Tesla continues to add miles driven on FSD Beta at an incredible pace
Not a Tesla App
Tesla's relentless pursuit of full self-driving (FSD) technology and the broader implications of its AI initiatives garnered a lot of attention during the 2023 third-quarter earnings call - and for good reason. While the term "game-changer" is often thrown around, autonomous vehicles are worthy of that title.
FSD Beta 11.4.7.3 Gets Released
Yesterday Tesla released its latest FSD Beta, v11.4.7.3, internally to some of its employees. However, just a day later, we're now seeing this newest beta go out to some customers.
This latest update appears to only include bug fixes to FSD as the release notes remain the same as v11.4.7.2. However, as Tesla continues fixing bugs with FSD Beta in these latest builds, we may see an iteration of v11.4.7 go into the main production builds, which currently include a slightly older build of FSD Beta, v11.4.4.
Milestones in FSD Beta
Tesla vehicles have now covered a staggering 0.5 billion miles using FSD beta, underlining a significant data repository the company has been collecting. This treasure trove of real-world data is pivotal for refining and enhancing AI-driven systems.
To expedite AI training and realize FSD targets, Tesla has activated a 10,000 GPU cluster of H100s. This impressive infrastructure is operationalized at a speed that sets industry benchmarks.
Understanding FSD Version 12
Musk unveiled insights about FSD version 12, an "end-to-end AI." He explained the concept of "photon in, controls out," comparing the mechanism to human optics. This perspective reflects Tesla's drive to emulate human-like decision-making in its vehicles.
Terming Tesla's AI system as a "Baby AGI" (Artificial General Intelligence), Musk emphasized the system's necessity to operate and comprehend reality, signifying a more profound philosophical approach to AI-driven autonomy.
Revised FSD Pricing: A Strategy Unveiled
Tesla's recent decision to adjust the FSD price downward raised eyebrows. However, Musk clarified that this price is a "temporary low," hinting at future escalations in pricing commensurate with the system's value and advancements (FSD price history).
With other automakers, like Mercedes, stepping into the autonomous driving arena and accepting associated liabilities, Tesla delineated its position. The company highlighted Tesla's system's superior adaptability and versatility, drawing attention to its commitment to safety and legal considerations.
International Expansion Challenges
Tesla's strategic decision to limit the Neural net path planning system to North America currently stems from wanting to perfect the system before navigating rigorous global approval processes. The company's approach is to prioritize quality and safety over rapid, global deployment.
In a rare moment, Musk said, "I apologize it's not in those countries, but we keep plenty of ways to make it better. And it needs to drive such that it exceeds the — even unsupervised, significantly exceeds the probability of entry of a human or significantly better, a lower probability of entry than a human by far. I think we're tracking to that point very quickly."
Musk was explicit about the transformative role of AI and FSD in Tesla's future. Achieving autonomous vehicles and creating humanoid robots could potentially skyrocket Tesla's valuation, marking it as the preeminent company on a global scale.
While Tesla’s 2024 Holiday Update brought many new features, including Apple Watch Support, Cross Traffic Alerts, Weather Overlays, Search Along Route, and others, there are also several smaller items in this update that didn’t get much attention.
Ambient Lighting Now Affects Rainbow Road & Santa Mode
The 2024+ Model 3 and Cybertruck both come equipped with ambient lighting, and Tesla is now taking advantage of this custom lighting feature by incorporating it into several easter eggs.
Rainbow Road: If you head over to Apps > ToyBox > Rainbow Road, you’ll find a new option available that allows the ambient lighting in the vehicle to also change shades while Rainbow Road is active. The Rainbow Road easter egg is a tribute to the iconic course course in Nintendo’s Mario Kart.
Check out the feature in action below:
🇮🇹 Con l’aggiornamento di Natale, quando attiviamo la pista arcobaleno, anche i LED interni diventeranno arcobaleno. Questa è una novità non documentata, scovata da un utente di TESLERS (chiaramente riguarda le Model 3 Highland)
Santa Mode: Just in time for Christmas, Tesla has improved Santa Mode by cycling the ambient lighting between Christmas colors. Similar to Rainbow Road, the use of ambient lighting for the easter egg is optional and can be enabled under Apps > ToyBox > Santa Mode.
