Tesla is slowly rolling out FSD Beta 10.4 to existing beta testers. Tesla hopes to expand the beta to users who have a Safety Score of 98 or higher in the coming days. Beta 10.4 builds upon FSD Beta 10.3 in several key areas.
Tesla now displays speed bumps
@HisandHersTesla/Twitter
The first is the crucial and common maneuver known as an unprotected left turn, where your car may have a green light, but needs to wait for oncoming traffic to pass before taking a left turn. Not only does a maneuver like this leave your car vulnerable, but it can also be complicated to complete.
With 10.4, Tesla improved high speed object detection and now allows for faster acceleration across certain roads. These improvements appear to be helping in making more reliable unprotected left turns.
In James Locke's video below, he shows off an impressive unprotected left turn in this newest beta. Not only does the car wait for oncoming traffic to clear, but the car starts slowly accelerating before the vehicle clears it's path, so that the car is up to speed by the time vehicle passes. It's much more natural and human-like behavior.
@elonmusk#FSDBeta 10.4 handling left turns much better. Both the approach to the turn and the turn itself. Can see how it starts turning to pass behind the oncoming car before it passes. Much more human like. pic.twitter.com/0LusOKEgxF
FSD Beta's visualizations are a big improvement over the visualizations in the public builds, partly due to object permanence.
The software is able to tell the difference between an object moving or disappearing versus it being hidden by another object.
If there was a person in front of your car, but then a vehicle slowly drove by, between your car and that person, we'd likely conclude that the person is still there, just hidden behind the car.
That's what Tesla is doing now, not only with visualizations, but what the car sees as its surroundings. Once the car sees an object, it records it's time and position in the world in a semi-permanent state. Even when the car can't see the object any longer, it still knows it's there.
Sure, this could lead to some errors, but it often does in humans as well. In the example above, where the person was obscured by the car, it's possible the person got into another car or left the scene without us seeing because the car was blocking our view.
In this update, we're seeing more complete visualizations thanks to Tesla drastically improving the detection of VRUs (vulnerable road users) such as pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcycles by using a next generation auto labeler.
Visualizations also received a small update. The car was already detecting and slowing down for speed bumps, but speed bumps are now shown in the visualizations as well.
Crosswalks also received a minor visualization update. They used to be depicted as two white parallel lines, but they now appear as a filled in dark area on the screen. They're a little more obvious and there are less jagged lines, but they also don't exactly look like crosswalks either. If Tesla added the thick stripes crosswalks usually have, that could prove useful.
FSD Beta now displays clearer crosswalks
There are other smaller improvements in this beta such as improved emergency vehicle detection, improved VRU relevance by using the vehicle's intended path and more.
Improved Warnings
Tesla has greatly improved driver monitoring by not relying solely on steering wheel tension and instead using the interior camera. Tesla apparently started included the interior camera in Model 3s apparently for a robotaxi future, but it appears to have paid off for FSD instead. Relying on steering wheel tension was unreliable and an annoyance for drivers.
With the cabin camera Tesla can closely monitor where the driver is looking and constantly checking whether they're paying attention. An inattentive driver will receive an instant warning to pay attention if they're looking down, staring at their phone or looking to the side if Autopilot is activated.
FSD Beta warning
DCCWrules/Twitter
Early last month Tesla starting enforcing stricter rules when using FSD, where they will kick out beta testers if they're caught not paying attention several times.
In this beta, Tesla appears to have expanded these warnings to being on-screen as well, instead of relying on an email message. These warnings will be crucial to Tesla keeping the FSD Beta program and remaining accident free.
What's Not Included Yet
We know two big features are coming to FSD soon, but they're not yet included in this 10.4 update. The first is using a single stack for city and highway driving. Highway Autopilot is still completely separate and the same as the public build.
We're also anticipating the feature that will give the vehicle the ability to go into reverse. If the vehicle creeps forward for better visibility and decides it's unsafe to proceed, it'll back up to move out of the way of others.
Elon first anticipated this feature to come in FSD Beta 10.1, but we haven't seen it in FSD builds yet.
It's possible we may see both of these features added in the next major FSD release v11, which may come as the next FSD Beta. FSD Beta 10.4 also includes Sentry Mode Live Access for those with a Model 3, Model Y or the new Model S and X.
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In this article, we’ll cover Tesla’s updates on Optimus, batteries, and Tesla Energy.
Optimus
Tesla has been working away on their humanoid robot and continues to make progress in software and hardware.
First, Tesla is preparing the Fremont factory for the Optimus pilot production line, which is scheduled for completion later this year. Once it is, wider deployments of Optimus for internal use within Tesla’s facilities are expected as well. Tesla aims to have several thousand Optimus units working in its North American factories by the end of the year once the pilot production line is operational.
Tesla’s goals for production remain extremely lofty - 1 million units per year by 2030. However, they could face some challenges when ramping production.
