Tesla has unleashed its most advanced semi-autonomous driving software on Australian Model 3s and Model Ys.
Known as Full Self-Driving (Supervised) the system allows full hands-off driving, potentially for hundreds of kilometres – although the person behind the wheel is still responsible for anything that goes wrong and so needs to be concentrating constantly.
We’ve spent five days driving (or not driving) the new FSD (Supervised) system on a Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive.
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Here’s everything you need to know about Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system.
FSD (Supervised) is not cheap
Full Self-Driving (supervised) is a software update for eligible Teslas.
They need what’s called hardware four (HW4), which is the latest generation high-definition cameras and associated computer processors to deal with complex tasks.
Tesla suggests it’s working on making the same functionality available for older cars with hardware three (HW3) software, but isn’t saying when that might happen.
Then you can pay (gulp) $10,100 for the additional functionality.
If you’re baulking at the price, Tesla will also offer a subscription for $149 per month.
Tesla is also expected to offer a 30-day trial for new cars at some stage in future.
Tesla FSD is not fully self-driving
The “(Supervised)” bit in the sales pitch tells you plenty about the arrival of FSD in Australia.
Despite the name, don’t go expecting your Tesla with Full Self-Driving to be doing full self-driving.
That’s what the (Supervised) part refers to.
First you need to enter a destination in the map so the car knows where it’s going (you can do it from the app remotely) then you need to tap the screen to confirm you want to engage FSD (Supervised) and tap the brake to get the car doing the driving.
From then on it still needs a human to be ready to take over if (let’s say “when”) the car makes a mistake.
That’s because it’s essentially a more advanced version of the level 2 autonomy Tesla’s have had for a long time.
According to a scale created by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), autonomous vehicles are ranked from level 0 (no assistance) to level 5 (full autonomy with no human intervention).
In 2025 most new cars have level 2 – and FSD (Supervised) is exactly that, albeit with more functionality than most level 2 cars.
It does a lot right… but
We spent five days in a Model 3 with Full Self-Driving (Supervised) and came away generally impressed.
It does an impressive job picking lane markings, other traffic, stop signs and a lot more.
It integrates nicely with other vehicles and it’s smooth and relaxing.
But… there are buts…
With FSD you won’t be setting any lap records
FSD (Supervised) is towards the cruisier end of the driving scale.
If you’re one who likes to be at the forefront of progress in peak hour then you might have to abandon that save-ten-seconds mentality.
Tesla FSD (Supervised) is more about settling into the traffic groove and going with the flow.
It never felt like it used full throttle during our hundreds of kilometres of semi-autonomous driving, instead taking a more leisurely approach to building speed.
There were times when I wished it had used more throttle, such as when it pulled into a major road with a 70km/h limit and traffic bearing down.
It’ll often sit under the speed limit, although you can also choose to have an offset compared with the speed limit; that allows it to drift a few kilometres above what the speedo is reading.
Car parks can confuse it
We found car parks were one place FSD could get seriously confused. There was one instance in a nearly empty underground car park where it drove around pylons and down dead-ends before I finally took over.
Sometimes it would drive around seemingly aimlessly.
Another time it found some parking spots and promptly took up two of them.
And on multiple occasions it drove against the directional arrows on the road.
Another time it wanted to drive in the car park exit, confidently ignoring the “no entry” signs on the way in.
It sometimes assumes others will obey the rules
FSD generally does an amazingly good job, but it’s clear it often relies on other cars doing the right thing and at least vaguely obeying the road rules.
There were a couple of occasions when cars arrived from weird angles or at higher speeds and the Tesla didn’t seem ready for it.
None were life-and-death situations, but each was a reminder that the human brain does a better job of figuring out what’s going on.
One involved a truck taking advantage of slowing traffic and trying to cut across three lanes to get to a right-turn lane on a major road.
The Tesla had right of way so was doing nothing wrong but it would have blocked the truck from achieving its goal, which could have led to some finger waving and expletives.
So I intervened and braked to allow the somewhat dodgy manoeuvre from the trucky.
FSD doesn’t always indicate
Strictly adhering to the road rules is not something the latest FSD system always does.
We had it changing lanes over unbroken lines, for example.
On a number of occasions we were at an intersection or turns and it didn’t activate the indicators. Sometimes it also turned the blinkers on quite late.
It’s not always in the right lane
We found it often left lane changes very late.
On busy multi-lane roads it would often leave a double lane change until 200m before it needed to be in the far left lane.
In peak hour traffic that occasionally meant carving up other vehicles.
A couple of times it was in the wrong lane and had to rectify things hastily.
On one occasion, it also missed the turn completely.
Despite knowing a couple of kilometres out where it was supposed to turn, the car never attempted to get into the left lane, instead sailing on past the turn and allowing the navigation to recalculate.
It also doesn’t always pick the right lane.
If there’s a section of road you know there will likely be parked cars or someone turning right it doesn’t have that knowledge.
So it’ll only respond when it sees something.
And it may not know the little tricks you do.
