Tesla FSD V12.5 Rolls to OG Testers; Vehicles With FSD Being Updated to 2024.20.9

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla has started rolling out FSD V12.5 to employees according to an employee on X. FSD 12.5 will be update 2024.20.10, meaning that customers on 2024.20.x and above will qualify to receive the latest FSD update.

So far, release notes and detailed update information haven’t made their way out just yet, but the poster, Jay, mentions that Summon or Banish aren’t included in the release.

Update: Tesla is moving quickly and FSD v12.5 is now going out to a few OG testers. It looks like we’re skipping over the wide release of FSD v12.4 and some users will going directly from FSD 12.3.6 to FSD 12.5.

Update 2: Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s AP Director, has commented on the release of FSD v12.5 and the noticeable lack of expected features, mainly the merger of city and highway stacks and vision-monitoring’s support for sunglasses. He said on X just moments ago that there will be subsequent releases of FSD 12.5 which will include these two features specifically.

Nag-Free FSD

FSD v12.5 is supposed to be the nag-free release that will be going wide to customers, following the halt of v12.4.3. Both Ashok Elluswamy, Directory of Autopilot Software and Elon Musk have touted its improvements, including the ability to drive nag-free with sunglasses.

Alongside that, there is an expected stack merge for the highway driving stack – which has been running on an older V11 build for quite some time. Alongside other significant improvements, like vehicle-to-fleet communications, V12.5 will still be a rather large update.

Who’s Eligible?

Vehicles on 2024.20 and below, including those on 2024.15.15 and 2024.14 should be eligible for the update. The few vehicles (under 1% of the tracked fleet) on 2024.26 will not be eligible for this update.

2024.20 brings along some new features including Power Front Doors for the Model X, Improved Adaptive Headlights, a new Beach Buggy Racing 2 Leaderboard, Location Privacy details and optimizations for hot weather.

What’s quite important here is that most Cybertrucks are on 2024.20.9 – which means they’ll be eligible for the update, as FSD V12.5 is also supposed to bring FSD and Autopilot features to the Cybertruck for the first time. Some Cybertrucks were spotted with LiDAR units for FSD accuracy testing recently, which means we’re likely to see FSD enabled on these vehicles once this 2024.20.10 update arrives.

Tesla is Updating Vehicles on 2024.14.9

Similar to what we saw during the Spring Update, tonight Tesla started rolling out update 2024.20.9 to FSD customers in North America who are still on update 2024.14.9.

This update will bring FSD owners the latest Tesla features in the 2024.20 update such as the Beach Buggy leaderboard game and more, but the FSD version will remain the same at v12.3.6.

This confirms that the rollout of FSD 12.4.3 is dead since since vehicles on 2024.20 will no longer be eligible to receive FSD 12.4.3 which is update 2024.15.15.

It’s looking like the next FSD update will be FSD v12.5, but the door remains open for a possible revision of FSD v12.4.4.

If you’re in North America and are on update 2024.14.9, go check out if you’re being updated to 2024.20.9.

Tesla Increases Price of Model S; Starts Offering Free Lifetime Supercharging

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

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’s Optimus Robot Learns to Walk Without Vision [VIDEO]

By Karan Singh
Optimus Falls - but catches itself!
Optimus Falls - but catches itself!
Not a Tesla App

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.

A Look Behind the Curtain

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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