A Tesla analyst nearly crashed while trying out the company's "full self-driving mode" days after CEO Elon Musk called on skeptics to go for a test drive.
William Stein, a Truist Securities analyst with a hold rating on Tesla's stock, said in a note to investors that he took a Tesla Model Y for a test drive this month in suburban New York to try out a special demo mode of the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, which is currently only available to Tesla employees. Stein noted that, on several occasions, he had to intervene to avoid a crash.
"For example, the Model Y 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 in the note.
In addition, the analyst said the Model Y made a number of illegal maneuvers while in FSD mode, including switching lanes where there were solid white lines, which indicated that lane changes were prohibited.
"Finally, in a section of our route, the highway was curvy and narrow and had a solid white line separating lanes, signaling a prohibition against lane changes. Still, the Model Y switched lanes twice under that condition," he added. "[The system is] no better, arguably worse, than last time."
That being said, Stein highlighted several incidents that the FSD managed to adapt to, including unanticipated road conditions such as potholes and closed driving lanes, adding that this drive felt "more natural overall" than in his previous FSD trial in April.
Tesla's FSD Mode
The note came after Musk called on anyone who had doubts about how valuable robotaxis would be to the company to go on a test drive.
"I would encourage anyone to understand the system better to simply try it out, let the car drive you around," he said on an investors call earlier this month after reporting disappointing second quarter financial results, per CNN. "Once people use it, they tend to continue using it. So it's vastly compelling."
Tesla is currently set to roll out details of its robotaxi service by Oct. 10.
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