Try Tesla FSD Again Now: Elon's Call to Test Latest AI Improvements

In a direct message to Tesla owners on February 15, Elon Musk issued what amounts to a public challenge: if you haven't tried Full Self-Driving recently—or if you tested an earlier version and moved on—now is the time to give it another shot. The message wasn't buried in an earnings call or filtered through PR channels. It came straight from Musk's account, with a simple declaration: 'It's awesome 😎'

This isn't the first time Musk has championed FSD improvements, but the timing and tone are significant. The statement arrives during a pivotal week for Tesla's autonomy program, coinciding with the discontinuation of one-time FSD purchases and the ongoing rollout of major software updates across the fleet.

📊 What Changed

To understand why Musk is specifically targeting owners who tried earlier versions, it's helpful to see what's evolved in Tesla's FSD ecosystem recently:

🚦 Owner's Action Plan

Verdict: RECOMMENDED — If you haven't tested FSD in the past 6-12 months, or if you're currently subscribed but haven't driven with it recently, this is worth experiencing firsthand.

Step 1: Check Your Hardware Version

Tap Controls > Software on your center screen. Look for 'Additional Vehicle Information' to confirm whether you have Hardware 3 (HW3) or Hardware 4 (HW4). This determines which FSD version you'll be running:

• HW3: FSD v12.6.4 or v13.2.9 (with 2026.2.3 update)
• HW4: FSD v14 (firmware 2025.45.9 or 2025.45.9.1)

Step 2: Activate FSD (If Not Already Subscribed)

If you don't currently have an active FSD subscription:

1. Open the Tesla app on your phone
2. Tap Upgrades
3. Select Full Self-Driving (Supervised)
4. Choose Subscribe ($99/month in the US)
5. Confirm payment method

Note: The one-time purchase option was discontinued February 14, 2026. Subscription pricing is expected to increase as capabilities improve, according to Musk.

Step 3: Enable FSD for Your Drive

Once subscribed and software is current:

1. Shift into Drive
2. Pull the drive stalk down twice quickly (double-pull)
3. Confirm activation on the screen
4. Keep hands on wheel and stay alert — this is supervised autonomy

Step 4: Test in Varied Scenarios

To truly evaluate the improvements Musk is referencing, test FSD across different driving contexts:

• Urban navigation: Multi-lane intersections, unprotected left turns
• Highway merging: On-ramp blending, lane changes in traffic
• Residential streets: Speed bump detection, narrow roads with parked cars
• Parking lots: Navigate to specific spots (if your software supports it)

Step 5: Provide Feedback (Optional but Valuable)

If you encounter disengagements or unexpected behavior:

• Press the voice command button and say 'Bug Report' or press and hold the right scroll wheel
• Tesla's AI team uses this data to refine future versions

🔧 Known Considerations

Regional Availability: As of February 2026, FSD (Supervised) operates in the US and select markets. Musk expects regulatory approval in China around February-March 2026 and potentially in Europe as early as this month, pending decisions from authorities like the Dutch RDW.

HW4 Update Timing: If you have Hardware 4, you may not receive the 2026.2.3 update that rolled out to most HW3 vehicles around February 12. Your FSD v14 software is on a separate firmware track (2025.45.9.x). This is expected behavior, not a software issue.

Subscription vs. Purchase: For owners who purchased FSD outright before February 14, your access continues unchanged. For new users or those who previously let subscriptions lapse, the monthly model is now the only option. In Australia and New Zealand, outright purchases end March 31, 2026.

📰 Deep Dive

Musk's direct appeal to owners who 'tried an earlier version' is telling. Tesla's FSD journey has been marked by iterative public releases, and not every version lived up to expectations. Some owners tested v10 or v11, found it hesitant or prone to phantom braking, and haven't revisited the software since. This message acknowledges that history while signaling meaningful progress.

The timing aligns with Tesla's broader strategic shift. By moving to subscription-only pricing, the company creates recurring revenue and lowers the barrier for trial. At $99/month, an owner can test FSD for a single month without an $8,000 commitment. The trade-off is that prices will rise as the software improves—classic SaaS dynamics applied to automotive AI.

What's less clear is the magnitude of improvement Musk is referencing. The tweet praises the Tesla AI team but doesn't specify which version or feature set delivered the leap. For HW4 owners running FSD v14, the software is still in advanced deployment, not wide release. For HW3 owners on v12.6.4 or v13.2.9, the improvements are incremental refinements of the v12/v13 architecture. The 10x larger model with enhanced reasoning is a 2026 target, not yet deployed.

Still, the Austin Robotaxi rollout—operating without safety monitors—suggests Tesla has reached a threshold of confidence in certain geofenced environments. If unsupervised FSD is reliable enough for paying riders in controlled zones, the supervised version available to owners should reflect meaningful capability gains, even if it's not yet the fully autonomous experience Musk envisions by year-end 2026.

For owners, the calculus is simple: if you last tried FSD 12-18 months ago and dismissed it, the current version—whether v13.2.9 on HW3 or v14 on HW4—is architecturally different. Whether that translates to 'awesome' will depend on your routes, driving style, and tolerance for occasional disengagements. But Musk's public encouragement, combined with the subscription-only shift, signals this is the version Tesla wants owners to judge the system by.

Sarah Chen

Senior Writer — Energy & SpaceX

Sarah focuses on Tesla Energy, SpaceX missions, and the broader Musk AI portfolio. Former data analyst in clean energy. Based in San Francisco.

Sources verified at publish time. Spotted an inaccuracy? Email editorial@basenor.com.