Tesla Installs Special Edition, Ultra Red Supercharger As It Reaches 50,000th Mark

Tesla creates a special 50,000th Supercharger

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Over the past couple of days, Tesla hit not one but two remarkable milestones, marking a significant chapter in its rapidly evolving story. If you spent the weekend engrossed in the new Elon Musk biography by Walter Isaacson, you can perhaps fully appreciate the magnitude of these accomplishments: the production of Tesla’s five millionth car and the installation of its 50,000th Supercharger.

Five Million Vehicles Strong

On its official Weibo account, Tesla unveiled its five millionth vehicle, a pearl white Model 3, freshly rolled off the production line at the Shanghai Gigafactory. This notable milestone embodies Tesla's journey “from a blank canvas to today’s five millionth vehicle,” a path characterized by simplicity and efficiency. Through their message, Tesla conveyed deep gratitude towards their global community of owners and supporters, urging everyone to "power up together" for a greener and brighter future. This celebratory announcement follows a series of production landmarks, the most recent being the four million car milestone reached in March, highlighting the company's exponential growth.

50,000 Superchargers: Painting the World Ultra Red

The weekend's festivities extended beyond the production line, with Tesla celebrating a Supercharger network milestone: the 50,000th installation. The Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley shared a video (below) showcasing Tesla's latest landmark in action. This special unit, distinctly colored Ultra Red, is located at Living Spaces at 1851 Freedom Way, Roseville, California. Since introducing just six Superchargers in 2012, Tesla has demonstrated its commitment to facilitating widespread electric vehicle use.

The Supercharger network, a pillar in Tesla's strategy to foster electric vehicle adoption, offers convenient and rapid charging solutions worldwide. This recent installation is a firm pledge to a global ethos where electric vehicles (EVs) can flourish.

Factory Tours for Referrals

Tesla is not only escalating its production but also opening doors for enthusiasts to witness where the magic happens. Tesla is introducing tram tours of its factories in Fremont, California, and Austin, Texas, as a part of its referral program. This exclusive peek can be redeemed using referral credits, ushering Tesla account holders and up to three guests into the production sanctuaries that have revolutionized the automotive industry.

However, while the immersion into Tesla’s world is facilitated, travel and accommodation expenses are the responsibility of the attendees. The company maintains a stringent no-media policy during the tours, underscoring the confidentiality preserved in these powerhouse spaces. Tesla aims to bolster engagement with its customer base through this initiative, enticing them with an insider’s view while encouraging more referrals despite moving away from the previous tradition of complimentary Fremont factory tours.

The electric vehicle pioneer isn't slowing down as Tesla gears up for an exciting future with the much-anticipated Cybertruck launch, which already boasts over 2 million unofficial pre-orders. Analysts anticipate that the existing production pace could potentially herald the creation of six million Tesla vehicles in early 2024.

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

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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.

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

Optimus Falls - but catches itself!

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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.

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