Alex Roy completes first Tesla FSD cannonball run with zero interventions across 3,081 miles
Jan 30, 2026 with Alex Roy
Key Points
- Alex Roy completed the first Tesla FSD cannonball run coast-to-coast with zero autonomous system disengagements across 3,081 miles in 58+ hours using FSD 14.2.2.3.
- The 15-hour time penalty versus typical cannonball attempts came entirely from winter weather and human navigation errors, not the autonomous system's reliability.
- Roy estimates good-weather conditions and optimized routing could cut future attempts to under 42 hours, competitive with high-speed gas cannonballs while eliminating driver fatigue.
Summary
Alex Roy completed the first Tesla Full Self-Driving cannonball run across the US with zero interventions. The route spanned 3,081 miles from Redondo Beach to Red Ball Garage in New York in 58-plus hours using FSD version 14.2.2.3. His first attempt thirteen months earlier on FSD 12.5.6.4 recorded 21 disengagements tied to charging alone, plus system reboots and takeover warnings. The gap between runs was entirely software maturity.
The extra 15 hours over a typical cannonball attempt came from winter weather—snow, cold battery drag, and salt accumulation—not the autonomous system. Human error accounted for every delay. The team took navigational overrides that sent them down unpaved roads requiring backtracking and misrouted charging stops against Tesla's optimization algorithm. In sub-zero Pennsylvania, accumulated snow on the rear camera prevented automated backing into a charger. Roy cleaned the glass and briefly disengaged FSD to comply with the challenge rules. When he reactivated, the car abandoned him to follow exit signs, forcing a 90-minute detour before the vehicle ran low on charge and finally stopped. Roy said that if the car had not stopped the second time, they would have run out of charge and lost the run.
Roy found that the system was reliable enough that none of the experienced race drivers in the car felt unsafe at any point. He estimates another cannonball attempt in good weather could shave 13 hours simply by not overriding Tesla's navigation. Battery optimizations could save another three hours, suggesting the upper bound is under 42 hours. That would be competitive with high-speed gas cannonballs in time but without the driver adrenaline spike.
On Tesla's recent fleet announcements, Roy expressed disappointment at the Model S and X discontinuation but acknowledged their low sales volume. He floated a longer-term thesis that Optimus humanoid robots priced at $10–15K could function as autonomous drivers for any car, eliminating the need for in-vehicle autonomy. Prototype humanoids designed solely for driving existed five or six years ago without modern AI training data, meaning the gap to a functional chauffeur robot is narrowing fast.
Roy's next run will launch as soon as weather clears. He plans to bring dual Starlink terminals for live streaming.