Tesla's sending push notifications for 12V battery replacements
Twitter/BLKMDL3
Tesla is seemingly now issuing push notifications when the vehicle’s 12V battery needs to be replaced.
Twitter user BLKMDL3 shared a screenshot of a notification he received from Tesla that informed him his 12V battery must be replaced soon. It also encourages him to schedule a service appointment to replace the battery.
“Really smart, hope they add push notifications when you have low tire pressure or other important alerts,” BLKMDL3 says in the tweet.
Since Tesla has access to virtually every piece of information on the vehicle, it certainly seems like a welcomed feature to notify owners if anything needs to be repaired or replaced, like windshield wipers, wiper fluid, or a headlamp.
The 12V battery in Teslas powers smaller motors and functions around the vehicle, including lights, power window motors, wiper motors, power lift gate, washer fluid pumps, ABS electronics, the main display and more.
Last year, Tesla switched away from using a 12V lead-acid battery to a lithium-ion battery. Lead-acid batteries perform well in gasoline-powered vehicles because they produce the high output needed to start the engine. However, that high output is not needed in an electric vehicle.
Lithium-ion batteries last longer, weigh less and are much better optimized for electric vehicles, as they will last the lifetime of the vehicle and never need to be changed.
Whether you have a lead-acid or lithium-ion low-voltage battery, they're both charged through the vehicle's main battery pack instead of an alternator like a traditional vehicle.
With Tesla at the forefront of battery technology, specifically for vehicles, a study conducted by Dr. Jeff Dahn and his team at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, says that the Austin-based automotive company may be able to produce batteries that last 100 years. Dahn and his team has been working exclusively with Tesla since 2015 to develop new Li-ion batteries.
Earlier this year, Tesla started delivering Model Ys from their Austin, Texas Gigafactory with their new 4680 battery pack. These battery packs have already seen impressive charging rates and are showing very promising potential.
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest Tesla news, upcoming features and software updates.
Tesla’s refreshed Model Y is currently being manufactured as Tesla prepares for its first deliveries next month. While we’ve already seen quite a few cool new features, there’s more that has yet to be revealed. A recent video interview with Tesla’s engineering team hosted by Tesla Owners Silicon Valley reveals that the vehicle includes a new 4D cabin radar.
4D Radar
While Tesla has included an in-cabin radar since 2022, this appears to be a new, more capable radar. The current cabin radar is used to verify seat occupancy, but Tesla plans to add more functionality to this new system.
This updated radar will be used to provide a lot more detail than the current radar or cabin camera can provide today. The radar is located in the same location as the current version, directly above the rearview mirror.
Classify Passenger Size
This new radar has several new safety-focused features, and they’re all quite exceptional. First off, the radar will detect and classify passenger size to determine which airbags to deploy dynamically. That means that if a shorter individual is sitting up front, the dashboard airbag may not activate - but the curtain airbag will.
That will reduce injuries in impacts from airbag activation while also reducing repair costs by not activating unnecessary airbags. By having a better idea of the passenger’s size, height, and weight, the vehicle can also better determine when to activate the airbag.
Children Left in Car
But that’s not all - because of that classification system, the radar can differentiate an adult passenger from a baby or child sitting in the second row - and automatically make the necessary dynamic safety adjustments.
The cabin radar will also detect heart rate and breathing, and Tesla will automatically send a reminder through the Tesla app if it detects a child is left unattended in the vehicle. If this occurs, the vehicle will perform a variety of functions, the first being to turn on the HVAC system and send you a reminder. And if that’s not enough - in the case of an emergency, your vehicle will automatically call emergency services for you and report its location.
It’s important to note that while vehicles outside North America have eCall capabilities, in North America, they cannot call 911 unless a phone is connected to the vehicle via Bluetooth. We hope that Tesla can contact 911 via an alternative method or add eCall capabilities to these vehicles.
While the refreshed Model Y will be shipping in March, this new radar and its associated features won’t be available immediately. Tesla intends to activate these new safety features in Q3 2025 - so sometime in late summer or early fall. We’ll dive into this new feature once it’s available later this year.
A member of Tesla’s AI development team, Kalena Brown, took to X to mention that an update is on its way for AI 4 vehicles on older FSD V13.2 builds.
It seems that Tesla has caught an issue that has been preventing vehicles from safely updating from FSD V13.2.2 to newer builds such as FSD V13.2.4 or V13.2.6.
The Bug
Tesla usually catches these issues early in testing, but sometimes, they make their way out into the wild, necessitating a stop to a rollout. In this case, the rollout was likely halted to prevent this issue from spreading to other vehicles.
There have been a lot of comments on social media that users haven’t seen an update since late December or early January. While that’s not completely abnormal, this update, version 2024.45.25.5 includes an issue that prevents it from being updated.
Please be patient! Found an issue specific to that update path, but fix is coming soon
Many folks on older builds also waiting and we're working hard to get everyone covered 🙂
Brown says that Tesla is aware of the issue and is working hard to get a build with the fix released soon. It may be a couple of weeks before it’s ready, but you can expect Tesla to roll this one out slowly to make sure the issue is addressed.
The issue appears to be specific to FSD V13.2.2, so anyone on another update should not be affected. Keep an eye out on our feeds - and we’ll let you know once the update is released.