Tesla Self-Driving Beta Takes on One of the Deadliest Roads in the US
The Full Self-Driving Beta button was introduced by Tesla a few months ago, allowing qualified drivers to seek access to the company's Full Self-Driving Beta software by achieving high grades on Tesla's Safety Score (Beta) System. In this video, YouTuber CGP Gray took a Tesla Model 3 to one of the United States' most dangerous and twisty roads, the Tail of the Dragon, to test the latest FSD Beta update's capabilities.
The road, which spans 11 miles (19.15 km) and has 318 curves with no crossing roads, is bordered by the Great Smoky Mountains and the Cherokee National Forest. It's a popular spot among many thrill-seeking drivers, especially motorcycle riders and sports car owners.
The video shows the Model 3 under the control of FSD Beta cruising down and back up the winding trail with zero interventions. Tesla’s Director of AI, Andrej Karpathy, seemed especially happy about this, as he commented on CGP Grey’s video, saying: "that feeling when you're watching your baby artificial neural net driving around one of your all-time favorite YouTubers who you've been following for a decade... :)"
FSD Beta didn't seem to have any issue handling the road, save from the slightly off-center abrupt left turns. If you want to see the car in action, check the video posted above, and as usual, have fun.