New Parking Visualizations and Custom Locking Sounds Also Coming in Tesla's Holiday Update

By Kevin Armstrong
Tesla is adding a new 'High Fidelity Park Assist' feature in this year's Holiday Update
Tesla is adding a new 'High Fidelity Park Assist' feature in this year's Holiday Update
Tesla

Following initial reactions to Tesla's 2023 Holiday Update, Elon Musk acknowledged the need for improvement, stating, "We need to step up our game." His post on X was followed by Tesla shedding more light on the Holiday Update than what was in the initial leak.

Call me old, but I remember a time when you bought a car, and that was it; the dealer and manufacturer didn’t give you anything else. So is the Tesla community acting a little bit spoiled here? Absolutely. But it also shows how high Tesla has set the bar with its previous Holiday Updates.

Initial Release and Feedback

The initial release of the 2023 Holiday Update, version 2023.44.25, received mixed reactions from the Tesla community, with some owners expressing disappointment over the lack of groundbreaking new features. But the newly announced features may serve as better stocking stuffers.

The initial rollout included something owners have been asking for, the blind spot monitor. The camera that turns on when you change lanes will now have a red color added if there is something in your blind spot. It’s not clear whether it will be accompanied by a tone.

Here are other features in the leaked update that are being tested by employees:

Navigation and Safety Features: Including symbols for speed cameras, stop signs, and traffic lights in navigation, and the automatic 911 call feature in case of an accident.

Trip Planning via Tesla Mobile App: Allowing for more detailed trip planning, including multiple stops and charging points.

Apple Podcasts Integration: Allowing users to sync with Apple devices for a seamless podcast experience, directly addressing the demand for a richer in-car entertainment system.

New Games and Enhancements: The update brought updates to Tesla Arcade, with Beach Buggy Racing and Polytopia Diplomacy updates, as well as the Vampire Survivors Chilling update.

Light Show Improvements: There’s a new light show that’s included with your vehicle. You’ll also be able to upload several light shows on a single USB drive and pick one from the vehicle, instead of having to use multiple USB drives, one for each light show.

More Live Sentry Mode Cameras: You will now be able to view the B-pillar cameras directly from the Tesla app. This brings the number of viewable cameras in the app up to seven. The only ones still missing are the alternative front-facing cameras that are telephoto and wide-angle, which wouldn’t bring much additional value. Although the B-pillars are viewable in the app with this update, they will still not be used to record during Dashcam or Sentry Mode events.

High-Fidelity Park Assist

Tesla's High Fidelity Park Assist
Tesla's new parking assist feature will dynamically recreate scenes in real-time
Tesla

In response to the feedback and Musk's statement, Tesla unveiled additional features in its updated holiday update, including an improved park assist with enhanced visualizations.

This feature provides a 3D reconstruction of the vehicle's surroundings while parking, akin to a 360-degree camera system found in other high-end vehicles. The system is clearly leveraging improvements to Tesla Vision to create the surrounding environment, such as cars, pillars and walls.

This feature also appears to change the color of objects depending on how close they are to your vehicle. In the image we can see the pillars are orange, but if we look closer, the object behind the vehicle is also orange near the bottom. The sides of the vehicles next to the Tesla also have a slight hint of orange, indicating their proximity.

However, it looks like this feature may be even better than it initially looks. The vehicles in the image aren’t just predefined 3D models that Tesla created, like the ones used in Autopilot visualizations. These models appear to be dynamically created using vision, so that no two cars would look alike, much more similar to what LiDar is able to achieve. The visualization provides a true representation of the environment around the vehicle. You can see that each vehicle is made up from layers and have blurred edges toward the rear, where the camera would have a hard time seeing.

These 3D models could be a sneak peek at the future of FSD visualizations.

High-Fidelity Park Assist Requirements

A big question on everyone’s mind is who will receive this new park assist feature. Tesla didn’t address this in their post on X besides providing a disclaimer that the features in the holiday release are subject to model and region availability. Tesla often likes to test features in select markets before making them available everywhere. It’s hard to say whether that will be the case here. There likely aren’t any legal ramifications around providing visualizations, so that’s a good sign that this feature will be available in most regions, either in the holiday update, or soon afterward.

However, there are still questions around which models or hardware will be required. From the image shared, we can see it’s offered on a Model Y, removing any speculation of it possibly requiring the HD radar in the new Model S/X. We also don’t think it will require FSD hardware 4.0, so the remaining questions are whether it requires MCU 3, or the FSD package.

Given that Tesla is calling this Park Assist, it doesn’t appear to be linked to Auto Park, which is a FSD package feature. When Tesla rolled out visual and audio alerts for vehicles without ultrasonic sensors, it called the feature Park Assist, and that was available to all owners.

