Tesla loses title as world’s biggest EV maker as sales fall for second year “It’s kind of ironic, but when you have it turned on it requires you to pay more attention than if you didn’t,” he said. “You can’t take your eyes off the road. “It’s really smooth, and on a longer trip, it takes away a lot of that risk from fatigue.” Cowan said there had been strong interest from his followers to create content about FSD since its launch, but because of the level of automation, joked “it’s at the point where it’s almost boring to film.” Reactions from his passengers were more noteworthy, he said. Advertisement “It’s an unusual thing for people to grasp, to let the car have that control,” he said. “Every single time I’ve had someone in my car and they’ve been behind the wheel, they’ve gone on to go and buy a Tesla.” Cowan praises the “superhuman level of safety” he feels when driving with FSD, but acknowledges the technology continues to improve as more Australians use it. On one of his first trips into Melbourne, FSD struggled with the city’s unique hook turns, requiring his intervention on two of the five it entered. “But every time we’ve gone back [to Melbourne] it’s gotten better at them, it understood the logic of the hook turn,” Cowan said. Sydney driver Alex Pisarev has been using FSD for two weeks. It was the feature that pushed him into buying a Tesla over other EVs. “I was driving it on the harbour bridge, there was torrential rain and lots of cars and buses, and even though it felt like driving through a car wash, the car handled fine,” he said. However, at one point in his journey during a heavy downpour last week, FSD stopped working due to water obscuring the cameras. Advertisement He has let his Model Y drive him and his children from his home in Sydney’s Thornleigh up the Pacific Highway to Newcastle. “It managed quite well following the curves and controlling speed,” including erring just under the speed limit, he said. “For my kids it’s fun, but my wife asks me to put my hands on the wheel, just to be ready if I need to take control,” Pisarev said. Even those who have encountered the technology’s early glitches are excited about its future. Brisbane-based Jamie-Lee Nesbitt-Smith began using FSD with her Model Y from the day it rolled out, and uses it for five to 10 hours a day to almost entirely perform her job as a driver for Uber Eats and rideshares. “I tell everyone I’m a control freak when it comes to cars, I won’t let anybody drive me around, but I was comfortable giving up control to my own car,” she said. Advertisement “If I was distracted and looking at my screen a second too long, it beeped at me to pay attention.” She wishes her grandparents had the feature, so that if a medical emergency occurred when they were behind the wheel, the car would automatically and safely pull over. Nesbitt-Smith said many onlookers appear startled at the technology. Elon Musk is turning his attention to Tesla’s Optimus robots. Bloomberg “I do vape, so I’ve got the vape in one hand and my other is leaning on the armrest, so you can tell I’m not steering. Advertisement “It can catch people by surprise. You do see heads doing double takes. I’ve had plenty of moments driving where passengers in other cars pull out their phones and start recording.” While her experience is largely positive, about three weeks ago, Nesbitt-Smith decided to end her FSD subscription, after a run of issues where her car stopped in the middle of roundabouts. Related Article