Tesla CEO Elon Musk has laid out a rough plan for expanding access to Full Self-Driving (FSD), the company’s advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), throughout North America and the rest of the world.

“Once FSD is super smooth (not just safe), we will roll out a free month trial for all cars in North America,” Musk tweeted Monday. “Then extend to rest of world after we ensure it works well on local roads and regulators approve it in that country.”

Despite what its name suggests, FSD does not actually allow a car to drive itself fully. The newest version of the beta software automates some driving tasks on both highways and city streets, but it still requires the driver to stay alert and take over control of the vehicle at any time.

Musk did not provide a specific timeline for extending access to FSD beyond North America, where the US$15,000 add-on has been available to “anyone who requests it” since November. Nor did the executive elaborate on why Tesla would roll out a free one-month trial for all Tesla vehicles on the continent, but the reason is likely twofold.

FSD, which is powered by deep neural networks, is technically still in the beta stage. That means it requires reams of data to train and improve. By rolling FSD out to every Tesla in North America, even if it’s just for one month, the automaker can collect another hefty chunk of driving data while simultaneously drumming up hype for the software and its capabilities — the Tesla equivalent of giving out a free taste of ice cream to get you to buy a scoop.

“We test as much as possible in simulation and with [quality assurance] drivers, but reality is vastly more complex,” Musk tweeted last week, alongside news that the latest version of FSD would ship to Tesla employees this week.

The executive also teased capabilities for the next version of FSD, which Musk said would have “end-to-end AI.” Outside of North America, Tesla has been limited in its ability to give drivers access to FSD due to stricter regulations. Drivers only have access to Autopilot, Tesla’s standard ADAS, which includes features like automatic steering within a lane, automatic braking and automatic navigation to highway on- and off-ramps, but it’s a dialed-back version. FSD is still not yet allowed on public roads.

The potential widespread rollout comes as FSD and Autopilot have gotten the automaker into hot water in recent years. The systems have been the subject of numerous lawsuits and investigations.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【大量】dàliàng reams of a very large amount of

【(使)陷入麻烦】(shǐ) xiànrù máfán get into hot water cause or encounter trouble or difficulty

特斯拉首席执行官埃隆•马斯克制定了一项粗略的计划，在整个北美和世界其他地区推广该公司的高级驾驶辅助系统FSD（全自动驾驶）。“一旦FSD体验顺畅（不仅仅是安全），我们将为北美的所有用户推出一个月的免费试用，”马斯克周一在推特上写道。“在确保它在当地道路上运行良好、并且获得监管机构批准后，该服务将扩展到世界其他地区。”

尽管叫全自动驾驶，FSD实际上并不允许汽车完全自动驾驶。最新版本的测试版软件可以在高速公路和城市街道上自动执行某些驾驶任务，但仍然要求驾驶员保持警惕并随时准备接管车辆控制权。马斯克没提供将FSD扩展到北美以外的具体时间表，自去年11月以来，这项15000美元的附加服务已开放给“所有有需求的用户”。马斯克没详细说明为什么特斯拉会向美洲大陆的所有用户推出为期一个月的免费试用，但大概有两个原因。

FSD由深度神经网络提供支持，在技术上仍处于测试阶段。这意味着它需要大量的数据来训练和改进。通过将FSD推广到北美的每一辆特斯拉，即使只是一个月，汽车制造商也可以收集大量的驾驶数据，同时为其软件功能大肆宣传 —— 相当于让你免费尝一口冰淇淋，引诱你买一客。

“我们尽可能多地在模拟和[试驾]驾驶员中进行测试，但现实路况要复杂得多，”马斯克上周在推特上写道，同时有消息称最新版本的FSD将于本周交付给特斯拉员工。这位高管还透露了下一个版本FSD的功能，马斯克表示该版本将具有“端对端AI”。

在北美以外，由于法规更严格，特斯拉还不能让司机使用FSD。驾驶员只能使用特斯拉的标准ADAS自动驾驶仪，其中包括在固定车道内行驶，自动刹车以及高速公路上下匝道的自动导航等功能，但它是一个低配版本，FSD还不允许在公共道路上行驶。大规模推出FSD的背景是：近年来，FSD和Autopilot让特斯拉陷入不少麻烦，因为自动驾驶系统导致了多项诉讼和调查。(SD-Agencies)