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Whether you live in New York, Los Angeles or Kelowna, you can now get into a car and simply tell it where to take you.
The car will take care of the rest.
As of today, if you go for a drive you are sharing the road with cars driven almost entirely by a computer program.
"Your Full Self-Driving (Supervised) Trial starts now!", states an email sent to Tesla drivers.
The message went out yesterday.
"Under your supervision, Full Self-Driving (Supervised) can drive your Tesla almost anywhere. It will make lane changes, select forks to follow your navigation route, navigate around other vehicles and objects, and make left and right turns."
Drivers are urged to remain cautious and attentive.
"It does not make your vehicle autonomous," reads the warning. "Do not become complacent."
The advice is sound considering the results of a test drive taken by KelownaNow.
During a return trip between Landmark and Prospera Place, the Full Self-Driving function failed to use a left-hand turn lane onto Harvey Avenue.
The left-hand turn had to be abandoned and the driver took over after an awkward hesitation mid-intersection.
Another left-hand turn, also onto Harvey, was poorly aligned and the vehicle had to make a sudden correction to avoid hitting a concrete curb.
The vehicle also slowed down to 40 km/h in a 50 km/h zone for no apparent reason.
Other than that, the experience was quite amazing as the vehicle manoeuvred through traffic.
The option is free for many Tesla drivers, but only until May 3.
After that, there is an option to purchase the upgrade for $16,000.
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