Friday, March 29

Tesla customers and buyers are their own beta testers. Now many are getting tired


In recent years it has been assumed almost with resignation that the users themselves become testers of launch products. Especially in the technological sectors, with products that are refined with regular updates. And the automotive sector is no less. At least for Tesla.


Pay for the test. One of the last big scandals, for example, was the launch of Cyberpunk 2077. A game that came with so many errors that it caused its exit from the Sony online store and even a return campaign. The first users to get hold of the game could only resign themselves and hope that future updates would fix the problem. Were they or were they not paying to be authentic testers of a video game that was clearly unfinished?

The Tesla case. Sold as an exclusive option, we can say that Tesla does the same on the streets with a monthly subscription of 199 dollars to have access to Full Self-Driving (FSD, for its acronym in English), a level two semi-autonomous system that hardly needs of human intervention for the vehicle to reach its destination, both in urban areas and on open roads.

updates. With each new Autopilot update, Tesla makes Beta versions available to some drivers and uses their data to obtain reports on how the system is working. In fact, Elon Musk himself collects on Twitter the steps that are being taken with each new release and in the event of failures in the new updates, he defends himself by ensuring that “it is impossible to test all hardware configurations in all conditions with internal quality control” .

Also Read  Do you miss any emoji? They are accepting proposals for Emoji Unicode 16

a whole move. That having authentic testers on the street is working for Tesla is a fact. It is not difficult to find videos on Youtube, reactions on Twitter and threads on Reddit in which drivers record themselves using the new updates, show their results, and discuss how the latest updates work.

In one of the Reddit threads, a user points out that during the FSD Beta 10.11 test he only had to perform an intervention on a trip of about a quarter of an hour and exposes the behavior of the vehicle in bad weather conditions or with signals faulty on the ground. Another user answers by mentioning his poor results when the lines on the ground are not clear, reporting sudden braking.

In addition, in some articles, such as this one from Vice, the objectivity of the published videos is questioned, pointing to confidentiality contracts since the testers are true fans of the brand, which can cast doubt on the reliability of the videos.

We are all part of the test. Buying a video game or any other technological product affects only and exclusively its owner, which makes it an individual decision where each one has to assess whether or not it is worth being part of this testing phase not officially contemplated.

But in the case of Tesla, a problem has been alerted for a long time. Use a beta version of the FSD turns into testers to pedestrians or any other traffic agent who moves next to the car. Without your consent and risking a run over or accident if the driver does not act properly. It is a fine line in which Tesla covers his back.

Also Read  Shure MV7, analysis and opinion of the microphone for podcast

Look, mom, no hands: Mercedes will take responsibility in the event of an accident with Drive Pilot activated

“These features are designed to become more capable over time, however, the features currently enabled do not make the vehicle autonomous. The features currently enabled require a fully attentive driver with hands on the wheel and prepared to take control at any time,” says Tesla on its website.

In the spotlight. For testers or not, the truth is that these FSD betas are released gradually and the more users have access to them, the more likely it is that bugs will be found. This is what has happened with his “phantom braking”, which has led to the opening of an investigation by the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, for its acronym in English). Up to 107 complaints in three months were registered due to misreadings of supposed obstacles on the road that cause unexpected braking.



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *