Full Self-Driving · Finding · Then and now · as of 28 Oct 2026
A Tesla from LA to New York by the end of 2017: then vs now
Proposition (held fixed): Would Tesla demonstrate a fully autonomous drive from Los Angeles to New York by the end of 2017, with no controls touched, including charging? Unsupervised Robotaxi service is on the million-robotaxis page and the Robotaxi launch page. This page is not about the 2013 Supercharger coast-to-coast run.
From a no-touch coast-to-coast demo in 2017 to Elon saying he is not always right — and Robotaxi on the road.
“Yeah. Essentially, November or December of this year, we should be able to go all the way from a parking lot in California to a parking lot in New York, no controls touched at any point during the entire journey.”
“Yeah, I don't want to blow your mind, but I'm not always right.”
Oct 2016: “a demonstration drive of full autonomy all the way from LA to New York” 19 Oct 2016 · Tesla Full Self-Driving hardware press call · 6:09
Apr 2017: “I think we're still on track for being able to go cross-country from LA to New York by the end of the year, fully autonomous.” 28 Apr 2017 · TED: The future we're building — and boring · 15:03
ElonsFAQ corpus · verified 2026-10-23 · unofficial.
Then
10 January 2016, on X:
“In ~2 years, summon should work anywhere connected by land & not blocked by borders, eg you're in LA and the car is in NY”
Editorial calendar reading: about two years from Jan 2016 = around 2018.
19 October 2016, Tesla Full Self-Driving hardware press call. Tesla’s accompanying blog said every new Tesla had the hardware for full self-driving (Tesla blog, 19 Oct 2016, company). Elon stated the demonstration goal:
“And our goal is, I feel pretty good about this goal, is that we'll be able to do a demonstration drive of full autonomy all the way from LA to New York … dropping you off in Times Square in New York and having the car go and park itself by the end of next year without the need for a single touch, including the charger.”
Editorial calendar reading: “the end of next year” from Oct 2016 = end of 2017. A Tesla executive supplied “from a home in LA” between the two halves of the answer; the ellipsis marks that interruption.
28 April 2017, TED, asked when the new eight-camera cars would do what the demo video showed:
“I think we're still on track for being able to go cross-country from LA to New York by the end of the year, fully autonomous.”
“Yeah. Essentially, November or December of this year, we should be able to go all the way from a parking lot in California to a parking lot in New York, no controls touched at any point during the entire journey.”
Editorial calendar reading: “the end of the year” / “November or December of this year” from Apr 2017 = Nov–Dec 2017. Talk page: TED.
Now
6 April 2022, TED. Chris Anderson recapped the 2017 claim that a car would go from LA to New York that year without intervention:
“Yeah, I don't want to blow your mind, but I'm not always right.”
Company status, not an Elon quote (Tesla Q3 2026 Update): FSD (Supervised) “Active driver supervision required; does not make the vehicle autonomous.” Unsupervised operation in this filing is Tesla’s Robotaxi service, which began Cybercab rides in Austin on 3 Sep 2026 and had nearly two million cumulative unsupervised miles by quarter-end. This record has no no-touch LA-to-New York demonstration in 2017.
What changed
| Item | Then (2016–2017) | Now (2022–2026) |
|---|---|---|
| The demo | LA to Times Square / parking lot to parking lot, no controls touched, including the charger, by end of 2017 | Elon: “I'm not always right” (Apr 2022, same TED question) |
| Unsupervised driving | a coast-to-coast demonstration as the 2017 goal | Robotaxi in Austin, unsupervised, on a city service (company, 2026); owner FSD still supervised |
What did not change
- The route Elon named: California to New York, a parking lot at each end.
- The bar: no controls touched, including charging.
Neutral conclusion
In Oct 2016 Elon set a goal of a demonstration drive of full autonomy from LA to New York by the end of 2017, without a single touch, including the charger. In Apr 2017, on TED, he said Tesla was still on track for November or December of that year, parking lot to parking lot. That 2017 demonstration is not in this record. In Apr 2022, after Chris Anderson recapped the same claim, Elon said he is not always right. By 2026 Tesla reports unsupervised Robotaxi miles in Austin, while owner FSD remains supervised. This compares dated wording; it makes no claim about motives.
Scope
- Indexed ElonsFAQ corpus (transcripts and X posts); not every Elon Musk interview.
- YouTube wording is from automatic captions (ASR); fillers such as “uh” are kept as spoken.
- Calendar readings of relative dates (next year, this year, in 2 years) use the statement date.
- Latest Tesla and SpaceX operating items are company statements, not Elon quotes, and are labeled.