Taylor Ogan (one owner) took CNBC out for a ride in FSD Beta version 10.8.1 with his Model Y car in Brooklyn in January.

Ogan is founder and CEO at Snow Bull Capital. This hedge fund invests in green and high tech sectors. He’s also a Tesla supporter. After being part of FSD Beta, Ogan has become more critical about Tesla’s autonomous vehicle technology development.

His vehicle ran through the Brooklyn red light, without warning or stopping. In the middle of his drive, the main screen on Ogan’s Tesla stopped working. Ogan apologized to everyone who was on the same road as him. Ogan’s Tesla reached a near stop when pedestrians at curbs triggered an abrupt slowdown.

Ogan generally supports Tesla but the Brooklyn test drive left him feeling that it was wrong for customers to test it.

Additionally, he’s skeptical that Tesla can turn its cars into autonomous vehicles using an over the air software update. This will take place based on current driver aid performance.

Elon Musk stated recently on Tesla’s earnings call for 2021 that “My personal guess” is that the company will achieve full self-driving by this year, at a level of safety significantly higher than any person. Elon Musk said, “The fleet becoming autonomous via software updates, I believe, could end up being one of the greatest increases in asset value for any asset class in historical history.”

An additional Tesla owner shared a video on his YouTube channel, AI Addict. It showed an FSD Beta driver in which the Tesla plowed into bollards and travelled along San Jose’s road this month.

Another Tesla Model Y owner and FSD Beta participant, Kevin Smith, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, sees glitches and disengagements during drives as inevitable, and part of the process of making FSD Beta into a truly, autonomous system someday.

According to Smith, Smith drove more than 5,000 km with FSD Beta.

“Any time that the car could make a mistake,” said he. He added, “And I must be prepared for that. The Full Self-Driving method increases my stress level, but not decreases. Smith explained that this is because it’s more expensive to make it work.

CNBC filmed Smith’s vehicle stopping automatically and maneuvering through intersections without Smith being present.

Although he is generally pleased with the technology, he notes that it doesn’t work in snow and inclement weather. He also noted that each new FSD Beta version, which is released over-the-air to his car’s software, can fix one problem while simultaneously introducing another.

Smith states that by using FSD beta to access public streets Smith doesn’t believe she’s increasing the risk people assume they are taking. These streets are shared with those who, as you may know, have their first car and don’t yet possess a learner permit.

Dan Eldridge from Tesla took CNBC along for a ride on his Model 3 in San Francisco in February. According to him, he has been able use this feature without any problems by being attentive.

He stated that he has never felt in control of a situation, or like he didn’t have the time.

Eldridge stopped the car from going through stop signs. The car was capable of navigating some streets well. It didn’t know how to navigate around roundabouts. Elridge was required to disable the auto-changing lanes feature to prevent it from causing an accident.

Eldridge admitted that while he was cautious and prevented any collisions, he said: “When I use the FSD I would say I’m less concerned about hitting pedestrians than I am about becoming the victim of road rage incidents, because I just don’t drive in a courteous manner.”

Although there is no federal law that prohibits Tesla from using public roads, experts in transportation aren’t convinced Tesla’s experiments on the road are safe and sensible.

To date, Tesla owners have filed two complaints to NHTSA claiming FSD Beta caused or contributed to their crashes. NHTSA is currently investigating FSD Beta technology and program.  

Kelly Funkhouser tested Tesla’s FSD Beta systems on closed routes for Consumer Reports. It was not easy for Tesla’s driver monitoring systems to work, even the cabin cameras which are meant to keep drivers alert.

Tesla states that Full Self-Driving Beta includes additional messages such as “the camera is blocked” or “Please pay attention.” “We have never heard any of these warnings,” she stated.

She explained that Tesla may want new testers to try it. It’s still a risky proposition that people take on public roads.

Thrivance group’s founder and CEO, Destiny Thomas, expressed concern that Tesla thinks only about drivers but does not consider safety for those on the road.

How is the car going to recognise someone who uses an assistive device, even if it isn’t one and looks nothing like one?” Is this the technology that can recognize someone with purple undertones that doesn’t respond to the sensors in the car? She is curious.

She wants to see Tesla get more involved in the community before they put experimental vehicles and new testers on the streets of cities.

CNBC tried to reach Tesla, but Tesla did not respond to our request.

The full video is available here.