Tesla made a huge leap forward in FSD capabilities with their recent FSD Beta 9.0 release. You can tell that Tesla feels FSD is achievable and that they're racing toward the finish line. They're now releasing FSD Betas as fast as they can to iron out edge cases and reach a higher level of autonomy.
Elon Musk has hinted at the fact that Tesla will be releasing an updated FSD Beta about every two weeks. Tesla released the major FSD Beta 9.0 update at midnight on July 10th. Three weeks later they released version 9.1. Most of us expected version 9.2 yesterday, but when it wasn't available, it led some folks to be disappointed. Well, worry no more. Early this morning Tesla released version 9.2 of the FSD Beta with release 2021.12.25.15.
The official release notes in the car haven't changed since the FSD 9.1 Beta, although 9.2 is built on a newer build of the Tesla OS, so it also includes new language support and Sky Force Reloaded.
However, Elon has shared technical release notes for version 9.2 which go into much more detail of what has changed in this latest beta.
Clear-to-go boost through turns on minor-to-major roads (plan to expand to all roads in V9.3).
Improved peek behavior where we are smarter about when to go around the lead vehicle by reasoning about the causes for lead vehicles being slow.
v1 of the Multi-model predictions for where other vehicles expected to drive. This is only partially consumed for now.
New Lanes network with 50k more clips (almost double) from the new auto-labeling pipeline.
New VRU velocity model with 12% improvement to velocity and better VRU clear-to-go performance. This is the first model trained with “Quantization-Aware-Training," an improved technique to mitigate intr8 quantization.
Enabled Inter-SoC synchronous compute scheduling between vision and vector space processes. Planner in the loop is happening in v10.
Shadow mode for new crossing/merging targets network will help you improve VRU control.
As you read through the release notes above, you can see Tesla appears to have made some big changes in a short amount of time in order to address certain situations recent betas have had trouble with. One of these situations is when transitioning onto a major road from a complete stop.
It's reassuring to see that Tesla is iterating on these FSD Betas so quickly. They look to be making amazing progress and we hope that the FSD Beta will be opened to all this year.
Tesla eliminated a newly formed marketing team of about 40 employees as part of its global layoffs, Bloomberg reported on Monday morning. On X, Elon Musk said the ads created by the team were “far too generic” adding that they would apply to “any car”.
Exactly. The ads were far too generic – could’ve been any car.
The team was led by Alexander Ingram who joined Tesla in August 2019 as Communication lead for Automotive. After a few different roles connected with content and social media, Ingram was promoted last December to Senior Manager of Global Growth Content. In the new role, he was leading a global team of creatives focused on Tesla's first ads, as well as social media.
Ingram put out some excellent behind-the-scenes videos on Tesla’s technological advancements such as the one below explaining Tesla’s single casting.
Tesla’s Advertisement Strategy
At Tesla’s 2023 annual meeting of shareholders, Elon Musk said that the company would “try a little advertising and see how it goes”. Since then, Tesla ads have been seen in Google search results and on YouTube.
In Tesla’s proxy statement filed last week, it is seen that the automaker has spent around $200,000 on X-advertising through February 2024.
“As part of a multi-platform advertising campaign, Tesla also directly or indirectly purchased advertising on X, which totaled approximately $0.2 million through February 2024”
Bloomberg’s source added that Tesla still has a smaller marketing team in Europe.
Tesla shared on X that it’s ending its current referral program globally by the end of April. It’ll be replaced by a new one, but that is still “a few months away”, according to CEO Elon Musk.
When Musk was asked if the current credits would be lost, Musk responded by saying “No, just that new credits would not be earned until we launch a future referral program.” That means there’ll be a gap of a couple of months when owners will not be able to earn referral credits.
Tesla was always famous for relying on its community to promote its vehicles rather than spending millions (or even billions) in ad campaigns.
Through Tesla’s referral program — which started back in 2015— customers have been earning referral credits by having friends use their referral link when ordering a Tesla product or taking their first demo drive. At the time, it started with a direct $1,000 prize for the referrer but later evolved to a more complex system with different tiers and points.
Prizes have changed a lot over the years
In its latest version, scheduled to end by the end of the month, Tesla models (S, X, and Y), along with Powerwall, solar panels, and solar roofs, are available for purchase using a referral link. In this version, owners can redeem credits from merchandise to software upgrades for their vehicles. They can even redeem credits for several months free of Premium Connectivity or FSD.
Our current referral program benefits will end after April 30 in all markets
Tesla’s first referral program was released in July 2015 where customers who referred new buyers would receive $1,000 for every new Tesla Model S delivered. For those who were able to accrue 5 or 10 referrals for the US automaker, Tesla raised the bar and offered invitations to the opening of its Giga Factories or even a fully loaded Model X.
Over the first 2 years, Tesla significantly increased the value of the prizes and even offered free or discounted Roadsters with enough referrals. However, in 2019, Elon Musk decided to stop amid cost concerns.
The referral program was re-launched in late 2019 offering new buyers free supercharging for a period of time, FSD access, premium connectivity, or $500 off a new vehicle.
What’s Next
Given the considerable gap of “a few months” between the current program and the next one, it is expected that Tesla will bring a new structure with updated awards focused on minimizing Tesla’s cost while increasing the brand’s awareness.
TeslaFi logs your drives and charging sessions, letting you keep a log of your vehice's activity. We highly recommend checking them out if you use your car for business trips and would like to keep track of reimbursements, if you like to see how much you spend on charging or if you just love statistics. Visit their site and see everything they have to offer!
Tesla Android Project enables you to run Android apps in your Tesla. The platform is Open Source and you can deploy it on your own Raspberry Pi 4. Consider supporting the initiative by donating or purchasing the Compute Module 4 Bundle that delivers the best experience. Get $20 off by using the code: NotATeslaApp
The official Tesla app only notifies you if your car is broken into. By installing Sentry Pro on your phone, you will be notified for all Sentry Mode events. Stay connected and avoid potential surprises by receiving notifications. Stop constantly checking the cameras to ensure safety. Check only when necessary, save battery and get peace of mind. Get a 7 day free trial here!
Stay organized, connected, and stylish with Cyberbackpack — the #1 backpack, luggage & travel accessories for Tesla owners. We highly recommend checking them out if you commute or travel and would like a backpack or luggage that is sleek, secure and durable. View their products page and see everything they have to offer!
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