The genesis of the Cybertruck's fun in the water can be traced back to Elon Musk's fascination with a piece of cinematic history. Musk purchased the Lotus Esprit from the James Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me," famously known for its ability to transform into a submarine. Although the real car lacked these fantastical capabilities, this purchase sowed the seeds for developing the Cybertruck's ability to handle water crossings.
Boat Mode
Lars Moravy, Tesla's VP of Vehicle Engineering, was showing off the Cybertruck during a segment on Jay Leno's Garage. He described the vehicle as nearly floating and suggested the possibility of attaching an outboard motor to the power outlet, turning the Cybertruck into a makeshift boat. Moravy's remarks prompted a response from the boss.
We are going to offer a mod package that enables Cybertruck to traverse at least 100m of water as a boat.
Elon Musk announced on X that there was an upcoming modification package for the Cybertruck. This "Boat Mode" will enable the vehicle to travel over 100 meters of water. Musk said the modification focuses mainly on improving the door seals in the cabin to improve water penetration.
Wade Mode
While Cybertruck learns to swim in the deeper water, it sticks to Wade Mode. Wade Mode, a unique engineering achievement, causes the Cybertruck to raise its air suspension to the highest point and then utilizes the air suspension compressor to pressurize the 123 kWh battery pack. This pressurization counteracts external water pressure, preventing water ingress. A screen message in Wade Mode instructs users:
"Raises ride height and pressurizes battery when driving through water. Water levels should not exceed the top of the bumper... Proceed at your own risk."
“May take up to 10 minutes to activate and has a time limit of 30 minutes, at which point it will automatically deactivate.”
This disclaimer indicates the system's ability to handle water up to 2 feet and 7 inches deep (about 79 cm).
Moravy explained to Leno, “We have new technology. We call it the scuba pack. we took the air suspension system to actually pressurize the battery. you know water and batteries don't really get along. that happens with the push of a button, forcing air into the pack. It is a sealed pack to keep the water out. It is just some positive pressure to keep any of those leak points or flood points.”
We call it the scuba pack
Competition, What Competition?
In the realm of electric pickups, this feature sets the Cybertruck apart. While other vehicles, like the Rivian R1T, offer substantial water-wading capabilities, they rely on conventional sealing techniques. Tesla's approach to dynamically alter the battery's internal environment is a novel solution that could redefine standards in EV design, particularly for off-road and all-terrain vehicles.
The Tesla Cybertruck's Wade Mode and eventual Boat Mode continue to exemplify Elon Musk's visionary ideas and a significant leap in electric vehicle design and capabilities. By actively altering the battery's internal environment to counter external conditions, Tesla sets new standards for what electric vehicles can achieve, particularly in off-road and challenging environments. This innovative approach could influence future designs in the EV space, paving the way for more versatile and resilient electric vehicles.
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FSD’s insatiable appetite for AI compute is taking shape once again at Giga Texas, where Tesla is building out Cortex 2.0 — its second large-scale GPU supercomputer cluster — on the facility’s north side.
This confirmation comes thanks to the detailed research and findings by Giga Texas drone pilot Joe Tegtmeyer, who shared his findings on X.
For months, there has been some speculation on what this new site would be - new storage, the Optimus production line, preparation for the Cybercab’s unboxed assembly process, and more. Now, thanks to permits filed by Tesla, we know that this new area is destined to become the second supercomputer destined for FSD training.
Cortex 2.0
There are some key details we can unpack from what we’ve learned about Cortex 2.0. The new facility will be on the north side of Giga Texas, opposite Cortex 1.0, which is on the south side. The permits explicitly tie the usage of this expansion to Cortex 2.0, namely through the fact that it is a data center.
This is actually a change from Tesla’s original plans - the northern section was intended to be used as a central campus support facility, with three smaller facilities and water storage tanks. Now, it has been redesignated as Cortex 2.0 and is one large structure.
The permits that have been filed have already been approved and cover the foundations, underground water mains, and building itself. The steel structure is actively being put together on the concrete foundations, and about 50% of the roof decking is already complete, bringing the exterior shell closer to completion.
Fueling FSD’s Brain
The deployment of Cortex 2.0 is the latest in Tesla’s massive and ongoing investment in the computational power required to train FSD. While this primarily covers FSD for cars, this will also eventually apply to Optimus, which is powered by the same AI4 computer and also runs a variant of FSD.
This isn’t Tesla’s first foray into large-scale AI infrastructure and won’t be their last. Alongside Dojo, their home-grown AI supercomputer, Tesla has been partnering closely with Nvidia to ensure they have the GPUs necessary to do all the hard work. Cortex 2.0 is the next iteration, and once it's fully online, we can expect that Tesla’s work on FSD will accelerate even further.
Especially since Elon is planning something truly outrageous once again:
Been thinking about the fastest way to bring a terawatt of compute online.
That is roughly equivalent to all electrical power produced in America today.
With European Tesla owners eagerly awaiting any news on FSD in Europe, we’ve seen Tesla tease FSD, and also point out exactly what the barrier has been - regulatory approval. Now, following the latest meeting of UNECE, new regulatory amendments are set to unlock “System-Initiated Maneuvers” (SIM) on highways across participating European nations.
This development, highlighted by Kees Roelandschap on X, notes that the latest documents from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) center on amendments to UNECE regulation 171. These changes were formally adopted into UNECE during the WP29 World Forum in March 2025.
Now, the amendment that will enable SIM will come into force on September 26, 2025. This six-month period after approval is standard UNECE procedure and allows objections from party states that would halt the implementation. Objections to UNECE amendments are genuinely rare, with 95% of amendments passing without objection once the World Forum adopts them.
What This Means for FSD in Europe
System-initiated maneuvers will allow your Tesla to perform actions autonomously, such as changing lanes on a highway, while the driver remains fully responsible for supervision. This is a substantial step up from current regulatory standards that only allow for suggested maneuvers or require explicit driver initiation for every automated maneuver.
This inches towards the more normal “hands-off, eyes-on” approach that Tesla has taken with FSD Supervised in North America and China. This regulatory change will help to provide the legal frameworks needed to deploy more advanced autonomy capabilities in Europe, at least matching what’s available on highways in North America.
The UNECE regulation will apply to all countries that adopt its standards, including the European Union, Japan, and South Korea - unless they specifically block it. This is a relatively positive development, but there are some hiccups.
This regulation only allows for system-initiated maneuvers on highways, not low-speed roadways. That means the city streets portion of FSD’s capabilities - including handling ‘Start FSD from Park` and reaching your destination’s parking spot - still won’t be available in Europe.
In addition, the UNECE framework has stricter requirements for driver monitoring and attentiveness - which means that some nags, including the dreaded wheel nag, are likely to remain a key portion of the experience.
Progress on autonomous driving regulations in Europe has been fraught with indecision and caution, which has been a source of frustration for many who are watching the everyday progress of FSD in North America, and more recently, in China. Even with individual countries recently approving testing of FSD on public roads, harmonized UNECE regulations are the key to wider, consistent deployment, which will allow everyday customers to use it as well.
While the path to full parity with North America may be long and involve even more regulatory machinations, the upcoming implementation of System-Initiated Maneuvers is a big step forward for Tesla owners in Europe. It is a key piece of the puzzle that will help Tesla bring some more features of FSD to Europe, assuming the September timeline holds.
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