In a recent post on X, Ashok Elluswamy, Head of AP/AI at Tesla confirmed that FSD won’t be showing up for the Cybertruck just yet.
Instead, Cybertruck owners can look forward to some parking assistance features, which is at least a step toward FSD. While Ashok didn’t mention exactly which parking features are coming, we can likely guess what they’ll be.
Park Assist and Autopark on the Cybertruck
Currently, the Cybertruck doesn’t have Park Assist or Autopark. Tesla’s Park Assist provides a high-fidelity reproduction of the vehicle's surroundings (video below). Park Assist is a fantastic feature when parking in tight spaces, and ever since the updated Vision changes in recent months, it has become more accurate than ever.
We expect it to be even better on the Cybertruck, considering it has access to a front bumper camera – providing even more data for Park Assist.
In addition, Park Assist works alongside Autopark, allowing owners to automatically park their cars in parallel spaces or reverse into perpendicular spaces (video).
At low speeds (below 8mph or 13km/h), Autopark will automatically detect and display parking spaces nearby – both perpendicular ones to back into, or parallel ones. You will be able to tap on a space on the Cybertruck’s touch screen, and then come to a stop. Autopark will then maneuver the vehicle as required to get it into the right position and park.
Ashok mentioned that these updates for parking assistance features are slated for the end of this week. Park Assist will be available to everyone, while Autopark requires Enhanced Autopark or FSD.
Updated Timeline for FSD on Cybertruck
Ashok also gave us an update on FSD for the Cybertruck. He says that Autopilot/FSD should be expected around September as Tesla focuses on the parking assist features first. It’s still expected to arrive in a point release of FSD 12.5, which recently started going out to vehicles with HW3. All Cybertrucks come standard with AI4.
Park Assist is a fantastic step forward while Tesla works on refining and certifying FSD for the Cybertruck. September isn’t too far out at this point, and we could even see it show up sooner than that given the FSD team’s recent update pace.
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While Tesla’s 2024 Holiday Update brought many new features, including Apple Watch Support, Cross Traffic Alerts, Weather Overlays, Search Along Route, and others, there are also several smaller items in this update that didn’t get much attention.
Ambient Lighting Now Affects Easter Eggs
The 2024+ Model 3 and Cybertruck both come equipped with ambient lighting, and Tesla is now taking advantage of this custom lighting feature by incorporating it into several easter eggs.
Rainbow Road: If you head over to Apps > ToyBox > Rainbow Road, you’ll find a new option available that allows the ambient lighting in the vehicle to also change shades while Rainbow Road is active. The Rainbow Road easter egg is a tribute to the iconic course course in Nintendo’s Mario Kart.
Check out the feature in action below:
🇮🇹 Con l’aggiornamento di Natale, quando attiviamo la pista arcobaleno, anche i LED interni diventeranno arcobaleno. Questa è una novità non documentata, scovata da un utente di TESLERS (chiaramente riguarda le Model 3 Highland)
Santa Mode: Just in time for Christmas, Tesla has improved Santa Mode by cycling the ambient lighting between Christmas colors. Similar to Rainbow Road, the use of ambient lighting for the easter egg is optional and can be enabled under Apps > ToyBox > Santa Mode.
When using Santa Mode with ambient lighting turned on, the lights will cycle just between Christmas colors, red, green and white, instead of the full rainbow. There’s a video of the feature below:
The Model S and Model X vehicles that support Steam gaming are receiving a Steam app update in the holiday update as well. This update could end up being very interesting, but for now Tesla says that the SteamOS, which also runs on Valve’s Steam Deck has been updated to version 3.6.
Valve outlines a wide range of fixes and improvements in their release notes for version 3.6, but Tesla simply states that the OS update includes performance enhancements and improved game compatibility.
The SteamOS hasn’t been updated on the Model S and X for quite a while, so we believe there may be more to this besides performance improvements and fixes. We’ll be looking to share some insights into this in the near future.
So, there you have it—three new features in the Holiday update that have mostly gone under the radar. While they may not apply to everyone, there are plenty of other cool features in the Holiday Update, like the arrival of Dynamic Road Closure Routing and Nearby Parking, that are coming to every vehicle, so go check out the full release notes.
At the 2023 Q3 Earnings Call, Tesla provided an update on its next-generation model, what many are referring to as the “Model 2” or “Model Q.” Although the actual model name is yet to be determined, it is known internally as Redwood.
During the 2024 Shareholder Meeting, Musk again mentioned the upcoming model, saying that Tesla is working on new products, including a more affordable vehicle and a larger SUV.
While we know the next-gen vehicle is aimed at the $25k to $30k USD market, we now have some new information thanks to a new report out of China.
Launch & Price
According to the Chinese outlet CNMO Technology News (Sina Finance), Travis Axelrod, Tesla’s Head of Investor Relations, announced plans to launch a new model. Axelrod shared this update while addressing senior corporate investors at an investor conference hosted by Deutsche Bank on December 5, 2024.
The goal of Project Redwood, internally dubbed “Model Q” by Deutsche Bank, is to achieve a post-subsidy price of under $30,000 USD. With the Federal EV Rebate potentially expiring next year, this suggests that the Model Q’s starting price will be around $30,000 USD. For comparison, the Model 3 currently starts at $42,490 in the U.S.
We previously reported that Tesla has already been speaking to suppliers and is looking to begin volume production of the vehicle sometime around June 2025. Of course, prototyping is still necessary, but we haven’t seen any signs of Tesla testing a new vehicle since spotting the Cybercab on the streets ahead of We, Robot.
Specs
The Model Q will supposedly be about 15% smaller and 30% lighter than the Model 3, with an approximate length of 3,988mm, or 157 inches. For scale, the Mini is 157 inches, while the Model 3 is 185 inches, so it’s fairly compact.
The battery will also be smaller to match the vehicle’s smaller size as Tesla tries to reduce the vehicle’s price while maintaining a similar range as its other vehicles. Tesla is expected to offer two models—a single-motor RWD model and a Long-Range Dual-Motor AWD variant.
The lower trim level will include a 53 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, while the AWD version is expected to include a 75 kWh LFP battery. The report says that the vehicle will be able to travel up to 500 km (310 miles) on a single charge, but it’s not clear whether this will be for the more efficient RWD version or the AWD variant.
Given the vehicle’s weight reduction compared to the Model 3, this type of range is likely for the lower trim level.
Variant
Motors
Battery Size
Estimated Range
RWD
1
53 kWh (LFP)
310 miles (500km)?
AWD
2
75 kWh (LFP)
?
There’s no news yet on the price of the AWD version, but we expect it to be about $5,000 more expensive than the RWD variant.
Once the vehicle ramps up in production, Tesla intends to produce about 10,000 of these per week globally or about 500,000 per year. As Tesla mentioned during one of their previous earnings calls, this next-gen vehicle will be built using Tesla’s current assembly lines with minimal changes. This should allow for a smoother and more predictable production ramp. While Tesla still plans to use its new unboxed assembly process, it’s now saving it for the robotaxi.
We’re expecting Juniper to launch early next year, as production has supposedly already begun at Giga Shanghai, at least on a limited prototyping basis. If the rollout matches the Model 3 Highland refresh, we’ll see Juniper arrive in China first and then make its way to North America and Europe by the end of 2025. The performance variants should launch in early 2026, after the standard models.
If you’re excited about Juniper, so are we! Check out our wishlist of features for Tesla’s Model Y refresh, and see everything we know so far.
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