What’s Coming in Tesla FSD V13

November 5, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

As part of an update to its AI roadmap, Tesla has also announced the features that will be in FSD v13. Tesla provided many details about what we can expect, and there’s a lot of info to break down.

Tesla’s VP of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, also revealed that FSD v13 is expected to make FSD Unsupervised feature complete. That doesn’t mean that autonomy will be ready, as each feature will still need to work at safety levels higher than a human, but it means every key feature of autonomous vehicles will be present in FSD v13.

Let’s examine the v13 feature list Tesla and Tesla employees have recently provided to see exactly what’s coming.

Higher Resolution Video & Native AI4

FSD v12 has been trained using Tesla’s HW3 cameras and downsampling the AI4 cameras to match. For the first time, Tesla will use AI4's native camera resolution to get the clearest image possible. Not only will Tesla increase the resolution, but they’re also increasing the capture rate to 36 FPS (frames per second). This should result in extreme smoothness and the ability of the vehicle to detect objects earlier and more precisely. It’ll be a big boon for FSD, but it’ll come at the price of processing all of this additional information.

The HW3 cameras have a resolution of about 1.2 megapixels, while the AI4 cameras have a resolution of 5.44 megapixels. That’s a 4.5x improvement in raw resolution - which is a lot of new data for the inference computer and AI models to deal with.

Yun-Ti Tsai, Senior Staff Engineer at Tesla AI, mentioned on X that the total data bandwidth is 1.3 gigapixels per second, running at 36 hertz, with nearly 0 latency between capture and inference. This is one of the baseline features for getting v13 off the ground, and through this feature update, we can expect better vehicle performance, sign reading, and lots of little upgrades.

Bigger Models, Bigger Context, Better Data

The next big item is that Tesla will increase the size of the FSD model by three times and the overall context length by the same amount. What that means, in simple terms, is that FSD will have a lot more information to draw upon—both at the moment (the context length) and from background knowledge and training (model size).

In layman’s terms, Tesla has made the FSD brain bigger and increased the amount of information it can remember. This means that FSD will have a lot more data to work with when making decisions, both from what's happening right now and from what it has learned in the past.

Beyond that, Tesla has also massively expanded the data scaling and training compute to match. Tesla is increasing the amount of training data by 4.2 times and increasing their training commute power by 5x.

Video of the inside of Cortex today, the giant new AI training supercluster being built at Tesla HQ in Austin to solve real-world AI pic.twitter.com/DwJVUWUrb5
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 26, 2024

Audio Intake

Tesla’s FSD has famously only relied upon visual data—equivalent to what humans can access. LiDAR hasn’t been on Tesla’s books except for model validation, and radar, while used in the past, was mostly phased out.

Now, Tesla AI will integrate audio intake into FSD’s models, with a focus on better handling of emergency vehicles. FSD will soon be able to react to emergency vehicles, even before it sees them. This is big news and is in line with how Tesla has been approaching FSD—through a very human-like lens.

We’re excited to see how these updates pan out - but there was one more thing. Ashok Elluswamy, VP of AI at Tesla, confirmed on X that they’ll add the ability for FSD to honk the horn.

Other Improvements

The other improvements, while major, can be summarized pretty simply. Tesla is focusing on improving smoothness and safety in various ways. The v13 AI will be trained to predict and adapt for collision avoidance, navigation, and better following traffic controls. This will make it more predictable for users and other drivers and improve general safety.

Beyond that, Tesla is also working on a better representation of the map and navigation inputs versus what FSD actually does. In complex situations, FSD may choose to take a different turn or exit, even if navigation is telling it to go the other way. This future update will likely close this gap and ensure that your route and FSD’s path planner match closely.

Of course, Tesla will also be working on adding Unpark, Reverse, and Park capabilities, as well as support for destination options, including parking in a spot, driveway, or garage or just pulling over at a specific point, like at an entrance.

Finally, they’re also working on adding improved camera self-cleaning and better handling of camera occlusion. Currently, FSD can and will clean the front cameras if they are obscured with debris, but only if they are fully blocked. Partial blockages do not trigger the wipers. Additionally, when the B-Pillar cameras are blinded by sunlight, FSD tends to have difficulties staying centered in the lane. This specific update is expected to address both of these issues.

FSD V13 Release Date

Tesla announced that FSD v13 will be released to employees this week, however, it’ll take various iterations before it’s released to the public. Tesla mentioned that they expect FSD v13 to be released to customers around v13.3, but surprisingly, they state that this will happen around the Thanksgiving timeframe — just a few weeks away.

Tesla is known for delays with its FSD releases, so we’re cautious about the late November timeline. However, the real takeaway is that FSD v13 is expected to offer a substantial leap in capability over the next few months—even if it’s exclusive to AI4.

Tesla FSD in Europe: June Update

June 14, 2025

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

The road to bringing FSD to Europe has been a long and complex one and filled with regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles. Elon Musk, as well as other members of Tesla’s AI team, have previously voiced their grievances with the regulatory approval process on X.

