More details revealed about the opening of Superchargers to non-Teslas in the US

August 18, 2022

By Jorge Aguirre

Tesla is preparing to launch non-Tesla Supercharger use in the US

@SawyerMerritt/Twitter

If you’ve bought an electric car, you know by now how frustrating it can be to find somewhere to fast-charge it. That’s why Tesla initially rolled out its Supercharger network of high-voltage chargers, and now they seem to be getting ready to allow other US electric vehicles to take advantage of the widely available network.

Although there haven't been many specifics on how the company would do this in the US, Tesla has made it clear that its intention is to make the global network of high-voltage Level 3 charging stations available to non-Tesla EV owners, and it has been running test programs abroad for several months now. According to Twitter user Sawyer Merritt, on the evening of August 16, 2022, Tesla offered a brief glimpse into how the program would work, by temporarily providing non-Tesla owners with membership options on the Tesla App.

It’s unclear whether the company made a mistake by briefly providing access to the program or they were just trying it out, but the membership options remained available through the app from around 9:30 PM to just before midnight, according to Merritt.

It seems like Tesla will be making a "pay per use" option and a membership advertised at just $0.99 per month available to non-Tesla EV owners. Merritt said that each account requires a separate subscription, and there is a daily charge cap of five sessions.

Merritt highlighted the cheap $0.99 monthly membership charge, especially when compared to the $4 per month that Electrify America charges, suggesting that Tesla's price of about $1 may be an effort to undercut its competitors.

We know Tesla is getting ready to launch the network in North America by creating a new CCS adaptor for non-Tesla EV owners after launching the network in Europe, where Superchargers use the industry-standard CCS plug. Although recently there has been a push by Aptera for Tesla's connector to become the charging standard.

The shift, which is anticipated to take place before the end of the year, is necessary in order to access additional federal funds intended to hasten the development of EV charging stations.As electric cars become increasingly popular, a higher priority will be placed on making sure drivers have easy access to charging stations for their cars. Tesla has a dominant market share in the electric car space, so it makes sense that they’d offer up the Supercharger network as a service to drivers of other electric vehicles.

This decision won't be without criticism, though, as the network is one of the biggest benefits of owning a Tesla and is significantly larger than any other fast-charging network in the US. However, the network can get congested at times, and it's unclear what will happen if more EVs are added to it.

Tesla is expected to upgrade Superchargers to include the CCS connector in addition to Tesla's proprietary connector.

Tesla's upcoming Supercharger redesign is also expected to be out later this year.

Tesla Is Now Offering Cybertruck Test Drives [List of Locations]

July 26, 2024

By Karan Singh

@brandonhd

Tesla has begun to reach out to customers in the United States and is offering demo drives of the Cybertruck on an invite-only basis. @brandonhd on X shared the first invite image, and it looks like it's going out quite quickly to multiple locations that have Cybertrucks on display.

Up until now, display vehicles have been for just that – looking, but no touching. Some Tesla delivery centers and showrooms have also allowed viewers to take a seat inside and open it up, but most are still locked away behind the velvet rope.

It’s exciting to see that Tesla has begun to demo them – and it can only be so long until demo drives open up to everyone.

Advisor-led Demo

This Demo Drive is led by a Tesla Advisor – while you’re driving, the advisor will be in the passenger seat, walking you through the experience. They’ll explain steer-by-wire, off-road controls, and will introduce new-to-Tesla buyers to all the features that are currently available.

Once FSD V12.5 comes to the Cybertruck, we’re sure they’ll be demoing its capabilities FSD capabilities as well.

Locations

The list of locations so far for demo drives appears to be fairly limited, but we will hopefully see demo drives roll out throughout the United States, and eventually Canada too. Here is the current list of city/state locations that have seen demo drive invites.

Manhasset, New York
West Covina, California
Los Angeles, California
Houston, Texas
Orlando, Florida
Westmont, Illinois
Tucson, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Delaware

Musk Confirms 'Actually Smart Summon' is Coming in a Revision of FSD V12.5

July 26, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Actually Smart Summon, the successor to Tesla’s Smart Summon feature, has been confirmed to be coming as soon as next month as per Elon Musk. Colloquially known as “ASS”, Actually Smart Summon is supposed to improve on the regular Smart Summon capabilities, which have historically used ultrasonic sensors (USS) to navigate parking lots.

We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon, and we’re quite excited about what other features will be unlocked once it finally shows up at our doorstep.

Vision-based Improvements

ASS is supposed to bring Smart Summon to vehicles that don’t have USS – using Tesla Vision. Most recently, Tesla has brought Autopark to vehicles without USS, and Vision-based Autopark has been a huge success. It is faster, more reliable, and smoother than the older USS-based solution. It can also park and maneuver in tighter locations.

Just recently, Tesla returned the Model X’s self-presenting doors, using Tesla Vision. Vision has seen some fantastic improvements, and many people are waiting for ASS to bring forth these improvements to Smart Summon.

Smart Summon Today

Today, Smart Summon is sometimes useful at best, usually a party trick, or downright dangerous at worst. It’s excellent and best used in straight lines, where you have a clear line of sight of the vehicle, and can stop it if doesn’t see an obstacle.

I used Smart Summon today, just before writing this article – my 2022 Model Y (with USS) – did manage to show up just fine – in a straight-line location from where I was parked, after exiting the parking spot fairly cleanly. However, I’ve previously used Smart Summon and have had the vehicle turn towards obstacles, such as cart returns or curbs. Overall, it’s a sometimes-useful feature that has a lot of drawbacks right now.

Smart Summon is also restricted to a certain distance – and it's pretty small. The max distance is shorter than most parking lots, being only about 215 ft (65m). If you’re lucky enough to park close, it's very useful to bring your car right to you.

Actually Smart Summon

ASS will bring FSD V12-like capabilities to Smart Summon – the vehicle will primarily use Vision to drive toward you (or the location you’ve indicated). ASS has been supposed to be coming since about September 2022 and has seen many delays – we’re almost at the 2-year point today.

We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon being able to bring the vehicle – safely – right to you. ASS is also one of the key steps towards bringing some other cool features that Elon Musk has previously mentioned – Park Seek and Banish Autopark.

We’re also hopeful that Actually Smart Summon will increase the maximum range a vehicle can be summoned, because the current range is fairly small. Alongside Park Seek and Banish Autopark, we’re closing in on a Robotaxi-based future.

Park Seek and Banish Autopark

When the FSD v12.4 showed up, Elon also mentioned that going forward, vehicles would automatically park themselves when arriving in a parking lot – Park Seek – and that if you got out of the car at the entrance to a business, you could get it to automatically park itself in the parking lot – Banish Autopark. These are two features that are needed for Robotaxi to work – which itself is delayed to October 10^th of this year. We’re looking quite forward to them – as in combination with Actually Smart Summon, Tesla has reached the cusp of vehicle autonomy.

A vehicle that arrives, driverless, at the location you’re at, then drives somewhere, parks itself there, and waits for you – is the definition of a Robotaxi.

While we’re likely to have to wait for Banish Autopark and Park Seek just a bit longer, Actually Smart Summon being around the corner is exciting! Gone will be the days of having to run out to your car when you forgot your umbrella – your car will just come right to you instead.