot a Pūkeko darting across the road, skinny legs akimbo. I’m ready to take evasive action.
But… the car had it hand: a gentle slowing and swerve. Pūkeko lives another day.
We drive down a familiar dense street, the car cruising at 30 km/h. A bit slow, I thought, before noticing that this was a signposted 30 km/h zone. I wasn’t sure I’d noticed the sign before.
It anticipated someone waiting at a pedestrian crossing (on the other side of the road), and came to a gentle stop. The guy nodded and waved. “Not me”, I thought, “it’s the car that did that”.
As time went on, I shifted through various emotional states: anxiety, a quiet confidence, then relaxing. Then back into a heightened state of awareness when navigating difficult roads.
My mind exploded: we’re at the beginning of something big here. Is this good or bad? How did it suddenly just happen? I thought we had regulations?
With all the pettiness of a high school bully, I wanted to see how it handled difficult intersections.
We plotted a course through a very complex intersection - one that baffles me with regularity. The car went into the wrong initial lane for the turn off. My hands were ready, and sure enough I intervened, and pulled to the right just before it could cut across a lane.
It’s quite possible we drove on roads the self-drive system had never seen before. Would it learn from this? We’ll have to try another day.
On another occasion, after deftly navigating through road works - complete with road cones and chicanes - the car failed to notice a 100 km/h speed sign.
The guy behind me was clearly agitated as — for the briefest seconds — the car stayed at 70 km/h. A tap on the accelerator, and we’re up to 100, the car happy again (and, presumably, so was Mr Grumpypants behind me).
We set a destination for the airport carpark (will it negotiate the barrier arms by itself?). It instead drove to a rental car depot adjacent to the airport, and quietly parked up. This was a source of great amusement.
Setting the destination to a mall or supermarket does not (yet) mean the car will wander around looking for a park. It leaves that up to you.
However, you can select a carpark on the navigation screen, and it will park for you.
We exited a very busy shopping mall via a tight roundabout. The car navigated with ease, patiently waiting in the queue, and, incredibly, let another driver into the roundabout (from the left) who had been waiting for some time.
The other driver waved and smiled while I stared incredulous. How did it know to do that?
When new technology is unleashed on society I’ve noticed a few patterns:
What feels magical at first quickly becomes normal.
We’ll embrace anything that makes life easier or saves time.
New technologies bring unintended consequences. We often only see the consequence after it happens.
Technology brings behavioural change. The arrival of the smartphone showed just how quickly we can surrender agency to a device.
And we’re just at the beginning. Other cars and brands will have forms of self-driving. The Tesla technology itself could be licensed to other manufacturers.
What happens when a car in self-drive mode is the cause of a serious crash?
What happens if we determine that self-drive cars have a significantly lower crash rate than human drivers?
Tesla make it clear that this is Full Self Drive (Supervised) - the driver has responsibility.
Even though, after two hours of driving, I intervened twice, this might be the weakest the system will ever be.
The system will probably learn from every edge case, continually improving.
What does this mean for mobility?
“But I’d never give up driving”
“I’d never give up driving!”, my friend’s elderly father exclaimed, his face all serious. But then, with him behind the wheel, the car (in self-drive mode) took evasive action following a dangerous move by another driver.
“I wouldn’t have been quick enough”, he quietly mumbled, a haunted look in his eyes. “Maybe this would be good for me”.
After two hours of sitting behind the wheel, I hopped back into my ‘regular’ non-self-drive car. I experienced a few odd moments of dissociation. Am I driving the car? Yes I am. Focus. Keep my hands on the steering wheel.
That’s one of the challenges of ‘supervised’ self-driving. Is it better if the car is completely autonomous (no steering wheel at all)? Rather than a halfway stage where we must pay attention, but are tempted not to?
Tesla make it clear that the car is not autonomous and the driver must pay attention at all times.
When I took my eyes off the road for too long - the car alerted me. If this inattention persists, the car will drive to the side of the road and come to a stop. Repeat this behaviour five times, the car suspends access to the self-driving system.
I enjoy driving, but how often do I get to drive like the car ads, gliding along exquisite rolling roads without another car in sight?
Instead it’s all road cones, roundabouts and rush hour.
Getting to a destination without having to make endless choices — turn here, stop here, take that road — that’s something I can’t quite get out of my mind.
It seems we’re at the beginning of a significant change, and right now — like me behind the wheel — all we can do is watch where it takes us.
Full Self Drive (FSD - Supervised) can be purchased as an option with a new Tesla Model 3 or Y. Monthly subscriptions will also be offered ($159/month).
