Tesla FSD v14 proves steady on snow-covered roads

Alfred Glover

1 day ago

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is now going through its first broad winter tests of late 2025 as snow spreads across the United States. Early reports from owners and reviewers say the latest FSD v14 builds handle snow‑covered roads with more confidence and smoother behavior than past versions.

Video review: FSD v14.2.1 on summer, winter tires and manual driving

Version 14 brings winter-focused gains

FSD v14 and follow‑on releases like 14.2 and 14.2.1 are a clear step up from v13 in both city and highway use. The software uses upgraded neural networks and higher‑resolution vision, and users say lane choice, merges, and unprotected turns feel more natural than before. When new releases bring small regressions, owners often see fixes arrive within a week or two through over‑the‑air updates.

Tesla rolled out a free 40‑day FSD trial around the 14.2 launch, which has put these winter updates in many more hands across North America. This wider use is helping surface more data about how FSD behaves on wet, icy, and snowy roads in daily driving.

Owners in Canada, New England, and other snowy regions have shared videos of FSD v14 driving on fresh snow, packed snow, and treated highways.

Video: FSD 14.1.4 snow storm Ontario Canada

In these clips, cars hold a steady line on unplowed neighborhood streets, manage curves at low speed, and keep calm around parked vehicles and light traffic. Some testers say this winter performance is better than many human drivers they see in the same conditions.

Cybertruck and Model Y tests with FSD 14.2 on snowy interstates show the system slowing well below the posted limit once it detects snow, often holding around 40–55 mph on a 70 mph road.

Video: FSD v14.2.1 in the snow

System adapts driving style in poor grip

FSD 14.2 can limit how aggressive the drive profile is when it senses bad weather. In a recent test, the system refused to switch from a calmer setting to a faster profile and displayed a warning citing weather conditions as the reason.

Also, recent updates add clearer warnings when specific cameras are obstructed and tie in automatic washer pulses for the front camera, along with notices about interior windshield film that can hurt visibility.

Hardware limits and upgrade path

Hardware 4 offers higher‑resolution cameras and more processing power than Hardware 3, and this gap matters once lane lines and edges are partially buried under snow.

At the same time, Tesla is working on a trimmed “v14 Lite” for Hardware 3 so older cars still gain from the newer stack, even if they cannot run the largest networks.

Tesla still markets FSD as a supervised system, and its own support pages stress that drivers must stay ready to take over at any time, especially when weather affects cameras or traction. For now, the data from late‑2025 snow tests points to real gains in behavior and safety margins.

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