Self-driving cars have been a hot topic in automotive news, especially with Tesla’s Robotaxi.
An analyst from Morgan Stanley just gave Tesla’s supervised Full Self-Driving software a glowing review after a 1,400-mile round-trip journey from New York to Michigan, Teslarati reported.
“Having your hands off the wheel and feet off the pedals for nearly 12 hours of driving is a real game changer that is hard to appreciate without experiencing it for yourself,” Adam Jonas noted.
For the trip, Jonas drove a 2021 Model Y, and he said that the car took care of 99% of the driving. He also spoke highly of Tesla’s Superchargers for helping to make the journey more efficient.
Jonas’s affirming words come at a tumultuous time for Tesla. With CEO Elon Musk’s polarizing political activities and actions, the brand’s image took a hit. Some consumers saw support for Tesla as an endorsement of Musk’s personal viewpoints, or as a stamp of approval on how he handled his role in the federal government or his disagreements with President Trump over the summer.
The company also had a rough few quarters. According to Reuters, Tesla’s market share in early September was the lowest it had been since 2017 as competition in the EV market ramps up.
However, just days ago, Musk purchased over $1 billion in Tesla stock, sending shares to their highest value since January.
Autonomous vehicles, especially Tesla’s Robotaxi, have received many mixed reviews. Some cite concerns over safety ratings and skepticism about its artificial intelligence’s ability to react. With the Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, new regulations have moved the human supervision from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat.
On the other hand, people report quick reaction times with their Tesla’s FSD software. One Tesla’s FSD system avoided an accident on the highway, and the driver took to the social platform X, saying that there was no way they could have reacted that quickly.
This tracks with the glowing review that Jonas gave. “FSD made no mistakes or close calls that I recall. The system handles highways very safely and confidently. I cannot imagine buying another EV without FSD,” Jonas said, per Teslarati.
Regardless of your stance on autonomous vehicles, the science supports electric vehicles in general as a strong, sustainable solution over traditional fuel vehicles.