Key components like the shoulder actuators use specialized permanent and rare-earth magnets, which are currently sourced from China. Due to recent Chinese restrictions on the overseas sale of these magnets, Tesla is seeking an exemption or alternative suppliers. They have not yet looked into modifying the shoulder actuator but will likely do so if they cannot obtain the necessary materials.
Batteries
Batteries are another item that Tesla’s teams have been working on behind the scenes for years now. The second generation of the 4680 - the Cybercell - has been IRA-compliant for some time now. This means that the Cybertruck is eligible for the US Federal EV rebate.
Tesla also achieved the lowest cost-per-kWh of any of its cells with the 4680 battery - and it is potentially one of the cheapest cells being manufactured by any vehicle battery manufacturer at this point. With dry-cathode still being worked on, Tesla may be able to squeeze more optimizations and cost efficiencies from the 4680 cells.
Additionally, Tesla is progressing with its plans for lithium refining and cathode production in the US, both of which are scheduled to commence in 2025. While the company says they’re no longer supply-constrained for non-LFP vehicle batteries, on-shoring production and sourcing critical minerals from nations outside of China will be key.
LFP batteries continue to be supplied-constrained - namely for the Tesla Energy division. LFP batteries and their materials are sourced from China. Due to tariffs and limited exports, Tesla is can’t obtain enough and is considering potentially building an LFP production facility in North America.
Energy
Tesla’s energy division is still experiencing some of the highest growth of any of its divisions. Year over year, Tesla saw a 154% increase in energy storage deployments, including both Megapack and Powerwall - for a total of 10.4 GWh deployed in just Q1 2025. While deliveries in energy storage remain volatile due to the nature of Megapack installations, Tesla expects growth to continue rapidly in this segment.
Tesla also deployed 1GWh of Powerwall 3 residential storage this quarter, marking its strongest quarter. Powerwall 3 has received positive feedback from customers, many of whom appreciate its new capabilities with its built-in inverter for solar.
Megapack is continuing to see demand increases, currently highlighted by utility-scale Megapack systems, as well as data centers requiring stable power delivery. Megafactory Shanghai is also online now and producing Megapacks - with an annual production capacity of 20GWh today and up to 40GWh in the future. The site has also produced over 100 Megapacks this quarter, which are all awaiting delivery.
There was a lot of interesting news from Tesla’s Q1 2025 Earnings Call, covering everything from FSD and Robotaxi - to the less glamorous but equally important Megapack and Powerwall.
Tesla is heavily leaning into artificial intelligence, and its insurance offering is just another example of how it’s improving its product or lowering costs by leveraging AI.
Tesla recently started offering an insurance discount in select states when drivers use FSD for at least 50% of their drives and now it’s introducing an AI to help handle customer claims.
Tesla has developed an in-house voiced AI agent that can assist customers in handling simple support requests for Tesla Insurance.
For customers calling in from those states, the new AI agent provides a unique way to address the most common support calls. And it’s not just answering common questions but actually making requested changes to the owner’s account.
Policy Changes
The first key item is that it automates policy changes. Simple policy updates, including adjusting your deductible or coverage limits, are now done via AI. For policyholders who are simply looking to make quick changes and don’t have any questions, this makes the process a lot quicker by not having to wait for a representative. Tesla isn’t eliminating representatives, but this could reduce the number of representatives required or reduce wait times.
Continue Where You Left Off
The second item here, highlighted by Raj Jegannathan from Tesla’s internal IT team, is that Tesla’s AI agent is able to offer summaries of the user’s last interaction with Tesla Insurance. It will summarize your last interaction and provide assistance on that particular topic if you need to continue it. That means that you don’t have to wait for a human to review your file - the AI will kick off right where you left off.
Tesla appears to be focused on improving efficiency and making support more accessible. While actual items like claims are left up to humans due to their inherently complex nature, this helps free up employees to handle more complex items. While there’s no doubt Tesla will continue to develop this AI like they do everything else, we may soon see it take on even more tasks.
More AI
This isn’t the first AI agent that Tesla has demoed - there is now a chat-based AI sales agent available on the front page of Tesla’s website, which is able to answer common questions on Tesla vehicles.
Tesla has also been improving their AI support tool available in the Tesla App is able to provide feedback on common issues and also guide users towards either solving the problem or placing a support request.
Tesla’s strategy here is to influence the cost-heavy areas associated with having humans address simple requests and instead leverage AI, which can offer instant answers and reduce support costs.
Roll Out to More States
While this new AI is currently limited to just 12 states, it is likely to follow Tesla Insurance’s expansion. Insurance seems to have been at a bit of a standstill lately. Tesla continues to improve features such as the improvements to Safety Score V2.2, but we haven’t seen Tesla roll out support to new states since it added Minnesota in November of 2022.
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