A Tesla just drove itself from LA to New York fulfilling what Elon Musk said nearly a decade ago

One Tesla Model S has just completed the famous Los Angeles to New York ‘cannonball run’ all by itself, fulfilling the brand’s FSD promise a decade after it was made.

“I feel pretty good about this goal. We’ll be able to do a demonstration guide of full autonomy all the way from LA to New York by the end of next year.”

That was Elon Musk talking to the press in 2017, nearly a decade ago, as he claimed Autopilot and FSD would be ready to make the coast-to-coast cannonball run way back then.

But nearly 10 years later, the FSD tech has finally gotten into the right place, and one group has now completed the first fully-automonous cannoball run from LA to NY.

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Previous FSD cannonball runs needed intervention

The Cannonball Run is one of the toughest routes in the world, so much so that it’s been the focus of iconic racing films starring the Lamborghini Countach.

It involves touching the East and West coasts of the USA in a single stint, only stopping for fuel, or in this case, battery juice.

While it’s been a run that gas and diesel drivers have been doing for generations, one man has been on a mission to become the first to do it without touching the steering wheel.

Back in December 2024, Alex Roy completed his first run in a Tesla Model S, covering 2,833 miles in 45 hours, but having to intervene with the FSD technology 32 times.

Having recorded an FSD engagement rate of 98.52 percent, it became the record for the most successful route, but there was always room for improvement.

A second attempt in February 2025 was on track to hit its 100 percent target, but it was cut short by severe weather.

One person has managed to make a coast-to-coast trip using only FSD, becoming the first person to rack up 10,000 miles of straight autonomous driving.

But David Moss’ run wasn’t quite the cannonball one, as he – arguably in better fashion – ended his trip at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Now, the LA to Times Square route has been achieved, and it finally fulfils the Tesla owner’s prophecy.

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Tesla Model S makes first fully autonomous LA to New York trip

Starting in reverse in Manhattan, the FSD 14.2.2.3 was the pilot, and, despite a ‘comedy of human errors’ adding hours of unnecessary miles to the route, the car performed flawlessly.

They even took an extended route to avoid a Midwest snowstorm, going south through St. Louis, Kansas, instead of staying on the usual northern highways.

The weather was reportedly still incredibly snowy, but they avoided the worst of it and the FSD plowed on.

Over two days later and a few supervising driving seat swaps, Alex Roy and his team reached Redondo Beach, Los Angeles, without as much as a single disengagement of the FSD system.

“Incredibly, my Tesla Model S could have gotten to NYC faster WITHOUT us on board,” Roy said on X, formerly Twitter.

“The future of the Cannonball is both human-driven AND autonomous.”

Roy, Co-Founder of The Drive and NIVC, was even congratulated by the brand owner on the social media platform.

Well done! https://t.co/u458vFL2by

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2026

The former automotive journalist caught the whole trip on camera and will be covering the trip in great detail in the near future.

But it all goes to show that FSD is better than ever, and Tesla is at the helm.

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