Tesla has made some significant improvements with FSD 12.4, primarily, the removal of the steering wheel nag under certain conditions. However, there’s a caveat – you can’t wear sunglasses.
According to Elon Musk, FSD v12.5 will introduce support for nag-free FSD, even if you’re wearing sunglasses.
With the start of the rollout of FSD v12.5, OG testers immediately noticed that vision monitoring didn’t support sunglasses. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Autopilot Director commented on the FSD release and mentioned that the merge of city and highway stacks and vision-monitoring’s support for sunglasses would come in a point release to FSD 12.5.
FSD V12.5 is an Upgrade
Ashok Elluswamy also took to X recently to mention that v12.5 is a big improvement to FSD v12.4. While he didn’t mention any specific details, this lines up with some of Musk’s previous comments that each FSD v12 iteration will see major improvements to the FSD model.
Elon also mentioned that while Tesla has a massive fleet of cars, their laser focus on making FSD work, rather than touting every daily achievement – has been their key to making generalized self-driving cars work.
FSD v12 has been pretty much a complete rewrite of the FSD city streets software stack, with drastic improvements over FSD v11. However, certain parts of the software stack haven’t been updated yet. Some features, like the updated highway stack are expected to be in FSD v12.5, which Musk confirmed recently. However, other features such as Park Seek and Banish Autopark, which were expected to arrive with FSD V12.4 are still up in the air.
What about V12.4?
FSD V12.4.3 is currently out to about 5% of the fleet (about 20-25% of FSD users) and hasn’t been pushed out again since about July 10th. Our new auto updating statistics pages can help break this down for folks who are curious.
Given that it’s been some time since any new vehicles have received V12.4.3, it seems the rollout has been stopped. There could be any number of reasons for this – including software bugs, or a lack of confidence with FSD. Additionally, it could just halted in favor of focusing resources on V12.5.
While we’d love to see more vehicles get v12.4.3, we’re likely to see v12.5 being the next big wave of deployments to customers. Either way, early-access testers and Tesla ADAS testers will receive these updates first, and then they’ll roll out to the vast majority of customers once Tesla feels confident there aren’t any major issues. Tesla does all this testing in the name of safety, and it's essential that bug-free versions of FSD are the versions that are rolled out wide.
So, for now, leave your sunglasses on and hang tight for the next FSD update.
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Every Tesla update is filled with new features, but often there are smaller improvements that aren’t missed in the release notes and go unnoticed. Now that most users, except those on some FSD releases, have received update 2024.38, we’re taking a look at some of the features that Tesla didn’t mention in their release notes.
Service History
Mahtava
Tesla's new Service History, available through Tesla's Service Mode, lets owners and technicians add service records to the vehicle.
Each service record is permanent and can not be amended once it has been entered. You can enter a variety of service records, from simple owner-oriented tasks, such as windshield wiper replacements and adding washer fluid to motor or battery pack swaps. If you’re interested in learning more, read our deep dive into Service History.
With Tesla’s Holiday Update, Tesla also made this information viewable (read-only) for vehicle owners without the need to go into Service Mode. Owners can simply go to Controls > Service > Maintenance Summary to view their vehicle records.
Tesla App Commands
When you're in close proximity to your vehicle, commands issued from the Tesla app will now be executed quicker and more reliably by being sent over Bluetooth instead of relying on your phone’s and vehicle's internet connection.
This requires a recent version of the app, which can be Tesla app update 4.38or higher.
This feature is available for both iPhone and Android and supports all vehicles except the legacy Model S and Model X.
Curve Assist
Not a Tesla App
In certain regions, Tesla has added a new Curvature Assist feature that allows the vehicle to perform sharper turns while on Autopilot. When the feature is active, the vehicle will display "Curvature Assist Active" in the visualization area.
Simply go to Controls > Software, and underneath your car's VIN, you'll see the FSD hardware version of your car. The version can be cut off in some languages due to the longer text, but you can also tap the Additional Vehicle Information to view the Autopilot hardware version.
WiFi Diagnostics Tool
Tesla now includes a WiFi Diagnostics tool to help you improve your WiFi connection. It displays your connection’s status and speed and provides some tips.
To view WiFi Diagnostics, go to Control > Wi-Fi and tap on the blue Diagnostics link at the top.
The diagnostics tool allows you to see various details about the access point you're connecting to, your vehicle's MAC address, and your connection.
Improved Voice Recognition
Many users are also reporting voice recognition improvements in this update, especially in dialects other than American English. Tesla's voice command system now appears to better understand different accents and perform commands more reliably. While this isn’t the smart voice assistant we all wanted, many users are happy to be able to issue commands more reliably.
When viewing details for a Point of Interest (POI) on the map, you can now tap on “Nearby Parking’ to get directions to nearby parking lots or garages. This should make it easier to find parking for big events or busy areas.
Lower Volume in Reverse
@g3st4l1
Tesla has added a new option under Controls > Safety that lets the vehicle automatically lower the volume of any audio being played when the vehicle goes into reverse. The option is right next to Joe Mode, which lowers the volume of all sounds like turn signals and Autopilot beeps.
Set Arrival Energy
@g3st4l1
You can now choose the amount of energy you’d like to arrive with at your destination. Tesla will then take this into account when determining charging stops and charging times.
The Set Arrival Energy is a new option under trip details which you can get to by swiping up (or pressing the …) in the navigation module that shows your destination and ETA.
Adjust Passenger Seat On Screen
@g3st4l1
Tesla has added a new Seats option to its settings. It appears that it has several purposes, not only letting you turn on/off seat heaters, but also letting you move the passenger seat forward and backward. This could be especially useful if you have a baby seat behind the passenger seat and sometimes need the extra room.
Unfortunately, there are no presets or memory, so you’ll need to adjust the seat each time. It does not allow you to adjust other seat functions, such as the seat back or lumbar support.
For the Model X, it also lets you move the middle seats backward or forward.
Vehicle Maintenance Summary
@tslaway
Owners can now view their vehicle's maintenance history. This builds upon the Maintenance History feature Tesla added recently, which lets you add digital vehicle records when maintenance is performed. It includes a wide variety of items, from adding windshield washer fluid to replacing the vehicle’s battery or motor.
However, with the Holiday Update, Tesla is adding an easy-to-view “consumer” version of vehicle history that lets owners view maintenance records without having to go into Service Mode. The Vehicle Maintenance Summary is under Controls > Service > Maintenance and provides a read-only view for vehicle owners. You’ll have to go into Service Mode to add any maintenance records, which are permanent and can not be erased, even after a factory reset.
@tslaway
When viewing the owner version of Maintenance Summary, owners can quickly view when tires were last rotated, when the cabin filter was replaced and more.
Autopilot Lane Changes
Not a Tesla App
In Europe, Tesla has added a new indicator light that shows which automatic lane changes are available. Whenever Autopilot is enabled, the vehicle will now display a light indicating which lanes are available for Automatic Lane Changes. The icon will start off gray, then turn green and show an arrow to the left, right, or both sides.
If you want to see other Holiday Update features in action, be sure to check out part 1 of this series, where we take a look at all the features of Tesla’s Holiday Update. You can also read the release notes for the Holiday update, version 2024.44.25.2
If you’ve noticed any additional changes in this update, definitely let us know. Thanks to Zer and teslaway for the photos of the new features.