However, it appears that there is finally some progress in getting things moving with recent changes to upcoming autonomy regulations, but the process still seems slow.

Waiting on the Dutch

Elon commented on X recently, stating that Tesla is waiting for approval from Dutch authorities and then the EU to start rolling out FSD in Europe. Tesla is focusing on acquiring approvals from the Dutch transportation authority, which will provide them with the platform they need to gain broader acceptance in Europe. Outside of the Netherlands, Tesla is also conducting testing in Norway, which provides a couple of avenues for them to obtain national-level approval.

The frustration has been ongoing, with multiple committee meetings bringing up autonomy regulation but always pulling back at the last second before approving anything. The last meeting on Regulation 157, which governs Automated Lane Keeping Systems, concluded with authorities from the UK and Spain requesting additional time to analyze the data before reaching a conclusion.

Tesla, as well as Elon, have motioned several times for owners to reach out to their elected representatives to move the process forward, as it seems that Tesla’s own efforts are being stymied.

This can seem odd, especially since Tesla has previously demoed FSD working exceptionally smoothly on European roads - and just did it again in Rome when they shared the video below on X.

FSD Supervised testing in Rome, Italy

Pending regulatory approval pic.twitter.com/TXh3uQIfrx
— Tesla Europe & Middle East (@teslaeurope) June 12, 2025

DCAS Phase 3

While the approval process has been slow, Kees Roelandschap pointed out that there may be a different regulatory step that could allow FSD to gain a foothold in Europe.

According to Kees, the European Commission is now taking a new approach to approving ADAS systems under the new DCAS Phase 3 regulations. The Commission is now seeking data from systems currently operational in the United States that can perform System-Initiated Maneuvers and don’t require hands-on intervention for every request.

This is key because those are two of the core functionalities that make FSD so usable, and it also means that there may not be a need to wait years for proper regulations to be written from scratch. Now, the Commission will be looking at real-world data based on existing, deployed technology, which could speed up the process immensely.

What This Means

This new, data-driven regulatory approach could be the path for Tesla to reach its previous target of September for European FSD. While the cogs of bureaucracy are ever slow, sometimes all it takes is a little data to have them turn a bit faster in this case.

Alongside specific countries granting approval for limited field testing with employees, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for FSD in Europe, and hopes are that a release will occur by the end of 2025. With Europe now looking to North America for how FSD is performing, Tesla’s Robotaxi results could also play a role.

Tesla Launches 'TeslaVision' Contest With Big Prizes — See Last Year’s Winner [VIDEO]

June 13, 2025

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Tesla’s marketing has always been relatively unconventional, relying on word-of-mouth rather than traditional advertising. The passion of the owner’s community is always massive, but it is especially high now with the launch of the Robotaxi network just around the corner.

Tesla is now tapping into that spring of fan creativity and announced the TeslaVision video contest, with some seriously impressive prizes up for grabs.

Announcing the TeslaVision fan video showcase

Tesla owners & supporters have always been able to see our products & mission for what they truly are.

Your word of mouth has made Tesla what it is today.

The OGs will remember that in 2017, we held our first video contest. 8 years… pic.twitter.com/6pPpkqmqOH
— Tesla (@Tesla) June 10, 2025

The Contest

The core of the contest is simple. Create a video that shows how your Tesla gives you more in life. Tesla is looking for submissions that highlight themes of freedom, safety, fun, and convenience.

Prizes

The prizes definitely make this contest worth entering if you’re good with a camera and have some basic video editing abilities.

For North America, the prizes include a brand new Model Y AWD Long Range, alongside an all-expenses-paid trip to Austin for a tour of Giga Texas. The grand prize winner will also be able to custom order their Model Y, allowing them to select their preferred wheels and color.

The two runners-up won’t get a Model Y, but they’ll also enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip to Giga Texas for a tour of the factory.

The travel and tour include lodging in Austin for 2 nights, as well as economy-class round-trip tickets from anywhere in North America. Tesla will also provide a vehicle for use during the trip.

Hopefully, these winners will also have the opportunity to experience the Robotaxi network while they’re in Austin, as it’s expected to be opened to the public later this month.

Project Loveday

For long-time followers of Tesla, this contest may feel familiar. The contest is a direct throwback to the 2017 Project Loveday contest, which was inspired by a letter to Tesla from a 10-year-old aspiring marketer. That contest was won by MKBHD, with his submission below:

How to Enter

If you’re ready to start filming, here are the key pieces of information you’ll need to know:

Video must be 90 seconds or less
Video must be uploaded to YouTube with a public URL
Make a post on X and Instagram tagging “@Tesla” and include the words “TeslaVision contest” in the post.
Provide links to both social media posts in your submission to Tesla’s form
Provide your personal details in the form
You have until July 17th, 2025, or until Tesla receives 10,000 entries, whichever comes first.

You can find the official submission form and all region-specific details on Tesla's website.