The Station: Tesla rolls out its FSD beta button, delivery deals heat up, micromobility evolves

The Station: Tesla rolls out its FSD beta button, delivery deals heat up, micromobility evolves

Hello readers: Welcome to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.

Aria and Rebecca have a lot to share this week, so I'll keep my intro short. I want to direct your attention to my latest podcast episode over at The Autonocast. Myself, along with co-hosts Alex Roy and Ed Niedermeyer, talk with recently-confirmed NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy about automotive safety and what the wave of what she calls "partial automation" features in vehicles means for the industry and the consumer.

The episode has garnered a lot of attention — some of it negative — because of our discussion about Tesla and the FSD software beta rolling out to owners. That's an important issue considering that on Friday Tesla released a software update that allows owners to request access to its Full Self-Driving Beta program. As I reported last week, drivers who get a high safety score from Tesla will get access. (This is happening as studies, like this newly released one conducted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, show drivers using Tesla's advanced driver assistance system may become inattentive.)