A Tesla Autopilot engineer teased the company’s progress in autonomy after some barbs at Full Self-Driving from a user seemed to commend Waymo in comparison to the suite that the automaker has been developing for years.
Tesla’s competitors in the autonomy space are plentiful, but a handful have developed platforms that are credible and revolutionary in their own right.
However, there are critics of everyone and everything. One critic of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software said that it is “not remotely close to Waymo,” stating that it is behind by “at least 100x.”
This is my experience in SF Bay. I have to make daily interventions on the Model 3 (mostly from wrong lane selection). Waymo you can basically go to sleep.
Tesla does feel generally safe in terms of understanding the environment and avoiding collision.
— James Wang (@draecomino) January 23, 2025
James Wang, who posted the skepticism regarding Tesla Full Self-Driving, said he admits that Tesla is far ahead in geographic coverage. Waymo is geofenced into certain cities and areas. He is a long-term Tesla shareholder, he says.
He went on to say he would “be shocked and delighted if it managed to get to Waymo level safety without hw changes.”
That’s where Tesla comes in.
Phil Duan, a Sr. Staff Software Engineer at Tesla in their Autopilot program for four years, rebutted Wang’s last statement, stating that he should “prepare to be shocked,” with no definite timeframe. His message definitely lets the mind wander at what could be:
Prepare to be shocked.
— Phil Duan (@philduan) January 24, 2025
It’s no secret that Tesla has astronomical expectations for its Full Self-Driving suite this year, which is automatically what most people’s minds will gravitate toward. CEO Elon Musk has already said he expects some jurisdictions to allow FSD to operate this year, especially in Texas and California.
However, with the constant improvements that are shown through software updates and the focus on new external hardware features in Tesla’s latest vehicles, it is certain that things will continue to trend in the right direction.
Need accessories for your Tesla? Check out the Teslarati Marketplace:
Please email me with questions and comments at joey@teslarati.com. I’d love to chat! You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
