New FSD Beta 10.12 visualizations: new car models, open doors and turn signals

By Nuno Cristovao
New car models used in FSD Beta 10.12 visualization
New car models used in FSD Beta 10.12 visualization
mariapazz000/Twitter

The first signs of Tesla's FSD Beta 10.12 finally surfaced yesterday as Tesla employees started receiving the internal beta.

The internal beta initially had a version of 2022.12.3.10, but it looks like Tesla has aleady issued an update with version 2022.12.3.15 (FSD Beta 10.12.1).

It's not clear yet whether this will be the exact version that will be rolled out to public testers or if additional updates will be made.

If Tesla finds any major issues, they'll want to fix them before rolling out the update to external testers.

New Car Models

New car models
New car models
WholeMarsBlog/Twitter

FSD Beta 10.12 introduces new vehicle models for almost every vehicle type.

Some of the vehicles have been completely redesigned and are more detailed and realistic looking than the previous models.

For example, a sedan now has wheels, windows and a glass roof, instead of the previous simplistic look that resembled a Model S keyfob.

New Brake Lights

Although brakes lights were already displayed as of beta 9.0, Tesla is now displaying the third brake light as well, which has been required in the US since 1986.

Open Doors

FSD Beta 10.12 will now display open doors
FSD Beta 10.12 will now display open doors
WholeMarsBlog/Twitter

FSD Betas have been able to detect and stop or go around vehicles with open doors for a while now, but Tesla will now show open doors in the visualization.

When a surrounding vehicle's door is open, the 3D model will also show the open door and highlight the door in orange.

Turn Signals

FSD Beta now displays turn signals
FSD Beta now displays turn signals
BLKMDL3/Twitter

Elon said back in the summer of 2021 that Tesla will detect and respond to vehicle turn signals, hand gestures and more in the future.

With this release, FSD Beta now detects and visualizes turn signals in addition to brake lights.

The car will reportedly react to turn signals it has detected as well, which should help understand the intentions of other vehicles.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

The last major FSD Beta release was version 10.11, which was first seen more than two months ago.

Tesla has been working on beta 10.12 for a while now and the amount of changes included in this update are huge according to Elon.

Musk said that due to the amount of changes in this beta, we can expect two steps forward and one step back.

This is a big one! Expect some two steps forward, one step back situations. These will be great ironed in point releases, hence ~10.12.2 or 10.13 for wider beta release.

- Elon Musk

There will be some issues, and in certain situations FSD may have regressed.

Tesla plans to fix any issues that arise with minor revisions to this release. Expect to see additional FSD Beta 10.12 releases such as 10.12.1 and 10.12.2 in the coming weeks.

Current Beta Testers

As we have seen with other recent betas, it may be a while until all current beta testers receive this latest beta.

With beta 10.11, we saw two revisions before the majority of testers received the beta. We may see a similar situation with this update, given the amount of changes that were made.

If you're a current beta tester, you may be waiting a couple weeks before getting this updated FSD Beta.

Additional Testers

There haven't been any signs of Tesla adding additional beta testers in the US since late 2021.

Elon has previously said that he hopes that Tesla will be able to add more testers who have opted in to the beta and have a Safety Score of 95 or greater in later revisions of beta 10.12.

Update 2022.12.3.15

FSD 10.12.1
Installed on 0% of fleet
0 Installs today
Last updated: Apr 27, 10:12 pm UTC

Interpretation of Beta 10.12 Release Notes

We have the technical releases notes for FSD Beta 10.12, but Reddit user asimo3089 did a great job at interpreting the release notes to give us a better understanding of what Tesla has improved in this update.

1. Your car better understands what is and is not drivable space. This makes it more confident in easy situations, and more capable in tricky situations. Your car can also now use medians for difficult left turns, and accelerates quicker to complete turns.

2. Your car now has a better idea of objects blocking camera views. Creeping should be less scary.

3. Improved path predictions of where other others on the road will be. This gives your car better decision making for turns.

4. Sounds like: Your car will drive itself to safety much more smoothly if your car finds itself in a place it shouldn't be. Better problem solving?

5. Your car should better see the lanes on the road, and how many of them there are, thanks to new data. This gives better turn confidence and path planning during a turn.

6. Your car is now trained on 180,000 new clips related to what lanes look like.

7. Your car is less likely to panic brake in a yellow light scenario, and has a better understanding of lane guidance when going through an intersection.

8. Road edges and road lines are now more accurate.

9. Your car now better understands visibility from the cameras, thanks to 30,000 new video clips of training data.

10. Speeds of motorcycles, pedestrians and cyclists is now more accurate. Plus, your car now better predicts which direction a pedestrian is walking.

11. Your car is now less likely to confuse a parked car and an idling car thanks to 41,000 new clips of training data. This should result in fewer "phantom brakes" or silly lane changes.

12. Your car now better understands objects that are far away from you.

13. Your car will plan a better path around vehicles with car doors open.

14. Objects that are not pedestrians, cyclists, etc, should have more accurate speed predictions.

15. When changing into an adjacent lane, your car will look further ahead at vehicle speeds. If somebody up ahead is braking, your car will handle it more comfortably.

16. Your car used to only predict acceleration (Not speed) for objects moving adjacently. Now your car will predict acceleration of all moving objects including objects accelerating across your path.

17. New 3D models for vehicles on your screen. You'll also be shown vehicles with their doors open.

18. Tesla retired a few old systems and gained 2 frames per second, per camera, resulting in better performance while self driving.

