TruthOrFake Logo
TruthOrFake
Fact Check: Elon musk lied about full self driving being able to drive you cross country

Fact Check: Elon musk lied about full self driving being able to drive you cross country

Published April 8, 2025
ByFactChecker 1.1 avatarFactChecker 1.1
✗
VERDICT
False

# Elon Musk and the Claim of Full Self-Driving: An Examination ## Introduction The claim at hand is that "Elon Musk lied about full self-driving bein...

Elon Musk and the Claim of Full Self-Driving: An Examination

Introduction

The claim at hand is that "Elon Musk lied about full self-driving being able to drive you cross country." This assertion raises questions about the veracity of Musk's statements regarding Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology and its capabilities. Given Musk's history of ambitious promises about FSD, this claim invites scrutiny of both his public statements and the actual performance of the technology.

What We Know

  1. Musk's Promises: Elon Musk has made numerous statements over the years suggesting that Tesla's FSD would soon be capable of fully autonomous driving, including cross-country travel. For instance, in February 2018, he claimed that Tesla would achieve this capability within three to six months 4.

  2. Current Capabilities: As of 2023, Tesla's FSD is described as a semi-autonomous system that can navigate under certain conditions, responding to traffic signals and performing lane changes, but it still requires driver supervision 3.

  3. Safety Concerns: There have been ongoing safety concerns regarding FSD, with critics arguing that the technology is not yet ready for full autonomy. Reports indicate that Tesla's FSD has faced scrutiny from regulators and safety advocates 19.

  4. Legal Challenges: Tesla and Musk have faced legal challenges, including a class-action lawsuit alleging that they misled investors about the capabilities and safety of FSD 10. This lawsuit highlights the tension between Musk's optimistic projections and the reality of the technology's development.

  5. Future Predictions: Musk has continued to assert that FSD could achieve full autonomy, with some predictions suggesting that it may be possible by the end of 2023 28. However, experts remain skeptical, with some estimates pushing the timeline for true autonomy to 2027 or later 5.

Analysis

The claim that Musk lied about FSD's capabilities hinges on the interpretation of his statements and the actual performance of the technology.

  • Source Reliability: The sources cited provide a mix of perspectives. The Washington Post 1 and AP News 2 are reputable news organizations with established editorial standards, making their reporting on safety concerns and Musk's statements credible. However, articles from platforms like Jalopnik 4 and The Verge 9 may exhibit a more critical stance towards Musk, which could introduce bias.

  • Conflicts of Interest: Musk's position as CEO of Tesla creates a potential conflict of interest; his statements are often aimed at maintaining investor confidence and promoting the company's technology. This raises questions about the objectivity of his claims.

  • Methodology and Evidence: The legal challenges against Tesla, including the class-action lawsuit 10, suggest that there is a significant concern about the accuracy of Musk's statements. However, the outcomes of these legal proceedings and their implications for Musk's credibility remain to be seen.

  • Expert Opinions: Various experts have expressed skepticism about the timeline for achieving full autonomy. The predictions of limited unsupervised driving capabilities by 2027-2028 5 contrast sharply with Musk's more immediate timelines, indicating a disparity between optimistic projections and expert assessments.

Conclusion

Verdict: False

The claim that "Elon Musk lied about full self-driving being able to drive you cross country" is assessed as false based on the evidence reviewed. Musk has made numerous statements suggesting imminent full autonomy for Tesla's FSD, yet as of 2023, the technology remains semi-autonomous and requires driver supervision. This discrepancy between Musk's assertions and the current capabilities of FSD indicates a significant gap in expectations versus reality.

However, it is important to note that while Musk's statements may be viewed as misleading, the interpretation of "lying" can be subjective and context-dependent. Musk's ongoing predictions about achieving full autonomy have not materialized as promised, leading to skepticism from experts and legal scrutiny.

The evidence available does not definitively prove intent to deceive but highlights a pattern of overpromising on technological capabilities. Furthermore, the legal challenges Tesla faces regarding these claims underscore the complexities surrounding corporate communications and investor expectations.

Readers should be aware that the landscape of autonomous driving technology is rapidly evolving, and future developments may alter the context of this discussion. As such, it is crucial to critically evaluate information and claims, especially those made by influential figures in the tech industry.

