An analyst with Truist Securities produced a less than favorable report for his Tesla Model Y as he recalled a hairy incident while it was in ‘Full Self-Driving’ mode.
William Stein’s comments about the near-crash came inside a detailed report on both the positives and negatives of one of the latest versions of Tesla’s autonomous driving.
Elon Musk’s Challenge
In the past 2 earnings calls, Elon Musk had challenged critical analysts to try out Tesla’s Full Self-Driving mode.
He told investors that they would not fully understand the system until they had experienced it for themselves.
Take Focus Away From Sales Numbers
Tesla’s disappointing sales in recent quarterly reports mean that the company may be looking to divert attention towards some of their other projects.
They included energy storage numbers from Tesla Energy in recent reports, and continue to tease the delayed ‘Robotaxi’ reveal, now due for October.
Full Self-Driving and Robotaxis
Tesla’s vaunted Full Self-Driving mode is intimately linked to the upcoming Robotaxi reveal.
With their ‘Robotaxis’, Tesla will look to follow in the footsteps of Apollo Go, who have had a fleet of driverless taxis in Wuhan, China since 2022.
Near-Miss
Perhaps with an eye to Musk’s repeated calls to investors to experience Full Self-Driving, Stein took up the challenge.
However, he and his son were fortunate to avoid an accident, as the car almost drove the passengers into a collision.
Proving Grounds
The analyst was pushing the capabilities of the company’s autonomous driving mode in a New York suburb.
At one point, Stein risked turning his head fully to the side, and left his son to keep an eye out for danger, but the Tesla took “20–40 seconds” to signal a warning.
The Incident
Stein recalls an incident where his Model Y nearly rear-ended another car turning at an intersection.
He wrote: “The Model Y accelerated through an intersection as the car in front of us had only partly completed a right turn.”
Intervention Required
The manner in which the Model Y accelerated towards the car in front meant that the analyst was shocked into action.
He took control of the car, narrowly avoiding a more serious incident. Stein said: “My quick intervention was absolutely required to avoid an otherwise certain accident.”
Remains Impressed
Despite his near-miss, Stein still took away a good number of positives from his test, which was not the first time he had tried out one of Tesla’s latest autonomous driving mode versions.
In comparison to an April test, he stated that it “felt more natural overall,” and adapted well to features such as potholes and lane closures.
Far From Ready
Stein may have left an overall negative verdict, but he still found space in his report to praise the service, albeit making it clear he thought the development was far from complete.
He described it as “stunningly good, but not useful today,” and “truly amazing, but not even close to ‘solving’ autonomy.”
