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PaperclipPerfector  13hr ago (text post)   386 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 27, 2026

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Who here uses Tesla FSD? I finally got a Tesla after two of my friends nagged me to for years. And holy shit, the car drives itself. How does Tesla not have like 90% market share? Why are people still buying Fords and Volkswagens?

The government should be incentivizing the crap out of these. I asked Astra and it estimates the U.S. loses 0.9 QALY's per person due to vehicle accidents. We could probably reduce this by 50% at least just by rolling out FSD.

I use it almost every time I drive. It's not perfect, but almost certainly better than me. I did manage to buy it outright just before they discontinued that option. You still need to pay a little attention, but you can definitely just stare out the windshield and zone out.

Haven't ridden in a Tesla with FSD in a while, but I have ridden in Waymos a number of times when visiting cities that have them. It's an impressively good experience IMO, though the price is not really noticeably lower than Uber etc. Naturally, supposedly super-progressive NYC (where I currently live) seems to be dragging their feet on approving them to operate here, while many redder cities seem to be much more enthusiastic about it.

People really hate paying $100/month for software products. It feels like you're getting ripped off even though it's literal Jetsons tech.

Literal Jetsons tech or not, I like to own things, not rent things. Though in fairness they used to offer that as an option, not sure if they still do.

Isn’t it still illegal to actually let the car drive itself? You can’t go to the back of the car and fall asleep, you can’t even officially use your phone with both hands to watch movies or play games. You can’t even look out of the window and forget about what’s in front of you. (You can do these things in a Waymo, but not in your own self driving car).

Yes. But the experience of driving is just so much better and more relaxing. It's one of those things you just have to try. My wife is completely sold as well.

I'm waiting for the F in FSD to expand past the RoboTaxis. I'd love to just read a book while software does all my driving, but AFAIK that's not allowed yet, and if I have to watch the road anyway I might as well have fun and stay more attentive by driving while I do.

An acquaintance of mine who lives closer to the city got a Tesla last year and took me for a ride to show off its FSD functionality. It mistook a crack in the asphalt for the median line and sent us swerving into the opposite lane. Thankfully it was a back road in fuck-off nowhere so we were the only ones on the road, but it did make me hesitant to rely on the technology right now. It probably works better in places closer to the core.

I think there was a phase change at some point last year where required interventions went down by 90%, making it much more useful.

IMO, the same thing happened with coding in the last 12 months where at this point I don't even bother to check if Astra's code is correct since it always is.

I have considered it, but I like my truck.

Tesla really needs to come out with a light pickup, a minivan, and a lay flat camper van.

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