4.400 kilometers without hands
It sounds like science fiction, but according to Moss, it is reality. He left Los Angeles and arrived in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, after two days and 20 hours. A monster drive of 2,732 miles (nearly 4,400 kilometers) during which his Tesla Model 3 did all the work.
The software that did this trick is Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) version 14.2. According to Moss, no human intervention was required. Steering, accelerating, braking, merging, taking turns; the car did it all by itself. If his claim is true, this is a huge middle finger to critics who say FSD will never work.
Without LiDAR, purely by sight
What makes this achievement extra special is the technology behind it. Competitors like Waymo and Zoox swear by LiDAR, expensive laser systems that scan the environment. Elon Musk calls that “crutches” and believes cameras and AI are enough. Moss’ ride seems to prove Musk right. The Model 3 navigated through deserts, over mountain passes and through crowded cities based purely on what its cameras saw.
It’s a win for Tesla’s vision-only approach. While Waymo cabs sometimes get confused by a pylon, this Tesla apparently drives across a continent effortlessly. It shows how quickly Tesla’s neural networks learn from the millions of miles the fleet travels daily.
The 100-year-old dream
This is what we’ve been dreaming about for a century. In 1925, a radio-controlled car was already driving through New York, but that was a gimmick. This is serious business. The idea of your car being nothing more than a private room that gets you from A to B while you work or sleep comes awfully close with rides like this.
Of course, there are still snags. Are you even allowed to sleep? Who is responsible if things go wrong? And will it work in a snowstorm? But for now, the message is clear: the technology is almost there.
Side note: Don’t believe everything
We do need to take a slight caveat. Moss claims “zero disengagements,” but that’s hard to verify without a notary in the back seat. Tesla fans cheer, critics remain skeptical. Was it really 100% autonomous, or did it still have to intervene once at a tricky intersection?
Either way, the bar has been set. The race to fully autonomous driving is no longer a sprint, but a marathon. And Tesla seems to have the best running shoes right now.
