Tesla is already planning to improve its latest Autopark feature so that it’s more usable in real-world situations.
Autopark to Accelerate
Tesla's Autopark feature allows the vehicle to park autonomously and is poised for a significant speed boost. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's Autopilot lead, confirmed on X that the Autopark feature will increase its parking speed in forthcoming software updates. This response came after enthusiastic feedback from users, including a post from Elluswamy about his daughter's fondness for the feature. While the feature is a fairly big step up from the previous Autopark offering, especially in terms of UI and empty spot detection, using it in a busy parking lot is not fun as it takes its sweet time to park. Speeding up the process would be a notable improvement.
It’ll be faster over the next few releases. Was tuned conservatively for the first release. - Ashok Elluswamy
The new Autopark is available in the U.S. and Canada on update 2024.2.11 and later. However, it’s currently limited to vehicles that don’t include ultrasonic sensors (USS). Similar to the Park Assist feature that is only available to USS-less vehicles, Tesla appears to want to gather more data before releasing the feature to additional vehicles.
My daughter loves it too, keeps making me do Autopark over and over. https://t.co/RDBrxZ9f3o
Elon Musk has signaled that Tesla's AI development will accelerate in improvements due to overcoming previous computational constraints in AI training. This development promises a future of rapid advancements in Tesla's autonomous driving features, leveraging AI's full potential to make driving safer, more efficient, and more enjoyable for Tesla owners.
The latest iteration of Autopark, built on the advanced neural networks powering FSD Supervised v12.3.3 is an example of the improvements we could expect. This update showcases the ability to detect parking spots more accurately and operate without ultrasonic sensors (USS), relying on Tesla's sophisticated vision-based system. The ease of initiating Autopark, with the car automatically suggesting nearby parking spots, marks a substantial usability improvement.
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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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