Sources

  1. How Elon Musk knocked Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' off course. Washington Post. Link
  2. Questions about the safety of Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving. AP News. Link
  3. Tesla Autopilot. Wikipedia. Link
  4. Here's To 10 Years Of Elon Promising Us Self-Driving Cars. Jalopnik. Link
  5. “Mind-Blowing” or Misguided? Elon Musk's Full Self-Driving Promises. LinkedIn. Link
  6. Elon Musk reveals Elon Musk was wrong about Full Self-Driving. TechCrunch. Link
  7. Elon Musk clarifies the holdup with Tesla Full Self-Driving. Teslarati. Link
  8. Elon Musk Believes Tesla's FSD May Be Solved In 2023: Sound Familiar? InsideEVs. Link
  9. The false promises of Tesla's Full Self-Driving. The Verge. Link
  10. Tesla shareholder suit says Musk and co. lied about Full Self-Driving safety. Ars Technica. Link

Have a claim you want to verify? It's 100% Free!

Our AI-powered fact-checker analyzes claims against thousands of reliable sources and provides evidence-based verdicts in seconds. Completely free with no registration required.

💡 Try:
"Coffee helps you live longer"
✓100% Free
✓No Registration
✓Instant Results

Comments

Leave a comment

Loading comments...

More Fact Checks to Explore

Discover similar claims and stay informed with these related fact-checks

Fact Check: Transcript 00:00 White conservatives is not considering this child an anchor baby. Education is elevation and let's get into the conservative contradictions of everything they say about immigration. For instance, do y'all know that Melania Trump's visa was questioned in a congressional hearing this January twenty twenty-five. You want to know why? Melania Trump was a college dropout who arrived in the United States on a Einstein visa. Get this though. Reserved. The other visa is reserved for people with extraordinary ability and sustained national international acclaim such as a palitza, Oscar, Olympic Winter, But listen, Baron was born 00:32 March 20th two thousand and 6. Melania became a US citizen July twenty-8th two thousand and 6. Trump wants to end birthright citizenship when his own child is a product of birthright citizenship. We can question a Mexican-American citizen for marrying an undocumented Mexican. Oh yeah, we gotta be able to question when Europeans do the same thing or no. On my mama, think about it. There are 666, 000 illegal immigrants in the United States from European countries. The vast majority of them are white. Yet you don't 01:03 see a single one of them have their children stripped away from them, raided, locked up in cages, and we all know why. You know equal protection under the law has always been a myth and the word immigration has always been a cold word for unwanted color people. They ain't worried about they child being kidnapped. They ain't worried about dropping Baron off at school or in college and him being being kidnapped by masked Asians. Elon Musk worked in United States illegally in 1995 after quit his school job. I feel like if a Haitian immigrant came over here and worked illegally and ended up amassing a whole bunch of wealth they will find and trump wants to end birthright citizen ship? everything to be illegitimate because you started off illegal. Let's pay attention to the language too y'all. So Donald Trump's grandfather was a illegal migrant and a Trojan horse. Which means that Donald Trump's parents is a product of being what they call what a tether baby, a anchor baby, a birthright citizenship. To the people on this side, they do not believe that the Second Amendment only applies to muskets. So you believe that their only applies to the sentence of slaves is stupid. Which brings me to another point. When these folks want to distance themselves from 02:06 everybody that benefited from slavery, they love to tell you about their proud immigrant background a
Partially True
🎯 Similar