Whether this improved Park Assist feature requires a vehicle with MCU 3 will depend on the level of processing power required. It’ll certainly require more than the current visualizations given that its building the scene in real-time, so we’re hopeful that it’ll work on MCU 2 vehicles too, but we just don’t have enough information right now to make the call.

Custom Lock Sounds

Soon you'll be able to choose a custom locking sound for your car
Soon you'll be able to choose a custom locking sound for your car
Not a Tesla App

Tesla also announced a fun and whimsical feature that allows owners to customize the lock sound of their Tesla. No longer will you need to listen to the car’s horn when it locks as you walk away. Now you’ll be able to customize the lock sound of the vehicle. Tesla is including several options, including sounds like a screaming goat, a jingle, a rubber ducky, a quack sound, an old school horn and applause. However, you’ll also be able to upload your own file to create a truly unique experience.

You can pick anything, from a bird’s tweet to a favorite video game sound. You’ll only be limited by the maximum upload file size, which according to a Tesla engineer, is a 1MB file in WAV format, which is roughly about 40 seconds at good quality.

This feature is possible due to the vehicle’s external pedestrian warning speaker. So if you have Tesla’s Boombox feature or your vehicle makes a sound when traveling under 20 MPH, then you should receive this fun enhancement.

Rear Seat Audio and Gaming

You'll now be able to play games on Tesla's rear screens
You'll now be able to play games on Tesla's rear screens
Tesla

Enhancing the Tesla Arcade experience, passengers in the rear seats can now play games on the rear touchscreen. This feature, especially when paired with Tesla Arcade’s compatibility with PS4, PS5, Xbox Controllers, and rear-screen Bluetooth Headsets, is a welcome addition for families and long trips.

Much like the new Model 3, which received rear audio over Bluetooth support in the 2023.38 update, the new Model S and Model X will also receive this ability in the holiday update.

New Game - Castle Doombad

Tesla announced one other feature in the 2023 holiday update that hadn’t been previously leaked, and that’s a new game called Castle Doombad. Castle Doombad is a single player tower defense, puzzle-like game that’s currently available on iOS and Android, but has an upcoming release on PC and the Nintendo Switch. This game is expected to require MCU 3.

Release Timeline

The rollout of the 2023 Holiday Update is expected to follow a similar timeline to last year. Tesla announced that the update will roll out starting next week. However, it’s not clear whether this will also include FSD Beta testers that are on a 2023.27 update.

Looking back at the 2022 Holiday Update, it started on December 13 and took about a week to get to the entire fleet.

Speculation on Future Features

Like a spoiled child on Christmas morning, Tesla owners still ask, “Is that it?” Well… possibly, but there may be more to look forward to early next year as Tesla builds off of the new High-Fidelity Park Assist feature.

Advanced Smart Summon: Upgrading the Smart Summon feature to be more intuitive and efficient, especially in complex parking scenarios.

Reverse Summon / Park Seek: What happened to Tesla dropping its passengers and driver off at the location and then finding a parking spot on its own?

Enhanced FSD Visualizations: Expanding the Full Self-Driving visualizations to more regions or models or completely recreating the FSD visualizations using the same neural networks Tesla is using for the High-Fidelity Park Assist feature.

Tesla Introduces ‘Pay Later’ Option for Tesla Service Invoices in North America

By Karan Singh
@TESLA_winston

Tesla recently introduced Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) payment options in the United States and Canada for items in the Tesla Shop, letting owners pay later for new vehicle accessories.

However, with Tesla app update 4.46, they’re expanding support to a much more critical area — Tesla Service. Qualifying owners in the U.S. and Canada will now be able to use Pay Later options for service performed by Tesla, which includes maintenance or repairs.

Services are provided by Affirm and Klarna, as per Mark Fonte, a Senior Software Engineer working on the Tesla app.

Tesla app update 4.46 also added improvements to Tesla Assist, Wall Connector details, Tesla Energy ownership changes, and added visualizations for the updated Model S and Model X.

How It Works

The new feature is seamlessly integrated into the existing service workflow within the Tesla app.

On the Service Estimate, before work on the vehicle begins, you will see a new message on the estimate screen: Pay over time - see if you qualify.

Tapping this link opens the payment calculator, which allows you to view potential payment structures and monthly costs. This provides a clear picture of what a payment plan would look like before you commit to servicing your vehicle.

Additionally, after service is complete and you are ready to pay, the final payment screen will present Affirm and Klarna (region-dependent) as selectable payment methods, alongside the usual options of Tesla Credit or your primary payment card.

Tapping Affirm or Klarna here will reopen the payment calculator, and a confirmation prompt will appear before selecting either BNPL option.

