Tesla is entering the next phase of autonomous driving in Europe. A significant development regarding regulation on driver control assistance systems (DCAS) at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) paves the way for Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta program on the continent.
BREAKING NEWS The new UNECE DCAS regulation was adopted a few minutes ago. Once it enters force later this year, Tesla will finally be able to expand its FSD beta to Europe and other parts of the world! 🎉
The information was shared by Scrais on X, who tagged Not a Tesla App. The X user was the first to alert us of DCAS being added to the March meeting agenda in Geneva.
The Dawn of a New Era
Scrais had been listening to the UNECE meeting and posted: "The new UNECE DCAS regulation opens doors for @Tesla's FSD beta in Europe! … With this significant milestone, let's accelerate discussing Tesla's expansion across Europe. The future of mobility awaits.”
It seems the process has accelerated, as the provisions were a late addition to the 192nd session of the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, which hinted at an accelerated timeline for discussions around autonomous driving technologies in Europe.
The DCAS regulation aims to standardize advanced driver assistance technologies, ensuring safety and reliability while fitting within the SAE level 2 automation category. This aligns perfectly with Tesla’s FSD system, which requires constant driver supervision while providing advanced control of the vehicle through complicated road situations.
What Will FSD be in Europe
Adopting the DCAS regulation is a green light for Tesla to start planning to get FSD beta rolling on the streets in Europe, a process the company has been engaged with for an unknown length of time. A few days ago, a Tesla Model X was spotted in Germany equipped with what appears to be equipment to prepare for autonomous driving.
Tesla FSD Validation Vehicle seen in Munich, Germany 👀
But this won’t happen tomorrow. As we know, it takes time for government regulations to move through. Scrais explained that “the Secretary-General of the United Nations needs to communicate the agreement. Once this happens, we have to wait six months until the regulation enters force. Considering the timeline and required waiting period, late September or early October is realistic.”
Tesla’s FSD beta, under the new DCAS guidelines, will provide clear interfaces and guidelines to keep drivers informed and engaged at all times. This will address concerns about overreliance and misuse of autonomous driving systems. This strategic move could also enable the re-enablement of certain Autopilot features previously restricted in the region.
A special thanks to Scrais for sharing this crucial update, highlighting a hopeful leap forward for Tesla and the automotive industry.
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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.
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.
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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