Fact Check: Transcript 00:00 White conservatives is not considering this child an anchor baby. Education is elevation and let's get into the conservative contradictions of everything they say about immigration. For instance, do y'all know that Melania Trump's visa was questioned in a congressional hearing this January twenty twenty-five. You want to know why? Melania Trump was a college dropout who arrived in the United States on a Einstein visa. Get this though. Reserved. The other visa is reserved for people with extraordinary ability and sustained national international acclaim such as a palitza, Oscar, Olympic Winter, But listen, Baron was born 00:32 March 20th two thousand and 6. Melania became a US citizen July twenty-8th two thousand and 6. Trump wants to end birthright citizenship when his own child is a product of birthright citizenship. We can question a Mexican-American citizen for marrying an undocumented Mexican. Oh yeah, we gotta be able to question when Europeans do the same thing or no. On my mama, think about it. There are 666, 000 illegal immigrants in the United States from European countries. The vast majority of them are white. Yet you don't 01:03 see a single one of them have their children stripped away from them, raided, locked up in cages, and we all know why. You know equal protection under the law has always been a myth and the word immigration has always been a cold word for unwanted color people. They ain't worried about they child being kidnapped. They ain't worried about dropping Baron off at school or in college and him being being kidnapped by masked Asians. Elon Musk worked in United States illegally in 1995 after quit his school job. I feel like if a Haitian immigrant came over here and worked illegally and ended up amassing a whole bunch of wealth they will find and trump wants to end birthright citizen ship? everything to be illegitimate because you started off illegal. Let's pay attention to the language too y'all. So Donald Trump's grandfather was a illegal migrant and a Trojan horse. Which means that Donald Trump's parents is a product of being what they call what a tether baby, a anchor baby, a birthright citizenship. To the people on this side, they do not believe that the Second Amendment only applies to muskets. So you believe that their only applies to the sentence of slaves is stupid. Which brings me to another point. When these folks want to distance themselves from 02:06 everybody that benefited from slavery, they love to tell you about their proud immigrant background a

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Transcript 00:00 White conservatives is not considering this child an anchor baby. Education is elevation and let's get into the conservative contradictions of everything they say about immigration. For instance, do y'all know that Melania Trump's visa was questioned in a congressional hearing this January twenty twenty-five. You want to know why? Melania Trump was a college dropout who arrived in the United States on a Einstein visa. Get this though. Reserved. The other visa is reserved for people with extraordinary ability and sustained national international acclaim such as a palitza, Oscar, Olympic Winter, But listen, Baron was born 00:32 March 20th two thousand and 6. Melania became a US citizen July twenty-8th two thousand and 6. Trump wants to end birthright citizenship when his own child is a product of birthright citizenship. We can question a Mexican-American citizen for marrying an undocumented Mexican. Oh yeah, we gotta be able to question when Europeans do the same thing or no. On my mama, think about it. There are 666, 000 illegal immigrants in the United States from European countries. The vast majority of them are white. Yet you don't 01:03 see a single one of them have their children stripped away from them, raided, locked up in cages, and we all know why. You know equal protection under the law has always been a myth and the word immigration has always been a cold word for unwanted color people. They ain't worried about they child being kidnapped. They ain't worried about dropping Baron off at school or in college and him being being kidnapped by masked Asians. Elon Musk worked in United States illegally in 1995 after quit his school job. I feel like if a Haitian immigrant came over here and worked illegally and ended up amassing a whole bunch of wealth they will find and trump wants to end birthright citizen ship? everything to be illegitimate because you started off illegal. Let's pay attention to the language too y'all. So Donald Trump's grandfather was a illegal migrant and a Trojan horse. Which means that Donald Trump's parents is a product of being what they call what a tether baby, a anchor baby, a birthright citizenship. To the people on this side, they do not believe that the Second Amendment only applies to muskets. So you believe that their only applies to the sentence of slaves is stupid. Which brings me to another point. When these folks want to distance themselves from 02:06 everybody that benefited from slavery, they love to tell you about their proud immigrant background a

Jul 20, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: Transcript 00:00 White conservatives is not considering this child an anchor baby. Education is elevation and let's get into the conservative contradictions of everything they say about immigration. For instance, do y'all know that Melania Trump's visa was questioned in a congressional hearing this January twenty twenty-five. You want to know why? Melania Trump was a college dropout who arrived in the United States on a Einstein visa. Get this though. Reserved. The other visa is reserved for people with extraordinary ability and sustained national international acclaim such as a palitza, Oscar, Olympic Winter, But listen, Baron was born 00:32 March 20th two thousand and 6. Melania became a US citizen July twenty-8th two thousand and 6. Trump wants to end birthright citizenship when his own child is a product of birthright citizenship. We can question a Mexican-American citizen for marrying an undocumented Mexican. Oh yeah, we gotta be able to question when Europeans do the same thing or no. On my mama, think about it. There are 666, 000 illegal immigrants in the United States from European countries. The vast majority of them are white. Yet you don't 01:03 see a single one of them have their children stripped away from them, raided, locked up in cages, and we all know why. You know equal protection under the law has always been a myth and the word immigration has always been a cold word for unwanted color people. They ain't worried about they child being kidnapped. They ain't worried about dropping Baron off at school or in college and him being being kidnapped by masked Asians. Elon Musk worked in United States illegally in 1995 after quit his school job. I feel like if a Haitian immigrant came over here and worked illegally and ended up amassing a whole bunch of wealth they will find
True
🎯 Similar

