Tesla pushed version 4.14.1 of its mobile app yesterday. The update was only expected to be bug fixes, but a deeper dive into the code revealed that the referral program is getting some welcomed attention.
The Tesla App Updates (iOS) Twitter account dug into the code and found that Tesla is giving its referral program some much-needed upgrades. According to Tesla App Updates, the upcoming referral program updates may allow users to redeem referral points/credit for merchandise, accessories, or Supercharger miles.
“Okay one string that may provide some insight,” writes Tesla App Updates (iOS) on Twitter. “‘referral_share_sheet_refer_text’: ‘Use my referral link to purchase a Tesla product and get free credits you can redeem for awards like Supercharging miles, merchandise and accessories.’”
This would be a welcomed improvement to Tesla’s referral program. Last year, Tesla removed the 1,000 free Supercharging miles referral rewards. In its current form, referrers and purchasers will receive $300 for Solar Roof and Solar Panels upon activation. When the program was offering free Supercharging miles, both the referrer and purchaser would receive 1,000 miles for free.
Tesla’s mobile app code suggests that referrers will be able to use their credits to purchase certain items, although there is no way to know what items will be eligible for purchase.
“From the strings it looks like you will be able to visit a digital shop and use your referral credits to get certain items,” writes Tesla App Updates (iOS). “We are going to examine the actual code later to see if there is a way to pull these items being offered, but no promises.”
Many Tesla owners pushed their referral codes quite heavily in social media content, YouTube videos, blog posts, and more. For those Tesla influencers that rose to the top, like Andy Slye and It’s Kim Java (formerly Like Tesla), received unprecedented miles of free Supercharging and other benefits, like free Founders Edition Roadsters.
Slye frequently discussed the inconsistencies in Tesla’s referral program, such as not being able to share his 1 million Supercharging miles with other Tesla owners, or the program being limited to receiving rewards for certain vehicle model orders.
On Dec 4, 2018 I became the world's top Tesla referrer with over 200 referrals.
Tesla ended their referral program not too long after I became the top referrer, but they brought it back in 2019 with some revised rules. https://t.co/BcB0DfXIBB
In addition to offering free Supercharging miles for each referral, Tesla had a “Secret Tier.” Once achieved with 55 referrals, the referrer would receive a free Founders Edition Roadster, which costs $250,000 and is still waiting to go into production. This was limited to two Roadsters per referrer, and Tesla is no longer offering this perk.
How Andy Slye Earned Two Roadsters
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Following the first major service area expansion, Tesla is already pushing another update to the Robotaxi app and service as a whole. The new version includes more quality-of-life improvements, and most importantly, a big change to Robotaxi’s pickup logic that makes the entire experience much smoother.
Robotaxi App Update
This latest update is another one focused on polishing the user experience before Tesla adds more vehicles to the fleet and more riders to the network. The most significant change here is that Robotaxi will now navigate more dynamically. Instead of strictly travelling to the designated pickup point, the vehicle will stop where you are or navigate directly to you if you are nearby, making the pickup just that much easier.
Tesla also introduced a small batch of improvements to improve the app, which is still only available for early testers. First up is a vehicle finder arrow - which is shown in the Robotaxi app to help you find your approaching or parked Robotaxi.
This should be a big help in crowded situations, as visually distinguishing a Model Y Robotaxi from a Robotaxi Model Y is nearly impossible, barring the small Robotaxi logos and lack of a driver.
Tesla has also added in automatic dark/light mode switching to match system settings and some other minor design tweaks and bug fixes. It seems that Tesla is close to their final iterations on the Robotaxi app and will hopefully add it to the official app stores soon. However, an Android version is still MIA, and using the Robotaxi itself is still also limited to invitees, so Tesla may be waiting for those to be available before adding the app to the Apple App Store.
The full release notes for this 25.7.6 app update are listed as:
I am pointing the way! Find your vehicle with an arrow
Automatic light/dark mode setting to follow the system
Design tweaks
Bug fixes
This will be huge and make summon even better.
I didn't get to fully test it, but Robotaxi no longer strictly navigates to the pickup point. I noticed it stops right where I am if I am ahead of the pickup point.
