Austin Cooley

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Finally got to ride in an unsupervised Robotaxi today 🎉 (in Austin, TX). It was awesome - watched Netflix in the front seat of a super smooth/perfect ride. That said, I was able to almost immediately validate a hypothesis I've had for a while: My sense has been that one of the last hurdles to a full scale-out are railroad tracks. It's one of the few situations Tesla just can't afford to get wrong (alongside driving into lakes and running red lights/heading into oncoming traffic at busy intersections, both of which they have orders of magnitude more data for). Most other mistakes have felt harmless in my Model Y, and even if unsafe, other drivers can react and account for it. It's been pretty clear to me that they haven't fully solved this problem yet - even in my own Model Y (14.2.2.5) I've had a scenario where the gates came down, my car slammed to a full stop right in front of the gates, then (presumably thinking it was on the tracks) hit the gas - and I had to disengage to avoid breaking into the barrier. Given the number of weird clips on the Internet and my own experience, it's felt like they still don't have the # of 9's they need in these scenarios. Well, that's definitely the case and Unsupervised robotaxis appear to be avoiding them entirely - you can see here that during my ride, I changed my destination to a point on the map (a) ahead of the main railroad track in Austin, then (b) behind the railroad track (see satellite image for where the tracks are). No matter which way I tried it, if the destination was on the other side of the tracks, it re-routed my ride south (to an overpass that avoids RR crossings). It's pretty clear to me that they've essentially blocked certain intersections with RR crossings (not sure if all, or just specific ones). I also don't know if it's only doing this for unsupervised rides (vs supervised where the safety monitor could presumably tell the car to stop). Honestly, it's a pretty smart solution (though i'm sure some riders will be confused/annoyed) given there are typically routes that go under/over tracks. But the fact that they have to account for this means it's not easily generalizable. @DirtyTesLa cc @mikepat711 as I know you've been as confused as I have about why they aren't rolling out faster. This appears to be one reason

Pretty awesome perk of @robotaxi over Waymos: Netflix and other services are already logged in - jump right back into the show you were watching, full screen 🤯 feel like I haven't seen this advertised well enough cc @SawyerMerritt

@SawyerMerritt How do you tell it to save a clip? Are we still honking the horn for that?

Was driving on FSD V14.3.1 today and it avoided a couple potholes/manholes. Not sure if it was just mimicking the behavior of the car in front or if it made the decision independently, but either way, FSD avoided it. Btw, love that FSD clips saved directly to your phone now include this FSD data.

@SawyerMerritt Would be so great to be able to drag the parking icon to the vicinity of where you want to park…

Here's my first drive on Tesla FSD V14.3.1. It feels polished vs 14.3 and it my opinion is ready for wide release. • With 14.3.1, you can now tap on the new "P" parking icon and bring up your different parking options • Mad Max mode on the highway feels slightly more conservative with top speed (favors low 80s more often), but will now get to the right lanes sooner to prepare for exiting the highway. In this first drive, Mad Max did not go above 83mph, despite no cars around me most of the time. Follow distance is also more comfortable. I like all these things. • I'm having zero brake stabbing issues on 14.3.1, whereas I had a couple on my first drive with 14.3 • Urban lane selection is better vs 14.3 • Navigation routes and occasional parking alignment still need some work, but that's not a reason to hold back wide release. It still surprises me how much quicker V14.3 reacts to things. If a car pulls out of a parking spot as you drive by, FSD hits the brakes before you even know what's going on. The 20% better reaction time is definitely noticeable.

@DavidMoss Legit have no idea how you're even getting rides. It's always "High service demand" every time i check

While these posts from Fred and Dan are annoying and lacking any facts, there _is_ a small possibility that the chase cars have “pull over before driving onto that train track” kill switches. I think it’s unlikely given how well my car drives in Austin, but we’ll know based on how fast the service scales and the chase cars are removed

hahahahahahahahahahahahahah that's the headline you actually put on the article? hahahahahahahahahahahhaahahhahahahha wow

Why can’t I watch movies and sleep on the way home for Christmas in my @Tesla_AI yet? 16 hours on L5 highway driving has got to be better than holiday 3-hr flight delays 😑 The government needs to catch up because highway driving is so butter now

@wholemars One step closer to backseat work desk mode!

