Tesla's new 'Full Self-Driving' 10.3 update has an Assertive mode that mimics a more aggressive driver

Back in October, Tesla expanded its Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta testing mode to all of its electric car owners that have a perfect Safety Score. What was previously a privilege of a select few beta testers became a full -on exercise in automatic driving that Elon Musk has been teasing as a "full self-driving feature complete" for the whole year. Granted, the FSD beta is still limited to those thousand or so Tesla owners that qualify with their excellent safety score, but we are still getting a much better glimpse of the future of autonomous driving this way that we had during the very limited early release. Tesla awarded the update to those owners who had driven more than 100 miles since September 25 and managed to get the 100 points safety score by keeping a distance and avoiding sharp cornering or sudden braking.

Ironically enough, it turns out that the Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta update features no less than three driving profiles that Tesla ranks in terms of aggressiveness - Chill, Average, and Assertive. While the Assertive mode doesn't say "aggressive" on the tin, it does warn that it may maintain "a smaller follow distance, perform more frequent speed lane changes or rolling stops” and might "not exit passing lanes."

The choice of Assertive mode sounds like Tesla trying to solve the conundrum of autonomous vehicles driving too tame on the road and causing more driver confusion this way, but a real-life test of the three profiles on the same roads that you see in the video below shows that the difference between them is not all that dramatic. Needless to say, your mileage and experience with the Chill vs Average vs Aggressive modes in Tesla's new Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta 10.3 update may vary depending on the road conditions and traffic situation.

Get the 50A ChargePoint Home Flex EV charger on Amazon