FSD Beta 10.12 is currently only available to employees, but we may see a wider release in the next couple days that includes public testers.

However, it could be several weeks before all current testers receive this update.

More details will surely be uncovered about this beta in the next few days. Stay tuned for more.

Tesla’s More Affordable Vehicle Update: Q1 2025

By Karan Singh
@DominicBRNKMN/X

Alongside the many things we learned about Unsupervised FSD and the Robotaxi program, we also got to find out a little more about Tesla’s more affordable vehicle in the Q1 2025 Earnings Call.

There has been extensive reporting on what the long-anticipated affordable EV option would become, and we’ve seen numerous news stories mentioning that it was delayed or even arriving on time. The executive team revealed the near-term and long-term plans for Tesla’s upcoming vehicles, and there’s definitely good news to share here.

Updated Timeline

The most important piece of news is that despite all the talk of delays from supposed inside sources, Tesla has confirmed that the plan for its more affordable model remains on schedule for production to begin in the first half of 2025. Tesla’s executive team narrowed that timeline down further - and said that they expect production to kick off as soon as June and that the new model will be in the market shortly thereafter.

While the production timeline itself is on track, Tesla did note that the subsequent ramping process will likely be slower than initially hoped, citing global tariff and financial impacts as challenges to overcome to prepare its production lines.

Hybrid Production Approach

Tesla has once again confirmed that this will not be their next-generation vehicle, built using new production methods. Instead, they outlined a relatively more pragmatic approach for this new model.

Tesla will utilize aspects of both the next-generation platform as well as some parts of its current platforms (namely the Model 3 and Model Y). This means that Tesla will produce this new vehicle on the same manufacturing lines as the Model 3 and Model Y.

This strategy allows Tesla to bring the vehicle to the market more quickly, while also managing capital expenditures more efficiently by using existing infrastructure. However, Tesla’s executive team also noted that this approach, while faster, will result in fewer cost reductions than what might have been achieved with an entirely new platform and dedicated manufacturing process.

Vehicle Design

Using these existing production lines means that Tesla’s new vehicle will likely share some considerable similarities with either the existing Model 3 or Model Y. Rather than being a radically different and smaller vehicle, this new model will resemble the overall form factor and shape of Tesla’s current core offerings, while being optimized for a lower cost.

This doesn’t mean that Tesla is forgetting the overall goal here. Their ultimate goal is to reduce the initial cost of ownership and lower monthly payments for customers while maintaining a standard of excellence and safety.

Not Unboxed

Both at this Earnings Call and previous ones, Tesla has indicated that this new vehicle will not be using the innovative unboxed assembly method, at least for the time being. That relatively unique method will be developed and implemented specifically for the purpose-built Cybercab and for future vehicles on the next-generation platform.

We’re just a few days away from May, so it won’t be long before we see more about this upcoming vehicle. Stay tuned.

U.S. Announces New Autonomous Vehicle Framework and What It Means for Tesla

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

In a follow-up move to the current US administration’s goals to introduce a federal framework for autonomous vehicles, the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is loosening autonomy restrictions following an announcement from Secretary Sean Duffy on X. This new initiative helps streamline complex regulatory processes and foster home-grown innovation.

Automated Vehicle Framework

As part of the broader upcoming USDOT Innovation Agenda, the newly unveiled AV Framework is designed to promote American innovation and strengthen domestic engineering while maintaining existing safety standards. The framework centers around three key principles:

  • Prioritize Safety

  • Unleash Innovation

  • Enable Commercial Deployment

To kickstart this AV framework, USDOT announced two initial steps focused on streamlining processes and expanding opportunities.

Crash Reporting Requirements

Under the first principle to Prioritize Safety, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) will maintain its Standing General Order requiring crash reporting on Advanced and Automated Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS and ADS). 

However, the reporting process will be streamlined following feedback from AV innovators, likely including Tesla. The goal here is to focus on collecting critical safety information while removing unnecessary or duplicative items from the reporting process, thereby reducing the burden without compromising safety.

Cutting Red Tape

Directly tied to the second principle of Unleash Innovation, the framework also seeks to slash red tape. The first step here is the expansion of the Automated Vehicle Exemption Program, or AVEP. This program allows manufacturers to petition for temporary exemptions from certain federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) for testing or deployment purposes.

Previously, the standard excluded domestically produced vehicles. Now, domestically produced AVs will not need to meet FMVSS, which will broaden the scope for manufacturers to test more innovative and unique designs and technologies.

Single National Standard for AVs

Finally, tied to the third principle of Enable Commerical Development, USDOT intends to move the United States closer to a single national standard for autonomous vehicles. This aims to prevent a confusing and inefficient patchwork of state-level or city-level laws and regulations, which can create hurdles for companies attempting to innovate, deploy, and scale their technology.

A unified standard across the United States also means that Canada and Mexico will likely be able to follow, as they share homologization standards across North America, including for vehicle crash safety and some autonomy regulations.

What This Means for Tesla

These framework changes will likely have a substantial impact on Tesla. The move towards a national standard is potentially the most impactful change, as Tesla identified regulatory hurdles as one of the most significant challenges it will face with the deployment of both Unsupervised FSD and its Robotaxi network.

The reduction of FMVSS requirements and streamlined reporting will likely play a role in the future as well. The FMVSS requirements are probably already being worked on, if not already met, by the Cybercab and other vehicles in Tesla’s lineup.

Meanwhile, the streamlined reporting will be helpful once Tesla officially launches its Robotaxi network in June.

You can read the official press release on the announcement here.

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