Tesla enables full self driving in Australia
Elon Musk’s Tesla has just dropped a huge update on Australia that is set to change the way we drive.
The self-driving car is almost here. I’ve driven it – and it drove me – on the streets of Brisbane, through roundabouts, intersections, traffic lights and sweeping bends. Without me touching the steering wheel - but ready to take over in a moment.
Tesla is poised to activate technology that will change Australian roads forever. Known as Full Self Driving (Supervised), the tech will be an option for customers who own the brand’s latest models, one that gives the brand an enormous edge over the competition.
I wasn’t sure whether to feel excited or terrified when strapping into a Tesla Model 3 with the tech enabled.
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Tesla invited a handful of reporters to experience the feature on public streets in Queensland – not a private road or test track.
Brisbane isn’t usually the stage for a global tech debut – in this case, the first use of Tesla’s self-driving service in a right-hand-drive market.
Tesla states this new technology is “not autonomous driving”, but it is close. Officially, this is a Level 2 Advanced Driver-Assistance System (ADAS), compliant with all current state and federal laws.
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Level 2 ADAS means the driver must remain in control, eyes on the road and hands on the wheel, treated the same as adaptive cruise control or lane-keeping assist.
Of course, Tesla’s system feels far more advanced than that.
Unlike space-age rivals such as Google’s Waymo, which use expensive LiDAR and radar sensors, Tesla relies on vision only.
Eight exterior cameras feed into a powerful on-board computer running neural networks trained on billions of kilometres of driving data uploaded by Tesla owners worldwide.
The data then constructs a real-time representation of the road environment. It reads road markings, traffic lights, pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles, then calculates the most probable path forward.
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Tesla argues this approach is closer to how humans see and react, never tired and never drunk.
The latest FSD (Supervised) software version 12 guides the car, allowing it to accelerate, brake, steer, signal, and merge, but legally and practically. It’s a bit like supervising a learner driver – you watch, but don’t need to hold the wheel.
After agreeing to complex terms and conditions, I entered my destination and let the system take over. I’ll be honest, the first 15 minutes of my drive was nerve-racking.
My first instinct at a roundabout? Panic, brake, and take back control.
Giving the car a second chance at the next roundabout, it sailed through calmly, signalling and exiting safely as though it had done it a thousand times. As I approached traffic lights, the car paused, slowed, indicated, and at one point even anticipated a lane change before I thought to make it.
I chuckled, thought “holy crap”, and proceeded to let FSD (Supervised) do its thing.
Its human-like behaviour is life-changing. Daily commutes and long road trips will soon become stress and fatigue-free.
On the freeway, it adjusted speed, merged smoothly, and then issued a warning when I dared to look around the cabin. Then there were the jaw-dropping moments: a tradie waved me in at a busy stop sign, and the Model 3 slipped forward with perfect timing, as if it had interpreted the gesture.
Later, boxed between a taxi and a big truck, I began to feel nervous. The Model 3 waited, then indicated and changed lanes with complete ease.
It was at this point, I thought, “this is the answer to Australia’s worst drivers”.
Like all new technology, it has flaws, at times hesitating or driving well below the speed limit. At one point I had to take over when it misjudged the closing speed of a vehicle in the next lane – a prime example of why Tesla says drivers need to remain attentive.
So when will Australians get it? Tesla says a scheduled release is coming soon.
Customers with Model 3 and Model Y cars fitted with the latest Hardware 4 (HW4) will be first in line. Access will be offered in three ways: a one-off purchase, a monthly subscription, or a 30-day free trial on all new deliveries.
It really is just around the corner.
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Originally published as Tesla enables full self driving in Australia
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