The most exciting part of the update isn’t the piece for Robotaxi - but what it implies for Smart Summon instead. The new dynamic pickup logic could be a huge improvement to how Summon works. At the end of the day, it is exceptionally similar - homing in on the user or a targeted location, and then parking nearby.
Summon currently requires a line of sight, and the range is exceptionally limited, meaning you can’t use it in most larger parking lots without having to walk out halfway to meet the vehicle. It’s also slow enough that by the time you get your vehicle rolling - even with Summon Standby active - you’ll probably have walked most of the way there yourself.
A true come-to-me Summon feature that can navigate both city streets and parking lots is definitely the goalpost for customer vehicles - one that doesn’t need to be directly supervised. Robotaxi is the first real-world deployment of the same technology that future builds of Smart Summon will eventually run on.
Sometime in the near future, you’ll be able to Summon your Tesla directly to you - having it navigate the streets from wherever it found parking. All the learnings from Robotaxi are going to come fast - and they’ll all be amazing to finally get on customer cars.
After months of no updates, Elon Musk has announced that Tesla will soon release a new FSD update, in what he’s calling a “step change improvement,” so expectations will be high for this one. The biggest change is that Tesla is merging in the changes they’ve been making for Robotaxi FSD into the consumer software branch.
Elon also provided an update on the rollout of Robotaxi to additional US cities like San Francisco, as well as FSD for other regions like Europe and China. Let’s dig in - as this is some of the most exciting FSD-related news we’ve seen in a while.
However, the Tesla AI team isn’t standing still. They’ve been making constant improvements to the Robotaxi version of FSD, so hearing that Tesla will integrate that version into FSD Supervised is certainly exciting.
Musk says that Tesla still needs to validate that the improvements they’ve made for Austin in particular don’t cause regressions elsewhere. Regression testing is a necessary step when training neural nets, as they can learn and unlearn things extremely rapidly, as one new behavior can cause a regression in another.
We need to validate that improvements for Austin don’t cause regressions elsewhere.
For Europe and China, we are awaiting regulatory approval. Hopefully, soon🤞
Essentially, we’re at a good spot here. The fact that Tesla is now working on merging Robotaxi FSD into FSD Supervised is a good sign, even if there’s work to be done. We expect these builds to go out to the FSD testing fleet (not the Robotaxi validation testers we’ve seen throughout Texas). These dedicated testers will make sure there are no regressions - and once they give the thumbs up, the standard rollout process begins. Given that the Robotaxis are running HW4 and Tesla is merging Robotaxi FSD into FSD Supervised, we expect this to be an HW4-only rollout.
Once validation is complete, Tesla will likely roll out the update to employees, followed by early access influencers (and potentially also Early Access Program members). Once it is in their hands and we see good progress there, it’ll begin rolling out to customers en masse.
Elon commented on X last night, saying they’re looking good for Q3 release, which puts us in the September timeframe.
Global Rollout Status
Elon also provided an update on two other items - launching Robotaxi in other cities, and launching FSD into other markets - and made it clear that the next hurdle isn’t on Tesla, it is on regulatory approval. Bureaucratic red tape seems to be the biggest obstacle to Tesla’s autonomy ambitions lately - but it is progressing well in some regions, such as Australia.
For the Bay Area, as well as potentially other cities that Tesla is considering, such as Phoenix, Arizona, approval is pending from regulators. Elon mentioned that regulators were being reasonable, which isn’t something we hear often.
As soon as the regulators approve (they are being quite reasonable tbh)
For other markets, including China (for HW3 vehicles) and Europe, the red tape is still in place. Both of these markets have big regulatory hurdles that Tesla needs to overcome. In China’s case, every new update must be validated with the government, which takes additional time. In Europe’s case, we’re still awaiting the green light from UNECE regulators to approve autonomous vehicles on European roads.
Elon provided a much-needed update on FSD and Robotaxi, one that we hadn’t had in a long time. Current users can look forward to what is likely a major capability boost, sourced from Robotaxi in Austin, while those outside of North America now have some additional hope that FSD may arrive before the end of 2025.
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