High-tech autonomous driving needs clean cameras
The cameras are the only thing Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is relying on to see what’s going on around it.
So if they can’t see, the car can’t see – as we learned.
On one crisp morning a layer of condensation meant the system wouldn’t activate.
It threw up a warning saying “Autopilot Functionality Limited: Clean all dirt and debris from camera”.
Another day the rain was coming down hard and, again, the FSD system decided it didn’t have the vision it required.
A quick clean of the cameras had things working again, but it’s also an indicator of how sensitive the system is to a very common occurrence.
Even with FSD (Supervised) you need to concentrate
The Tesla FSD (Supervised) system does a heck of a lot right – but it also gets some often basic things wrong.
And it often needs a person to show it where to go or how to do things.
Most of the time when we guided it to a car park it would drive into the car park and drive around or tell you it had arrived.
In one car park there was also a turn it never wanted to negotiate, so it drove past.
It’s also clear it can’t recognise arrows on the road.
On a few occasions we had it driving against the arrows in car parks.
And in one car park with angle parking it decided to indicate, reverse and park. However, it took up two spaces with the lane marking almost directly down the centre of the car.
There’s no relaxing
The lure of self-driving is obvious. You can relax, send emails, have a snack or even a snooze while on the move.
Except that with FSD (Supervised) you can’t.
Other than when stationary the system is constantly monitoring you.
If it detects you’re not fully focussed on the road and traffic it may prompt you to provide some steering input. All it’s looking for is a slight pull on the wheel to reinforce that you’ve received the message and you’re ready to take over.
If you keep ignoring it, you’ll get flashing red warnings and the system will eventually disable and give you what in Tesla parlance is known as a “strikeout”.
Five strikeouts and the system is suspended for a week.
That said, in boring peak hour traffic you quickly learn to trust it and it’s a way to take some stress out of driving (or not driving).
FSD (Supervised) sometimes gives up
Occasionally we found FSD (Supervised) decided it was all too hard, so it just gave up or stopped.
One time the car chose an unusual route through suburban streets, which took it to a busy T-intersection where it had to turn right across four lanes.
Cars were arriving from either side, often above the 60km/h posted limit.
Trees were making visibility difficult, which had my right foot hovering over the brake ready to take control if it decided for a risky move.
In the end, it monitored the situation for maybe two minutes, then disengaged FSD and put me back in control.
In short, it was too difficult for it to deal with.
Those advanced cameras can’t read road signs
It’s clear FSD (Supervised) can’t read road signs.
It dutifully drove around a “road closed” sign when I was behind the wheel.
That took me to a fence across the road signifying road works.
The car sat there for a few minutes not knowing what to do (the only way out was where we’d come from) before I took over.
It struggles to read digital speed signs in tunnels, so you need to keep an eye on what it thinks the speed limit is to ensure you’re not going too fast – or too slow.
But… FSD (Supervised) is a seriously impressive system
Yep, I’ve spent a lot of time pointing out all the things it did wrong during our driving.
But FSD (Supervised) also did a heck of a lot right.
It’s just that writing hundreds of words saying it did all this stuff right will be a dull read.
One Friday night in peak hour I drove 25-odd kilometres from the Harbour Bridge in Sydney to the northern beaches and didn’t have to touch a thing.
The car changed lanes confidently in thick traffic, picked corners and speed humps perfectly and dealt with what were some tricky scenarios.
Indeed, the vast majority of the (not) driving was done very impressively.
So, is FSD (Supervised) worth $10,100?
Ten grand is a lot of money for software.
And it’s a lot of money for what is essentially a neat party trick, for now at least.
Having to continually concentrate at a similar level to if you were doing all the inputs yourself means it’s not the set-and-forget experience some will be dreaming of with autonomous cars.
That said, it does take some pressure out of dealing with peak hour and those boring driving situations.
For that, at least, some will no doubt see it as a sound investment.
2025 Tesla FSD (Supervised): Verdict
I never expected Tesla’s latest FSD system to be perfect.
Humans perform plenty of complex tasks behind the wheel (albeit at varying levels!).
But it gives an idea of how we’re working towards fully autonomous vehicles.
Five days behind the wheel reinforces that we will get there – and Tesla seems at the forefront of the technology.
But there’s plenty still to be sorted out.
Sure, Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is the most advanced semi-autonomous system currently available.
But it’s also a long way off full self-driving.
That said, Tesla’s regular software updates will no doubt lead to tweaks and improvements along the way
Score: 3/5
2025 Tesla with FSD (Supervised) price and specifications
Price: $10,100 on top of the price of a new Tesla or $149 per month
What you get: A software update to supervised semi-autonomous hands-free driving
Who can use it? Anyone with a Tesla with hardware 4 (HW4) cameras and computers (essentially the most recent versions of the Model 3 and Model Y)
The good: It’s a smooth operator; it’s the most advanced semi-autonomous tech to date; you can ‘drive’ many kilometres hands-free
The bad: You have to concentrate constantly; car parks confuse it; it sometimes leaves decisions late
