Tesla's Chief Designer Gives Demo Drives Of Full Self-Driving Features To Customers After Elon Musk's Directive

Tesla TSLA chief designer Franz von Holzhausen arrived at the company’s delivery center in Marina Del Rey, California, over the weekend with several of the team to provide demo drives showcasing the vehicle’s driver-assist features including its full self-driving software to customers.

What Happened: Holzhausen on Saturday posted a picture with several team members donning a Cybertruck t-shirt from the gallery in California. The chief designer said that the team had arrived at the center in person to ensure customers get their new vehicles as well as a demo drive of the full self-driving software.

Last week, it was reported that company CEO Elon Musk instructed Tesla staff to provide customers with a short test ride to demonstrate the company’s driver-assist features in real time. Over the weekend, the company also started rolling out free FSD trials to Tesla owners in the U.S. who did not purchase it.

Why It Matters: The measures are aimed at increasing takers for the software which the company says will enable fully autonomous driving in due time. Currently, the software performs as a driver assistance system that requires active driver supervision. However, it “should be really shining bright” by late April or May, Musk said in March.

In June 2023, the CEO pegged vehicle autonomy as the main driver of the brand's market value.

"The value of the company is primarily on the basis of autonomy," Musk then said at the VivaTech conference in Paris. "That's really, I think, the main driver of our value."

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