Service Now, Pay Later

Overall, the integration of BNPL providers for service is a thoughtful one for vehicle owners. The terms can vary widely, so it’s important to compare them to other payment options you may have access to. The additional financial flexibility, when faced with a large repair bill, allows more owners to get their vehicle professionally and properly serviced by Tesla.

For those getting larger work done, such as high-voltage battery pack replacements, this is an excellent option to spread payments over a longer period, helping reduce the burden of vehicle repair.

Tesla Robotaxi: A Breakdown of Its New FSD Abilities

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

With the launch of Tesla’s Robotaxi Network, we didn't just get a peek into the future of transportation—we got a detailed look at the next version of FSD.

Videos from early access riders revealed some additional capabilities over current public FSD builds, showing off how it handles emergency vehicles and more.

Safety First for First Responders

One of the biggest changes in FSD’s capabilities is its improved handling of emergency vehicles. During a ride in Austin, Robotaxi is seen identifying an approaching ambulance using a combination of visual and audio data, activating its turn signal, and smoothly pulling over to the side of the road to let the ambulance by (video below).

This is a driving task that requires more than simple awareness of laws. It requires reasoning skills to determine where to move the vehicle to create a safe path, as well as the ability to quickly identify an ambulance or another emergency service vehicle with its sirens and lights activated. Understanding the context and executing a safe and predictable maneuver is crucial, as a wrong maneuver could actually make matters worse.

For FSD and Robotaxi to gain both public trust and regulatory approval, this skill is non-negotiable, and Tesla demonstrated its advancements right here. It’s not surprising Tesla added this ability before Robotaxis made it to public roads.

This is a feature that Tesla previously mentioned would arrive as part of future updates to FSD V13, so expect it in future customer builds as well.

Automated Camera Cleaning

How does a fleet of Robotaxis keep its eyes clean without constant human intervention? Well, a clever new feature that Tesla has previously hinted at in their FSD release notes provides the answer. Robotaxi can now trigger a specific wiper and washer fluid sequence designed to clean the main front-facing cameras.

This might seem like a small detail, but it’s a brilliant solution to one of Tesla’s primary challenges - maintaining sensor clarity. While the vehicle could simply wipe the windshield multiple times, this is a clever solution to clean the most important area of the windshield as thoroughly as possible by focusing extra wiper fluid and wipes on that area.

Complex Maneuvers

Two areas where current builds of FSD V13.2.9 sometimes show hesitation are U-turns and navigating busy parking lots. The latest Robotaxi build appears to improve on both of these areas.

This first video shows a Robotaxi performing a flawless U-turn with no hesitation, and then smoothly switching lanes to take a turn.

Another video on X shows FSD’s updated confidence in navigating a complex parking lot for a precise drop-off. Today’s builds can sometimes struggle in parking lots, being slow and overly cautious when not needed, or too confident elsewhere. This appears to have been improved in these Robotaxi FSD builds with improved path planning and confidence.

We’re also likely to see FSD begin to handle more complex destination options, including parking garages and driveways, which have been promised features for almost a year. The Robotaxi FSD build has also gained the ability to safely pull over on a road, similar to the ambulance example above, but it uses this capability to drop off and pick up passengers. This is a feature that was mentioned in FSD v13.2’s Upcoming Improvements section.

Better Nighttime Performance

Driving at night presents additional challenges, including headlight glare and reduced visibility. The latest version of FSD appears to handle it with almost the same grace as it does during the day. Remember that Tesla’s Robotaxis are available up until midnight.  Early access riders mentioned that FSD is far smoother and is a step up from the behavior of current FSD builds.

Human Support

Now, what happens when a passenger feels unsafe or has a critical question? Tesla has placed two key buttons on the rear screen for just those purposes. Users are given control over the ability to Call Support, which almost instantly connects them with a real human agent at Tesla’s Robotaxi Operations Center via video call.

While it isn’t a fundamental driving feature, it does mean that Tesla’s team can provide support to Robotaxi vehicles remotely, like issuing directive commands to have a vehicle proceed straight, rather than attempting to turn through a gated community.

The other option, Pull Over, allows a rider to immediately request the vehicle to safely pull over, which it will do when it can find a safe and open location. At this point, you can either continue your trip or get out of the Robotaxi.

Both options prompt you with an “Are You Sure?” button before letting you continue, which means you won’t have your Robotaxi ride come to an abrupt stop if you tap the ‘Pull Over’ button by accident.

What This Means for Tesla Owners

These features are likely to be included in future FSD builds. This is essentially the new benchmark by which to judge FSD, at least once it begins rolling out to customer vehicles.

Many of the core driving improvements, such as the more confident maneuvering and emergency vehicle response, will make their way to the wider fleet in upcoming FSD updates.

Remember - Robotaxi isn’t just a service, it is also a preview of Tesla’s driverless FSD builds.

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