Tesla pushes back the release of FSD Beta 10.3

Tesla was set to release FSD beta 10.3 Friday at midnight, although the release has now been officially delayed.

Tesla pushes back FSD Beta 10.3 a couple days

@GailAlfarATX/Twitter

Elon Musk has now said that their internal QA team found a regression in this beta which will need to be fixed before Tesla releases 10.3.

With the release of beta 10.3, Tesla is also further expanding the FSD Beta to additional testers.

Any owners who have a safety score of 99 or higher will now be eligible to receive the 10.3 beta.

However, it's likely that not everyone with a Safety Score of 99 will be included in this release, as the number of drivers with a Safety Score of 99 is much larger than those with a score of 100.

Tesla rounds up scores from 98.5 to 99 in the Tesla app, but it isn't clear whether Tesla is rounding when deciding who gets the FSD beta.

To figure out your exact Safety Score and find out if you're being rounded to a 99 or have a score above 99, you can use our Safety Score calculator.

Elon said that Tesla is actively working on fixing the issue that caused the delay of 10.3. The issue was caused by a regression when taking unprotected left turns at a traffic lights, which is one of the more dangerous driving maneuvers. It's crucial that Tesla gets this right.

Regression in some left turns at traffic lights found by internal QA in 10.3. Fix in work, probably releasing tomorrow.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 23, 2021

Elon says that Tesla will probably have the issue fixed and be able to roll out beta 10.3 Sunday night. Roll outs of beta releases have usually occurred at midnight pacific.

However, since Tesla hasn't fixed the regression yet, the timeframe is still open to change. We'll hopefully receive confirmation before Sunday night whether the beta will be released or whether Tesla needs more time.

If you're still working toward a 98 or 99 Safety Score, I recommend checking out our Safety Score calculator that will let you know how many more miles you'll need to drive with a 100 score before reaching your target score.

Update: Tesla has now released FSD Beta 10.3 to beta testers.

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

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.

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

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.

Daily walks help clear your mind pic.twitter.com/dUsW58trS6

— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 9, 2024

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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