Tesla FSD Is Deeply Unpopular, Survey Shows

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Recently, the Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report surveyed more than 8,000 US consumers, weighted by education, race, gender, age, income, and geography, to uncover the truth behind what’s powering or stalling the EV and self-driving car transition. There were four main conclusions from this latest survey:

• Consumer skepticism around Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology is high. Nearly half of consumers believe FSD technology should be illegal, and consumers say FSD features make them less likely to buy a Tesla by a two-to-one margin. After answering additional questions about FSD, consumers consider it even less of a reason to purchase a vehicle featuring the technology.

• FSD and Autonomous Vehicle (AV) skepticism is driving demand for increased regulation and legal accountability. There is strong support for holding AV manufacturers responsible for accidents and requiring stricter regulatory and advertising guardrails around features such as FSD.
• Consumers want LiDAR. Consumers overwhelmingly prefer for AVs to be equipped with both LiDAR and cameras (as Waymo does) as opposed to Tesla’s camera-only approach. 70% of Americans say autonomous vehicles should use both LiDAR and cameras, while only 3% support Tesla’s camera-only model. And 71% want the government to mandate both.
• Negative perceptions of Tesla’s brand have worsened. Declining brand positivity and trust scores have hit new lows for Tesla — down significantly from the spring — and there are increasing concerns about safety and family-friendliness compared to other carmakers.

FSD & Musk Fatigue

What that suggests is that people are weary of the constant claims from Tesla’s head honcho, Elon Musk. Before the results of this survey were made public, Elon said on his personal antisocial media channel that Version 14 of FSD, which could launch as early as next month, will be around two or three times “better than a human” driver. Version 15, when it gets here, could be 10 times superior, he said.

Then, according to Investors Business Daily, he appeared to backtrack on those statements on Monday, when he wrote, “there are so many rare situations” in real life “that even V14, while capable of being much safer than the average human driver, will take a few months to debug post release.” Longtime followers of the Tesla saga know that when Elon says “a few months,” the reality is that the promised result is more likely than not years away.

“Rare situations” are what many people would describe as “edge cases” — instances when human behavior defies logic, such as a child running into the street from between parked cars while chasing a lost ball, or a truck backing suddenly out of a driveway, or the sun glinting off a shiny object in a way that disrupts the operation of a camera.

EVIR says that when initially presented with a description of Tesla’s Full Self Driving functionalities and expected use, 48 percent said the technology should be illegal, 35 percent said FSD should be legal, and 17% were unsure.

Younger consumers — ages 18 to 44 — and the highest income consumers with an income of $150,000 or more were more likely than average to say the technology should be legal, while older consumers — ages 65 and over — and those with incomes of less than $100,000 are somewhat more likely than average to say the technology should be illegal. 14 percent of consumers said FSD made them more likely to buy a Tesla, while 35 percent said it would make them less likely to do so. 51 percent said it made no difference to them.

Trials Have Consequences

The recent court trial in Miami involving a Tesla Model Y that plowed though a T intersection while operating on Autopilot — a lesser technology that does not have the functionality of FSD — seems to have affected public perception of the company’s prowess at making self-driving cars. The latest reports indicate the company refused to settle the case for $60 million and instead chose to take its chances with the jury.

That turned out to be the wrong decision, as the jury awarded the plaintiff a total of $329 million in actual and punitive damages. No doubt that award will be challenged on appeal, and it will likely be years before a final resolution is reached, but we have to wonder to what extent Elon Musk was involved in the decision not to settle. He could easily believe he is entitled to $29 billion in compensation while some young woman who now happens to be dead as a result of that accident deserves little if any compensation from the company. The arrogance of the wealthy is often stunning to behold.

Survey Conclusions

Here are the principle conclusions of the EVIR survey: “Deep consumer skepticism around Tesla’s foregrounding of its FSD technology persists, raising doubts about whether a short or medium term market for ‘robotaxis’ and similar autonomous vehicle technologies exists.

“48 percent of consumers believe Tesla’s FSD technology should be illegal, and FSD puts off more potential Tesla purchasers than it attracts by more than two-to-one. This skepticism drives consumer appetite for additional legal and regulatory guardrails around FSD and AV technology.

“66 percent of consumers say Tesla should be held responsible for accidents involving its advanced driver assistance technologies, and 78 percent of consumers support regulations requiring Tesla advertisements to show proper use of Autopilot and FSD. 70 percent of consumers believe autonomous vehicles should use both LiDAR and cameras for safety, and 71 percent believe the government should mandate this standard.

“Consumers do not find FSD to be a particularly good reason to buy a Tesla vehicle. Only 4 percent say Full Self Driving makes them ‘much more’ likely to purchase a Tesla, while 10 percent say ‘somewhat more.’ On the other hand, 28 percent say it makes them ‘much less’ likely to purchase a Tesla, and 7 percent say ‘somewhat less’ likely.”

Old Fashioned Cussedness

Musk is famously pigheaded — witness the stillborn Cybertruck that exists solely because of his intransigence and unwillingness to be guided by market research. He believes he is the smartest person not only in the room but in the entire world, and knows better than anyone what people want. That intransigence is reflected in his refusal to consider the use of LiDAR technology as part of the suite of sensors used to guide cars equipped with FSD on their appointed rounds.

Several years ago, the Tesla Model 3 was placed on the back burner for about two years until Tesla engineers solved the technical issues with the falcon-wing doors for the Model X. Why? Because Musk hates the small channel in the rear quarter panel of minivans that is essential to the proper operation of sliding doors. It should be noted the latest version of the Honda Odyssey has solved that problem with an elegant solution — one that Tesla engineers might have discovered themselves if they were allowed to.

A Drop In European Sales

Bloomberg today is reporting that for the fourth time in seven months, Tesla posted a more than 40 percent year-over-year decline in new vehicle registrations in Europe in July. “Musk can’t blame a weak market,” Bloomberg said. “Total car sales jumped the most in 15 months, with industry-wide battery electric vehicle registrations surging 34 percent, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.”

During the Tesla earnings call in July, Musk implied that regulators were to blame for the weak sales because the company hasn’t been allowed to offer FSD in Europe. “It’s worth noting that we do not actually yet have approval for supervised FSD in Europe,” he said. “So our sales in Europe, we think, will improve significantly once we are able to give customers the same experience that they have in the US.”

“When that day comes, exactly, remains to be seen,” Bloomberg said. “Keep in mind that around the time Tesla opened its German factory in 2022, Musk was predicting FSD would be available in Europe the summer of that year.”

Working The Refs

Clearly, Musk is pedaling as fast as he can to keep the illusion of FSD alive, and to the extent that he has any influence left after the DOGE dumpster fire earlier this year, he is intent on getting the federal and state regulators to lighten up when it comes to enforcing FSD reporting requirements or restrictions on its use. In other words, he is trying to game the system to his advantage.

The primary takeaway from the EVIR report is simply that among the 8,000 people surveyed, Musk and Tesla are losing community support for FSD. Musk may think it is the 8th Wonder of the World, but lots of people are not buying the hype. Even he cannot force people to open their wallets to buy something they do not want. We wonder if he is even aware of that?