Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) has taken a major industry prize, earning MotorTrend’s 2026 Best Tech Award for Driver Assistance and moving to the top of the outlet’s driver-assist rankings. The win comes after years of criticism from the same publication, yet editors now describe the latest FSD V14 software as the most advanced system of its kind on the market.
MotorTrend had long raised concerns about Tesla’s earlier driver-assistance releases, pointing to abrupt braking, uncertain behavior at intersections and inconsistent handling of complex traffic. In past evaluations, the magazine favored rivals such as GM’s Super Cruise and held back from giving Tesla top honors, citing those performance issues and broader safety questions.
This year’s decision marks a clear change in stance, as testers report that many of the pain points they flagged before are now largely resolved in FSD V14. Editors concluded that, based on their recent tests, no competing driver-assistance suite offers the same level of breadth and capability across different types of roads.
What testers found in FSD V14
According to MotorTrend’s review and other early drives, the V14 release delivers smoother, more predictable maneuvers in dense city traffic and on suburban streets. Testers said the system now manages unprotected left turns, roundabouts and lane changes with fewer abrupt moves.
They also highlighted the way FSD (Supervised) can handle door‑to‑door trips, from a driver’s driveway through local streets, highways and parking lots, and back again. During these drives, the software controlled steering, acceleration and braking for long stretches.
Vision-only approach and breadth of use
A central part of MotorTrend’s assessment is Tesla’s reliance on cameras and neural networks instead of radar or lidar, an approach that has drawn debate among engineers and safety advocates. Even so, the outlet said the company now “does a whole lot more with a lot less,” pointing to the range of roads where FSD (Supervised) can operate compared with many rival systems.
Analysts note that competing technologies from Ford, GM and others usually focus on divided highways with geofenced coverage and strict operating rules. Tesla’s system, by contrast, is used on city streets, rural routes and mixed-traffic environments, which helped it secure the top spot in MotorTrend’s driver-assistance category this year.
Tesla still classifies FSD (Supervised) as a Level 2 driver-assistance feature, which means the human remains responsible for monitoring the road and for the vehicle’s behavior at all times. MotorTrend testers reported thousands of miles of evaluation without crashes, yet they urged caution, particularly when drivers select more aggressive settings or travel above posted limits.
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