Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Beta Version 9 (FSD Beta V9) was being delayed for another week, CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter this morning. For months, the FSD Suite has been preparing for a new release, and Musk has suggested that the semi-autonomous driving feature would be released soon. However, unforeseen delays have happened on many occasions, and the planned Q2 release of FSD Beta V9 is becoming increasingly improbable as the quarter winds down.
Tesla owners frequently use Musk’s Twitter feed to get first-hand information from the company’s CEO. Even Musk, who has been the CEO of Tesla since 2008, can be erratic with his forecasts, especially as the manufacturer continues to navigate through challenging, and often unexpected, obstacles.
“We [Tesla] need to solve some apparent difficulties before releasing FSD Beta V9 perhaps next week,” Musk stated this morning. This has been the Tesla CEO’s repeated tone, as he claims to be using FSD “Alpha 9” in his own vehicle.
I’m driving “alpha” 9, but we need to fix some obvious issues before releasing beta 9, hopefully next week. FSD subscription capability should be turning on via the Tesla app.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2021
Tesla has had some difficulty pinpointing a precise release date for FSD Beta v9, which is to be expected. The firm has been working for a long time to produce a “feature complete” version of its FSD suite, and the capability has grown in complexity and accuracy over time. Tesla has also changed its approach to self-driving cars, abandoning radar in favor of a camera-only method. The elimination of radar, dubbed “Tesla Vision,” was seen by Musk as the discarding of a “crutch.”
During the Q1 2021 Earnings Call, Musk stated:
“I think with the elimination of radar, we’re finally getting rid of one of the last crutches. Radar was really — it was making up for some of the shortfalls of vision, but this is not good. You actually just need vision to work.”
Elon Musk Statament
Musk informed Tesla owners with details on what was supposed to be V9’s long-awaited release on June 6th, the most latest upgrade to the FSD Beta V9. “There will be one more pure vision production launch this week, followed by FSD Beta V9 in a week or two. V9.0 FSD is pure vision as well. He described the foundational improvements as “immense.”
This would have meant that V9 would be available to customers by June 20th, at the very latest. However, the update never arrived, and Tesla customers received Musk’s most detailed recommendation yesterday night, in which he stated that it was necessary to “address several apparent faults.”
Now that the Model 3 and Model Y don’t have radar, there might be some bottlenecks in the FSD suite. Despite the fact that the camera-based method has been on Tesla’s agenda for some time, there is no evidence that the shift is causing issues for the Autopilot team. Many owners of Tesla vehicles without radar have reported that performance has improved, but there is no indication as to what is causing the delays once again.
