In a post on X, Elon Musk recently announced that FSD drive modes would be getting a slight rename – Assertive mode will become Hurry mode.
Current Modes
Tesla introduced different FSD driving modes in 2021 so that drivers could pick a driving style that better matched their preference. Before driving profiles, Tesla let drivers pick the distance the vehicle would between the vehicle in front of them.
Currently, drivers with FSD have theee mode options available to them in Autopilot settings screen – chill, standard, and assertive. These three options dictate how far back the vehicle will sit in traffic, as well as how relaxed or aggressively it will maneuver through traffic.
Currently, there isn’t much of a difference between each of these modes besides how much space FSD is willing to leave between vehicles.
New Mode
The new mode naming scheme will be chill, standard, and hurry. We’re not quite sure what the difference between hurry and assertive will be, or if there will be any difference at all. It could be Tesla simply trying to avoid any issues with some NHTSA, or they could have some changes planned for the new hurry mode.
Hurry mode could attempt to stick closer to the speed limit, and change lanes more often to reach the destination sooner, while standard is similar to the current experience, and chill remains a bit more relaxed.
Release Date
At this point, given the sudden announcement of Hurry mode and the renaming – we’re not quite sure when this will be coming to vehicles.
FSD V12.4 was slated for release in mid to late May, but has apparently been delayed, perhaps due to the issues with the Spring Update. As such, if there are changes, we can probably expect the renaming and whatever unique features Hurry mode has – if any – will arrive with FSD V12.5 sometime in the future.
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xAI’s Grok AI Model has been receiving rapid updates, similar to Tesla’s FSD. After waiting for a major update, the latest version—Grok 3—is set to launch with a live demo on February 17th.
Grok 3 is supposed to bring big improvements, as xAI has changed its approach to training the Large Language Model (LLM). Unlike many other LLMs, Grok can access real-time information and adapt its answers based on the latest news and discussions happening on X’s platform, making it more suited for current events or breaking news.
At the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Elon also mentioned that Grok 3 is already outperforming its competitors, so there is a lot to look forward to. Let’s dig into the new capabilities and then see why they matter to Tesla drivers.
New Capabilities
This time, Grok is set to feature self-correction, reinforcement learning, and synthetic datasets. Self-correction allows Grok to identify and fix its own mistakes, with human oversight ensuring that the process is guided. This helps refine Grok’s future responses as part of its ongoing training.
Reinforcement learning, meanwhile, rewards or penalizes the AI based on its actions. When it performs correctly, it receives a reward, reinforcing that behavior; penalties reduce the likelihood of undesirable actions. Combined with new synthetic datasets, xAI can accelerate Grok’s training process, much like how Tesla’s AI team has been refining FSD. There’s definitely a lot of overlap between the two.
Voice Support
Grok is one of the few remaining publicly available AIs that doesn’t have a live-voice mode. Its competitors - including Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT - both have live voice response and reasoning and will also integrate and hook into 3rd-party services over voice.
Musk has previously stated that all Tesla vehicles will eventually receive Grok as a Smart Voice Assistant—one far more capable than the current voice command system.
Tonight’s demo, at 8 pm PT is expected to be live, potentially showing off the integration into Tesla vehicles. Millions of existing Tesla vehicles worldwide could soon take advantage of Grok as a voice assistant. There’s even a rumor of a wake word for the feature — potentially Grok.
Grok’s real-time capabilities mean you could ask it to add a stop to your route for food at the highest-rated local restaurant with minimal wait. Grok would gather and process that information while your car drives itself, then update your route, allowing FSD to take you directly there. You’ll also be able to ask general knowledge questions, such as the weather for tomorrow or the price of Tesla stock.
Controlling the vehicle will also be greatly upgraded. While the current voice command system can handle simple tasks like “Open Charge Port” or “Turn on Defrost,” the new system should be able to handle more complex requests and allow drivers to ask things in a more natural way.
We expect to find out more about Grok in Teslas tonight. Even if the demo tonight doesn’t specifically mention Tesla, a look at Grok’s new abilities could be a first look at what we’ll soon be able to experience in our Teslas.
At the Tesla Q4 2024 Earnings Call, we found out that Tesla now has a firm date and set location for the first deployment of its Robotaxi fleet. Now, several of Tesla's executives have re-iterated that deployment date and location in several different places.
Like most Tesla fans and investors, we’re excited to see Cybercab make its official debut on the streets of Austin, Texas, sometime in June. That’s potentially less than 100 days away - but who’s counting, right?
Elon Confirms
Elon Musk confirmed on X that Tesla is still on track to launch autonomous ride-hailing (Robotaxi) in Austin this June. Plus, they’re also working on rolling it out to even more cities in the United States by the end of the year.
Tesla’s benchmark for expanding deployments is ensuring that Robotaxi safety surpasses the average human driver by a wide margin. Based on the latest Vehicle Safety Report, Supervised FSD is already making strong progress, outperforming the average driver by 10.5 times—a full order of magnitude.
Franz Confirms
Franz Von Holzhausen, Tesla’s Head of Vehicle Design, also confirmed that Tesla will be offering Cybercab rides in Austin starting in June. What’s key here is that he confirmed the presence of Cybercabs finally deploying - it won’t be driverless Model Ys or Model 3s - it’ll be the Cybercab.
NEWS: Franz says Tesla will start offering Cybercab rides in Austin, Texas this June.
“Starting in June we’ll be having Cybercabs rolling around; That’ll be the technology that feels like the future but is happening today.”
That means an autonomy-first vehicle without a driver’s seat, steering wheel, or pedals will be on the road and driving people from point to point. Major autonomy competitors like Waymo use heavily modified EVs that still have seats and vehicle controls intact. An autonomy-first design increases passenger room and storage while also improving efficiency by reducing vehicle weight.
Are you planning on making your way down to Austin to experience the Robotaxi experience first-hand or are you planning on waiting until it’s deployed in a city near you? Let us know your thoughts in our forums or social media.