Tesla Requires A Certain Safety Score To Grant Access To FSD Beta

In the middle of September, we talked about Tesla and its FSD (Full Self-Driving) beta landing for the automaker's early access fleet. Tesla is now preparing to expand the beta offering to more users, but there is a catch. Elon Musk has said that drivers who request access to the full Self-Driving Beta will only be granted access if their Safety Score is high enough.

Car & Driver has a leased 2019 Tesla Model 3 acquired specifically for testing the Full Self-Driving system, but after two years of ownership, the software has yet to become available. Recently someone asked Musk via Twitter if everyone would be able to gain access to the beta right away be of the beta button.

Musk responded that the beta button would request permission to access the Tesla insurance calculator for everyone requesting to trial software. According to Musk, the user's driving behavior would need to be good for the past seven days to gain access to the beta. That Beta Button is only available on Tesla cars and SUVs that are equipped with the Full-Driving package.

That package adds $10,000 to the purchase price of a Tesla vehicle. Some vehicles that have compatible versions of Autopilot can request access for a monthly cost of either $99 per month or $199 a month, depending on the version of Autopilot. While Musk has said that the driving behavior score has to be high enough to gain entrance to the beta, there has been no indication of exactly what score is required.

Musk also said that Beta version 10.2 for the software would launch on Friday, October 8. We do know that the Safety Score is based on a handful of factors, including forward-collision warnings, how fast the driver takes turns, how hard they brake, unsafe following distances, and forced autopilot disengagements.