Elon Musk mentioned in May that FSD V12.4 was in the final touches stage and would probably start rolling out in mid-May. However, May is now gone and we haven’t heard an update on the FSD V12.4 timeline.
The biggest features for V12.4 include no-nag, an updated strike-out system, automatic parking spot seeking, and a reduction in interventions.
At this point, only employees have received the 2024.9.5 update. User darwizzy333 on Reddit, an employee who received the update on the Early Access Program, originally said that it was unusable, suggesting that it was the cause for the delay. He initially also provided a screenshot of his vehicle running FSD V12.4 but has since taken it down.
After giving specific reasons why FSD 12.4 was unusable a few days ago, today he stated that his cameras were the cause for the issues. After calibrating his cameras, he says that V12.4 is incredible and that his usual commute is now down to zero interventions.
This gives us some hope that Tesla may still release FSD 12.4 to public users, however, it’s not clear what could be causing the delay. Employees are still testing FSD 12.4, so Tesla is either still working on a revision or still plans to release V12.4.
Owners Unsubscribing
Unfortunately, Tesla owners who bought or subscribed to FSD are stuck on the update they’re on until Tesla releases FSD 12.4 or updates V12.4 to be based on a newer software branch. Once you subscribe to FSD, Tesla would like to send you the latest FSD updates, which we call the “FSD track.” The problem is that the latest FSD updates are usually several releases behind Tesla’s main updates. With Tesla’s redesign and beautiful new parked visualization in update 2024.14, owners are having a hard time waiting for the latest features.
Tesla even officially announced update 2024.20 yesterday, which means that users on update 2024.3.25 are now three major updates behind. Some users are now unsubscribing from FSD, not because they don’t enjoy it, but just so they can receive the newer 2024.14 update.
Once an owner unsubscribes from FSD, Tesla no longer has a reason to hold them back on an update and will push the latest update they’re eligible for — currently 2024.14. However, this requires your FSD subscription to expire, which could take several weeks depending on when you renewed. Unfortunately, owners who bought FSD don’t have much of an option.
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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