Tesla Is Hiring ADAS Operators in Europe. Could This Be for FSD Testing?

January 24, 2023

By Lennon Cihak

Tesla is hiring an ADAS test operator in Denmark

Frenchie/Twitter

2023 is sure to bring good things, but if you live in Europe, it could get even more exciting. Tesla has posted a new job position to its careers site for an ADAS test operator.

ADAS, which stands for “Advanced Driver Assistance Systems,” is the broader category for Tesla's Autopilot and FSD features. Although FSD is quite capable, it is still officially a level-2 system. The addition of this position to Tesla's careers site could mean that Tesla is stepping up testing in Europe, where it expects to release FSD next.

The job description says the "ADAS test operator will be responsible to identify improvements and regressions across software iterations."

This is particularly interesting because Tesla hasn't been actively developing its Autopilot or Navigate on Autopilot features for several years since the new tech stack that FSD leverages will be the foundation for future iterations of Autopilot.

Elon Musk has said various times before that Tesla's FSD feature will expand to Europe next. In March of 2022, Musk stated that he expects FSD to be available in Europe as early as summer. He tweeted:

"FSD Beta should be available in Europe for LHD this summer, RHD a few months later. These dates depend on regulatory approval."

During Tesla's AI Day 2, Elon Musk also mentioned that he hopes to expand FSD to Europe before the end of 2022.

Tesla's FSD feature was limited to the U.S. until it expanded to Canada with FSD Beta version 10.11.1, which was rolled out in March 2022.

Public Testers

Tesla required public testers to achieve a certain safety score in order to be included in the FSD beta program in the U.S. and Canada. That restriction was removed at the end of 2022 when FSD Beta was opened up to everyone eligible.

It's not clear what Tesla's plan is for the expansion of FSD, but we know it will expand to Europe next and this job posting appears to indicate testing is already underway. Tesla may utilize the Safety Score again once they're ready to open up FSD Beta in Europe to public testers.

The Austin, Texas-based automotive company continues to ramp up production and prepare for a new vehicle platform in March 2023. Furthermore, they’re preparing for hardware 4.0, which will see a higher megapixel cameras, heaters, and fans. It will also reduce the amount of front-facing cameras from three down to two.

Tesla Says 12V Power Socket Access Will Not Return With Sentry Mode

October 9, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

It turns out that the big undocumented change in Tesla update 2024.32 that disables the 12V power and USB ports while Sentry Mode is active is not a bug but an intentional change.

A fan contacted Tesla Service to see if the change was intentional and what the reason behind the change was. Surprisingly, they received a response pretty quickly.

No 12V Power Access

Tesla has decided to restrict 12V power access for safety reasons—namely, to “reduce the likelihood of thermal events” when third-party devices are left powered on without users present. Tesla reached out to the fan in question by phone, and they seemed to be sticking to that line.

It seems that Tesla is resolute that it was due to safety reasons and that the change would not be “fixed” or allowed in a future software update – as this was an intentional change for safety reasons.

Other sources have reported that the change was due to potential misuse of the 12V power access, with people wiring 1200w microwaves and kettles or jury-rigging 240v to 120v adapters, which had apparently been the cause of multiple fires in Tesla vehicles within China.

Workarounds

There are a couple workarounds, although neither are ideal. You can tap in to the vehicle’s 12v line directly to power your accessories, or you can use Camp Mode.

If you choose to enable Camp Mode, then you’ll need to manually lock the car from the app since walk-away door locking is disabled with Camp Mode. However, Camp Mode will use extra energy to keep the climate system enabled.

We’re still hoping Tesla considers bringing the Cybertruck’s Power Control menu to the rest of its vehicles and is somehow able to limit the max draw from these outlets to prevent dangerous situations.

Join Our Tesla Robotaxi Event Prediction Contest

October 9, 2024

By Karan Singh

Tesla

With the Robotaxi event just a day away, we thought it would be a fun idea to run a contest to predict what Tesla will announce tomorrow evening.

We’ve outlined a list of questions below; simply answer them on our forums or social media (X or Threads), and be entered for a chance to win some great prizes.

The individuals who have the most correct answers will win one of five prizes mentioned below. If more than five people get them all right, a random drawing will be held from the pool of winners.

We’ll reach out to the winners either by email or by DM on social media.

The Questions

Will Tesla let attendees experience Robotaxi at the event?
Will Tesla first start the network with human supervision (ridesharing), or with Robotaxis only?
What year will the network start? When will it become fully autonomous? (if announced)
When will Robotaxi production begin? (if announced)
Will it be Robotaxi or Cybercab?
Which of these Robotaxi Concepts will be the closest to the one announced?
Will Robotaxi include:
1. Front-facing camera?
2. Stainless-steel body?
3. Steer-by-Wire or No Steering Wheel? (if announced)
4. Which current Tesla model has the most similar door-opening mechanism?
5. How many seats will the robotaxi have?
Will the robotaxi include AI5/Hardware 5, HW4 or something completely different?
Where will Tesla’s first Rideshare/Robotaxi location be established?
Will customers be able to purchase a Robotaxi?

Requirements

Please use the template below to answer the questions on social media or in our forums. You can post your answer as a comment to our forums, to our X post, or to our Threads post.

Once you do that, repost or quote post your favorite article from us.

1. Yes

2. Ridesharing

3. 2025/2027

4. 2025

5. Cybercab

6. Dominic's

7. Yes, Yes, SBW, No, 2

8. HW5

9. LA

10. Yes

Prizes

Prizes are generously provided by Enhance and Jowua, makers of some of the best Tesla accessories and amazing Tesla community members. Prizes will be mailed out directly by them. Winners will get to choose their prize from the list below. First place will have the first pick and so on. There will be five winners in total.

S3XY Buttons (including a commander and wiring)
S3XY Knob for Model 3/Y
Tesla Gaming Controller - Multi-Device Wireless Controller (Wireless Charging)
Tesla Gaming Controller - Multi-Device Wireless Controller (Wireless Charging)
Tesla Gaming Controller - Multi-Device Wireless Controller (Wireless Charging)

Disclaimer

This is a Tesla event, and Tesla normally likes to hold their cards close to their chest. If an answer is ambiguous, we’ll go with the best choice decided by our staff. We’ll do our best to be fair. This

With all that said, we wish our entrants the best of luck, and we’ll announce the winners at the end of the week.