The greatly anticipated FSD v12.4 is around the corner, with Elon Musk mentioning that it will be going to employees this weekend, with limited external testers next week.
Several significant improvements are coming with V12.4, which is being compared to the leap in performance that was previously seen between V12 and V11.
Improved Comfort and Reduced Interventions
There are quite a few improvements expected with V12.4, which Musk has said will be focused on user comfort by reducing hard accelerations and sudden braking. According to Musk, FSD v12.4 is also expected to have a 5-10x improvement in time between user interventions, which means that Tesla is rapidly approaching its goal for the Robotaxi announcement on August 8, 2024.
Steering Wheel Nag Removal
FSD V12.4 is expected to eliminate the steering wheel nag, as Musk confirmed its removal last week. The camera-based driver monitoring system will be taking over, providing a hands-free experience. These improvements will most likely benefit owners who have cabin cameras with infrared lights the most, while Tesla may continue to use steering wheel nag as a fallback mechanism.
Driverless Autopark
The second key feature that may be included in v12.4 will be Banish Autopark, previously known as Reverse Summon, allowing you to choose a parking spot, exit the vehicle and have the car park itself. Whether this feature makes it in v12.4 is yet to be seen, but Musk has mentioned that parking without a driver is coming soon.
Automatically Seek Parking Spot at Destination
Finally, your Tesla will now traverse a parking lot and automatically enter Autopark mode when arriving at a destination, according to a post from Musk.
Hand Gestures
There have been various videos posted recently where FSD appears to respond to hand gestures. Musk has said that he “wouldn’t count on this” with the current FSD version, but according to a Tesla employee, it will be included in an FSD update next month.
Eligibility and Branch
Tesla recently added FSD v12.3.6 to the 2024.14 branch with updates 2024.14.5 and 2024.14.6. This makes it very likely that Tesla’s next FSD version will also be based on 2024.14, meaning that it will be available to any vehicle on 2024.14.x.
For users on update 2024.3.25, this means that they’ll receive all of the features included in updates 2024.8 and 2024.14, which should make it a massive update.
Release Date
Musk has mentioned that FSD V12.4 is going out to employee vehicles for internal testing this weekend, with external testing starting next week. The rollouts typically go slower than predicted but looks like we may see this begin shipping to customers by the end of the month.
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As part of Tesla software update 2024.38.4, Tesla has finally included updates to Sentry Mode to reduce its power consumption.
Sentry Mode is part of Tesla’s security system that keeps the vehicle sensors and cameras on to detect, record, and then inform the owner about suspicious activity. You can read more about it, including how much power it consumes, in our guide covering Tesla Sentry Mode.
Sentry Mode Battery Drain
Sentry Mode keeps the vehicle awake and continuously processes data from the vehicle’s eight cameras. However, due to the vehicle’s architecture and processing the multiple video feeds, Sentry Mode consumes a significant amount of power. Over a 24-hour period, an average Model 3 or Model Y will typically experience a battery drain of about 7-14% with Sentry Mode enabled, or roughly about one mile per hour.
While Sentry Mode is a great security feature, owners often have to decide whether the loss of range is worth the added security. Sentry Mode also becomes an issue when leaving your vehicle parked for an extended period of time, such as at the airport.
Sentry Mode Improvements
Tesla announced earlier this year that they were bringing significant efficiency improvements to Sentry Mode by cutting power usage by 40%.
Update 2024.38 is bringing about those changes. Tesla is changing the way its onboard computers process video to make Sentry Mode use much more efficient. Right now, the vehicle needs to keep its FSD and MCU (infotainment) computers on to process videos from the vehicle’s cameras. However, that’s changing with some architectural improvements in update 2024.38. We’ll have a much closer look at what’s changing in an article later this week.
This change will arrive first with the Cybertruck in update 2024.38.4 and later. According to our source, it will also be available for other models in a future update, but Tesla is starting with the Cybertruck first.
Since most Cybertrucks have FSD included as part of the Foundation Series, they’re on FSD-specific updates, meaning that the number of Cybertrucks with update 2024.38 is extremely small. Once it becomes more widely available, we should be able to get some numbers to see how close Tesla got to its 40% power reduction.
When navigating to or looking at a Supercharger in the Tesla app or in the vehicle, you can view how busy a Supercharger station is. However, viewing how busy a Supercharger is was limited to Tesla’s charging stations.
However, Tesla has now begun showing occupancy status at select third-party chargers in Europe. As part of the Qualified Third-Party Charger Program in Europe, Tesla began displaying third-party chargers on the vehicle’s maps.
Third-Party Occupancy
The third-party occupancy system appears when you tap a charger to navigate to. It provides the total number of stalls and the number of stalls currently occupied. In addition, it also provides the maximum charge speed of the stations located at the site. While not as seamless as Tesla’s prediction-based system used for Superchargers, which shows how many vehicles are actively driving to a particular Supercharger, it’s still a premium experience backed by Tesla’s high bar for its third-party program.
In addition, while you’re in map view, third-party charger sites show up as a grey bubble, with an indicator showing the number of free stalls currently available. That’s similar to how Superchargers are currently displayed on the map - though those are displayed in red. You can navigate to and precondition for these qualified third-party charging sites, which makes them an excellent option in areas where Supercharging isn’t available yet.
The third-party charger in grey.
@Matty06 on X
Qualified Third-Party Charger Program
Although Tesla’s third-party charging program is currently limited to the Chinese and European markets, it enables third-party charging providers to display their locations directly within Tesla’s navigation system. However, to participate, providers must meet certain criteria over a 60-day period:
At least one compatible charging connector
Frequent use by Tesla drivers, averaging at least one session every four days
An average charge success rate of 90% or higher
This criterion isn’t actually very strict, given that Tesla aims for and achieves much higher numbers with their own Supercharger program.
Third-party charging stations will be removed from Tesla’s navigation system if any of the following conditions are met over a 14-day period:
No charge sessions detected
Average charge success rate falls below 70%
Tesla has opened the Qualified Third-Party Charger program in North America, so we hope to see this functionality roll out in North America alongside third-party NACS stations.
Reliable charging stations help sell electric vehicles. In fact, Tesla Superchargers are loved by all EV owners, regardless of the brand they own. Tesla’s commitment to ease of use and reliability is unmatched in the EV charging space.
Thanks to Daniel Albrecht for letting us know of this new feature.