Texting and driving on Tesla FSD is a game changing feature for anyone who commutes in their car every day

@SawyerMerritt @Tesla of course no mention of Tesla in the headline lol

Review of @Tesla FSD (Supervised) in the WSJ: "Driving has always felt like a chore to me. The first time I let the vehicle (Model Y) take control, something shifted. As the car guided itself through traffic, I felt tension melt away. A few days before the federal EV tax credit expired in September, I traded in my 7.5 year-old Model 3 for a Model Y with FSD. For someone like me, who likes to stay in control, surrender has never come easily. Yet here I was, cruising through traffic in quiet surrender to the car’s code and sensors. It felt like liberation. And now I have something better than a chauffeur. My car never tires, panics or wavers; it doesn’t jolt at brake lights or grumble at traffic jams. It simply drives, with quiet confidence and near-perfect composure. People often worry that technology makes us lazy. Maybe it does. But in my case, it has done something subtler: It taught me to trust in the rhythm of the ride. It’s a small miracle I never expected from a car."

@SawyerMerritt When is jfk to manhattan

NEWS: Elon Musk’s The Boring Company will open its first tunnel to Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas in Q1 2026, transporting up to 20,000 people per hour for 50-80% lower cost than an Uber. Cost for passengers: • Downtown to Airport: $12 (8 min ride) • Airport to Las Vegas Convention Center: $10 (5 min ride) This will massively cut down travel time for visitors, reduce traffic on surface roads and save travelers money.

Took my first @robotaxi ride in Austin last night to pick up dinner! Paid $2, smooth ride, quiet, perfect ride. Super long wait time (45 minutes) to get back home so I got an Uber instead. $8 and the license plate doesn't match the app, guy is bitching at me for not getting in, seems very confused, complains the whole way home Pretty obvious where things are headed…

BREAKING: Tesla Robotaxi service access has officially gone wide to iOS users. @Tesla has opened access today to BOTH its ride-hailing service in the Bay Area and its Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. People who just downloaded the app tell me they got immediate access to the service. The floodgates are open!

@litesneakers1 @SawyerMerritt Ok helpful thanks 🙏

@adcooley @SawyerMerritt I signed up my +1 with their email, that was registered as a shareholder on Tesla's website. They got a separate email to sign the forms and get their pass. I did get two emails but they were addressed to me and not my +1, probably an error:

Tesla has officially started sending out tickets to their shareholder meeting at Giga Texas this Thursday.

@litesneakers1 @SawyerMerritt Question: did your +1 get a separate email? Or did you get two emails?

@SawyerMerritt Got mine! My +1 as well!

@mrfundman @Tesla_AI @aelluswamy If the NHTSA killed the current rollout due to Mad Max mode, it's gonna be a lonnng week

@mrfundman @Tesla_AI @aelluswamy Same for me (hw4, advanced, EAP, attending shareholder meeting lol). I’m guessing they just have multiple waves and it’s entirely random

Why was this robot was put on no-update list 😭 @Tesla_AI Its HW4, advanced tab and part of EAP 😔 still no FSD 14..

@shai_wininger @Tesla How do you access UBI? I've got Lemonade and when through the car insurance quote process, but I'm not seeing any way to connect my Tesla account (and the quote is higher than my current Tesla insurance)

We’re starting to roll out direct integration with @Tesla vehicles, removing the need for a UBI device in our Pay Per Mile product. This makes activating Lemonade Car on Teslas effortless and lets us cut hardware and shipping costs, helping lower prices for Tesla drivers even further. Tesla's API also provides richer and more accurate driving behavior data than traditional UBI devices, enabling us to offer better rewards and discounts for safe driving and FSD usage.

@mikepat711 haha that's how I feel too but someone's gotta verify it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@adcooley Good question. I don’t really encounter this in my daily driving, but there are places I could test it for sure. I’m likely going to be lazy and let someone else test that for us when it goes wider though 🤣 kind of a pain in the ass to time with train schedules

Worth noting that I haven’t yet had anything remotely close to a safety disengagement on V14.1.2. Not even one questionable moment or maneuver.

@mikepat711 Most important question though - how does it perform at railroad tracks when lights start flashing. This has been problematic and 13 / Robotaxi and has the most downside risk imo

@mikepat711 Incredible - agreed that was the most stress inducing part of 13. I think my mom might even like 14 🤣

@TeslaBoomerMama @coastrider5 @marvelwonderkat @CernBasher Is it possible to add a plus one after you’ve submitted the RSVP already? I’ve got one to give

🗳️🪩 Shareholder meeting invites If someone is still looking to gift a +1, here some suggestions: - @coastrider5 - @marvelwonderkat - @CernBasher And if you would like to add your name to this list, just put it in comment.