Tesla’s ‘Mad Max Mode’ Points to a Big Problem for Self-Driving Cars |
Tesla made Mad Max mode available briefly in 2018 and then reintroduced it in October. It contradicts a core promise of self-driving cars.
BY FAST COMPANY
[Source Images: Tesla, Adobe Stock]
“Mad Max mode” may sound like something out of a video game, but it is a real-life setting for cars currently plying America’s streets. And it poses genuine danger.
In an homage to the main character from George Miller’s dystopian 1979 film and its sequels, originally portrayed by current Trump supporter Mel Gibson, Tesla created Mad Max mode as an option for vehicles equipped with its “Full-Self Driving” (FSD) system. The Mad Max icon is a mustachioed smiley face wearing a cowboy hat, bearing less of a resemblance to the film’s titular vigilante than to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s brother, Kimbal. (Warner Bros., which released the films, has not filed suit.)
Despite its name, FSD does not enable the car to drive itself. Rather, it is an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS), capable of changing lanes, making turns, and adjusting speed as long as a human driver remains alert and ready to take over. Other automakers, such as Ford and GM, also offer ADAS systems.
Mad Max mode is starkly different from other FSD settings like “Sloth” and “Chill.” Teslas using it will roll through stop signs and blast past other vehicles on the road. One driver posted a YouTube video showing his Mad Max-enabled Tesla hitting 82 mph while whizzing by a 65 mph speed limit sign. A social media user wryly suggested that Mad Max “should just immediately write you a ticket when you turn it on.”
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