When using Santa Mode with ambient lighting turned on, the lights will cycle just between Christmas colors, red, green and white, instead of the full rainbow. There’s a video of the feature below:
The Model S and Model X vehicles that support Steam gaming are receiving a Steam app update in the holiday update as well. This update could end up being very interesting, but for now Tesla says that the SteamOS, which also runs on Valve’s Steam Deck has been updated to version 3.6.
Valve outlines a wide range of fixes and improvements in their release notes for version 3.6, but Tesla simply states that the OS update includes performance enhancements and improved game compatibility.
The SteamOS hasn’t been updated on the Model S and X for quite a while, so we believe there may be more to this besides performance improvements and fixes. We’ll be looking to share some insights into this in the near future.
So, there you have it—three new features in the Holiday update that have mostly gone under the radar. While they may not apply to everyone, there are plenty of other cool features in the Holiday Update, like the arrival of Dynamic Road Closure Routing and Nearby Parking, that are coming to every vehicle, so go check out the full release notes.
At the 2023 Q3 Earnings Call, Tesla provided an update on its next-generation model, what many are referring to as the “Model 2” or “Model Q.” Although the actual model name is yet to be determined, it is known internally as Redwood.
During the 2024 Shareholder Meeting, Musk again mentioned the upcoming model, saying that Tesla is working on new products, including a more affordable vehicle and a larger SUV.
While we know the next-gen vehicle is aimed at the $25k to $30k USD market, we now have some new information thanks to a new report out of China.
Launch & Price
According to the Chinese outlet CNMO Technology News (Sina Finance), Travis Axelrod, Tesla’s Head of Investor Relations, announced plans to launch a new model. Axelrod shared this update while addressing senior corporate investors at an investor conference hosted by Deutsche Bank on December 5, 2024.
The goal of Project Redwood, internally dubbed “Model Q” by Deutsche Bank, is to achieve a post-subsidy price of under $30,000 USD. With the Federal EV Rebate potentially expiring next year, this suggests that the Model Q’s starting price will be around $30,000 USD. For comparison, the Model 3 currently starts at $42,490 in the U.S.
We previously reported that Tesla has already been speaking to suppliers and is looking to begin volume production of the vehicle sometime around June 2025. Of course, prototyping is still necessary, but we haven’t seen any signs of Tesla testing a new vehicle since spotting the Cybercab on the streets ahead of We, Robot.
Specs
The Model Q will supposedly be about 15% smaller and 30% lighter than the Model 3, with an approximate length of 3,988mm, or 157 inches. For scale, the Mini is 157 inches, while the Model 3 is 185 inches, so it’s fairly compact.
The battery will also be smaller to match the vehicle’s smaller size as Tesla tries to reduce the vehicle’s price while maintaining a similar range as its other vehicles. Tesla is expected to offer two models—a single-motor RWD model and a Long-Range Dual-Motor AWD variant.
Variant
Motors
Battery Size
Estimated Range
RWD
1
53 kWh
230 miles (375km)
AWD
2
75 kWh
310 miles (500km)
There’s no news yet on the price of the AWD version, but we expect it to be about $5,000 more expensive than the RWD variant.
Once the vehicle ramps up in production, Tesla intends to produce about 10,000 of these per week globally or about 500,000 per year. As Tesla mentioned during one of their previous earnings calls, this next-gen vehicle will be built using Tesla’s current assembly lines with minimal changes. This should allow for a smoother and more predictable production ramp. While Tesla still plans to use its new unboxed assembly process, it’s now saving it for the robotaxi.
We’re expecting Juniper to launch early next year, as production has supposedly already begun at Giga Shanghai, at least on a limited prototyping basis. If the rollout matches the Model 3 Highland refresh, we’ll see Juniper arrive in China first and then make its way to North America and Europe by the end of 2025. The performance variants should launch in early 2026, after the standard models.
If you’re excited about Juniper, so are we! Check out our wishlist of features for Tesla’s Model Y refresh, and see everything we know so far.
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