Earlier this month, Tesla released a new firmware update that added a few new driving modes for the controversial full self-driving (FSD) feature. One, called 'Sloth', relaxes acceleration and stays in its lane. The other, called 'Mad Max', does the opposite: it speeds and swerves through traffic to get you to your destination faster. And after multiple reports of FSD Teslas doing just that, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants to know more.
In fact, “Mad Max” mode isn't entirely new: Tesla beta-tested the same feature in Autopilot in 2018 before deciding not to roll it out in a production release after widespread outrage.
Today the company feels noticeably less constrained; Despite having just lost a federal wrongful death lawsuit that will cost him hundreds of millions of dollars, the new mode is described as the ability to “drive through traffic at an incredible pace, all while still being super smooth. It handles your car like a sports car. If you're running late, this is the mode for you.”