Fact Check: Transcript 00:00 White conservatives is not considering this child an anchor baby. Education is elevation and let's get into the conservative contradictions of everything they say about immigration. For instance, do y'all know that Melania Trump's visa was questioned in a congressional hearing this January twenty twenty-five. You want to know why? Melania Trump was a college dropout who arrived in the United States on a Einstein visa. Get this though. Reserved. The other visa is reserved for people with extraordinary ability and sustained national international acclaim such as a palitza, Oscar, Olympic Winter, But listen, Baron was born 00:32 March 20th two thousand and 6. Melania became a US citizen July twenty-8th two thousand and 6. Trump wants to end birthright citizenship when his own child is a product of birthright citizenship. We can question a Mexican-American citizen for marrying an undocumented Mexican. Oh yeah, we gotta be able to question when Europeans do the same thing or no. On my mama, think about it. There are 666, 000 illegal immigrants in the United States from European countries. The vast majority of them are white. Yet you don't 01:03 see a single one of them have their children stripped away from them, raided, locked up in cages, and we all know why. You know equal protection under the law has always been a myth and the word immigration has always been a cold word for unwanted color people. They ain't worried about they child being kidnapped. They ain't worried about dropping Baron off at school or in college and him being being kidnapped by masked Asians. Elon Musk worked in United States illegally in 1995 after quit his school job. I feel like if a Haitian immigrant came over here and worked illegally and ended up amassing a whole bunch of wealth they will find

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Transcript 00:00 White conservatives is not considering this child an anchor baby. Education is elevation and let's get into the conservative contradictions of everything they say about immigration. For instance, do y'all know that Melania Trump's visa was questioned in a congressional hearing this January twenty twenty-five. You want to know why? Melania Trump was a college dropout who arrived in the United States on a Einstein visa. Get this though. Reserved. The other visa is reserved for people with extraordinary ability and sustained national international acclaim such as a palitza, Oscar, Olympic Winter, But listen, Baron was born 00:32 March 20th two thousand and 6. Melania became a US citizen July twenty-8th two thousand and 6. Trump wants to end birthright citizenship when his own child is a product of birthright citizenship. We can question a Mexican-American citizen for marrying an undocumented Mexican. Oh yeah, we gotta be able to question when Europeans do the same thing or no. On my mama, think about it. There are 666, 000 illegal immigrants in the United States from European countries. The vast majority of them are white. Yet you don't 01:03 see a single one of them have their children stripped away from them, raided, locked up in cages, and we all know why. You know equal protection under the law has always been a myth and the word immigration has always been a cold word for unwanted color people. They ain't worried about they child being kidnapped. They ain't worried about dropping Baron off at school or in college and him being being kidnapped by masked Asians. Elon Musk worked in United States illegally in 1995 after quit his school job. I feel like if a Haitian immigrant came over here and worked illegally and ended up amassing a whole bunch of wealth they will find

Jul 20, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: Elon Musk has called on all European states to leave the EU
False
🎯 Similar

Fact Check: Elon Musk has called on all European states to leave the EU

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Elon Musk has called on all European states to leave the EU

Aug 3, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: Elon Musk and the U.S. President in Heated Clash After Controversial Encounter With First Lady In a shocking development t
False

Fact Check: Elon Musk and the U.S. President in Heated Clash After Controversial Encounter With First Lady In a shocking development t

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Elon Musk and the U.S. President in Heated Clash After Controversial Encounter With First Lady In a shocking development t

Jul 14, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: Did Elon Musk and Donald Trump do away with national weather service?
False

Fact Check: Did Elon Musk and Donald Trump do away with national weather service?

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Did Elon Musk and Donald Trump do away with national weather service?

Jul 9, 2025
Read more →
Fact Check: Did Elon Musk and Donald Trump do away with national weather service?
False

Fact Check: Did Elon Musk and Donald Trump do away with national weather service?

Detailed fact-check analysis of: Did Elon Musk and Donald Trump do away with national weather service?

Jul 9, 2025
Read more →
Explore All Fact Checks
Fact Check: Elon musk lied about full self driving being able to drive you cross country | TruthOrFake Blog