Tesla FSD 12.5 Test — Like A Perfect, Smooth Robotaxi (CleanTechnica Video)

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As I lamented recently, my 2019 Tesla Model 3 SR+ doesn’t yet have version 12.5 of Full Self Driving (FSD). Tesla is now rolling out new versions of FSD to cars with the latest FSD hardware first. Though, luckily, David Havasi just recently bought a brand new Tesla Model 3 Performance, and his car has version 12.5.1.3 of FSD! So, we went on another FSD test drive to document its current status and try to identify how it has improved (or not). You can watch the full, unedited* video of our ~25 minute drive here:

As you can see in the video, the whole journey went perfectly. Not only was there no need to intervene anywhere, it didn’t even seem like there was ever a moment when David felt he might have to intervene. Also, the car has simply gotten smoother — coming to stop signs and leaving them, changing lanes, merging into traffic, etc. It truly felt like I was being driven around by the most professional of chauffeurs in the back seat. Everything was so smooth and peaceful that I didn’t have to think about anything and could just relax. It definitely seemed like the best ride I’ve taken in a robotaxi so far.

Does that mean Tesla FSD is ready for actual, commercial robotaxi use? Definitely not! The system has to work across a million miles or so with such results. Just 7 miles or so of driving isn’t enough to evaluate it or confirm it’s ready for prime time. At this point, though, it’s very hard to say that it’s simply not adequate and is far from being robotaxi capable. At this point, all we can do is test more and more in order to see if we can identify any issues and keep an eye on any larger takeaways or stats from Tesla or others.

There are a few other idiosyncrasies of the system in its current version that we discuss in the video. Watch the whole video (on 1.5× even if you want) to catch all of our commentary.

I also got a short summary takeaway of the new Model 3 Performance from David, particularly compared to his previous 2018 version of the Tesla Model 3. It has much better seats — both in terms of bolstering and ventilation — and much better suspension and dampening. Those were the biggest highlights. It’s also wicked quick, of course, and has the new small screen in the back seat for rear passengers.

* I say “unedited” because I didn’t clip anything out. However, I did record the drive in two parts, since we had to decide on and input a new destination after the first trip, so I did have to stitch those two parts together.