Tesla All-in on FSD; Autonomy Is Tesla's Most Crucial Goal [Video]

March 9, 2023

By Kevin Armstrong

Musk says autonomy is Telsa's most crucial goal

Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reasserted his longstanding promise to produce a vehicle to operate almost entirely in autonomous mode. Musk discussed the car during a conference with Morgan Stanley, where he also talked about Tesla's progress in developing Full Self-Driving capabilities.

The vehicle will be built at Tesla's new factory in Mexico, announced at last week's Investor Day, and the company expects it to be significantly more affordable. Musk explained that Tesla's primary goal is autonomy and that the new vehicle will be geared toward this aim.

FSD is Improving

Tesla has been working on Full Self-Driving technology for several years. Although the vehicles are not yet fully capable of being autonomous, the company has made significant strides in this area. FSD version 11.3.1 has been released and is drawing rave reviews.

Musk also pointed out that an affordable, autonomous vehicle is a clear path forward for Tesla, as it will allow the company to help more people drive sustainable powertrains. He did not provide a timeframe for the new vehicle's release, but Mexico officials expect that Tesla will begin building cars at the new plant late next year.

Autonomous Vehicles are the Future

According to Musk, autonomy is the most critical goal for Tesla, representing a massive opportunity for the company. He stated, "The thing that is really gigantic for Tesla is autonomy. The total addressable market stuff is like guys; this is not the right way to think about it. The total addressable market is everyone, all humans."

Elon Musk & Morgan Stanley Interview

Musk went on to explain that autonomous vehicles would be used far more frequently than human-driven ones, resulting in a significant increase in the value of a car. "If those vehicles are autonomous, they'll probably get used for 50 or 60 hours a week. That's a 5x increase in the value of a car, but it costs the same to make the car. At that point, you basically have software margins and a hardware product that's insane," he said.

Musk's comments on the upcoming Tesla vehicle underscore the company's commitment to autonomy and its vision for an affordable, sustainable, and autonomous future.

Tesla Increases Price of Model S; Starts Offering Free Lifetime Supercharging

December 14, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

For the first time in quite a while, Tesla has increased the price of one of its vehicle offerings. The Model S Long Range and the Model S Plaid have both received a hefty price increase. However, not all is bad - as Tesla also added a new benefit for buyers.

Price Increase

The price increase for the Model S is $5,000 - currently only in the United States. This price increase will likely impact other markets, including Canada, in the coming days.

The Model S Long Range now starts at $79,990, while the Model S Plaid now starts at $94,990. The Model S and Model X now have the same starting price. Interestingly, that’s also the same pricing point for the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast Trimotor non-Foundation Series.

The vehicle configuration does not appear to have changed, so the new pricing is simply an increase rather than the addition or removal of features. Tesla previously cut the price of the Model S and Model X by 15% in 2023, so this could simply be an adjustment to ensure that the vehicle pricing stays in line with inflation and other factors.

Free Lifetime Supercharging

For those on the fence about ordering a Model S, Tesla has brought back Free Lifetime Supercharging when you order a new Model S on or after December 13, 2024. As always, Free Lifetime Supercharging is restricted to the buyer’s Tesla account and to that specific vehicle. It cannot be transferred to another vehicle or another owner after ownership transfer. It’s worth noting, that it also doesn’t exclude the owner from receiving Supercharger idle fees or congestion fees. There is currently no end date for this promotion.

There are currently no changes to the Model X, neither a price increase nor the addition of Lifetime Superchargering. However, when Tesla makes changes to one of their premium vehicles, it usually affects the other one as well. So be on the lookout for potential changes to the Model X offering in the coming days.

We’ve seen Tesla value Lifetime Supercharging at $5,000, so this falls in line with the price increase we’re seeing. It’s possible that Tesla will begin to bring back Lifetime Supercharging as a perk for buying into their more premium Model S and Model X cars, or this could be another temporary promotion to get buyers who are on the fence to go ahead and make their purchase while this promotion lasts.

Tesla’s Optimus Robot Learns to Walk Without Vision [VIDEO]

December 13, 2024

By Karan Singh

Optimus Falls - but catches itself!

Not a Tesla App

Tesla recently showed off a demo of Optimus, its humanoid robot, walking around in moderately challenging terrain—not on a flat surface but on dirt and slopes. These things can be difficult for a humanoid robot, especially during the training cycle.

Daily walks help clear your mind pic.twitter.com/dUsW58trS6
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 9, 2024

A Look Behind the Curtain

Most interestingly, Milan Kovac, VP of Engineering for Optimus, clarified what it takes to get Optimus to this stage. Let’s break down what he said.

Optimus is Blind

Optimus is getting seriously good at walking now - it can keep its balance over uneven ground - even while walking blind. Tesla is currently using just the sensors, all powered by a neural net running on the embedded computer.

Essentially, Tesla is building Optimus from the ground up, relying on as much additional data as possible while it trains vision. This is similar to how they train FSD on vehicles, using LiDAR rigs to validate the vision system’s accuracy. While Optimus doesn’t have LiDAR, it relies on all those other sensors on board, many of which will likely become simplified as vision takes over as the primary sensor.

Today, Optimus is walking blind, but it’s able to react almost instantly to changes in the terrain underneath it, even if it falls or slips.

What’s Next?

Next up, Tesla AI will be adding vision to Optimus - helping complete the neural net. Remember, Optimus runs on the same overall AI stack as FSD - in fact, Optimus uses an FSD computer and an offshoot of the FSD stack for vision-based tasks.

Milan mentions they’re planning on adding vision to help the robot plan ahead and improve its walking gait. While the zombie shuffle is iconic and a little bit amusing, getting humanoid robots to walk like humans is actually difficult.

There’s plenty more, too - including better responsiveness to velocity and direction commands and learning to fall and stand back up. Falling while protecting yourself to minimize damage is something natural to humans - but not exactly natural to something like a robot. Training it to do so is essential in keeping the robot, the environment around it, and the people it is interacting with safe.

We’re excited to see what’s coming with Optimus next because it is already getting started in some fashion in Tesla’s factories.