Elon Musk says the latest FSD Beta, version 10.69.2 will become available today
Chazman/Twitter
Elon Musk has already promised additional improvements to Tesla's Full Self Driving Beta shortly after AI Day on September 30. We are now getting a few details about what 10.69.3 will include.
The FSD Beta group grew by 60 percent in the United States and Canada when Tesla decreased the Safety Score requirement from 90 to 80. There are now about 160,000 Tesla owners in the program. That jump means more enthusiasts are giving FSD feedback on Musk's favorite platform — Twitter.
Chuck Cook, the man behind the infamous Chuck's corner, also known as the unprotected left turn, took the latest FSD for a spin to his most tested spot. His YouTube videos are fantastic, especially the unprotected left turn videos that show several camera angles of his Tesla navigating this tricky spot. He posted a video on Twitter showing 10.69.2.2 successfully piloting through the area causing Cook to clap and cheer, "wow, yes!"
Improvements in Smaller Gaps
Not surprisingly, Musk saw the video. He pointed out Cook at the recent shareholders meeting and said he welcomed the fair and honest criticism of the turn and said it would be addressed. The CEO responded to the video: "Car will move on tighter gaps as we enhance NN (neural networks) velocity predictions for crossing traffic. 10.69.3 next month has some step-change improvements." NN stands for neural networks, and this response shows that despite Cook's approval, Musk is confident the system can and will do better.
Turn Signals Improvements
Twitter user @Johnkrausephotos tweeted: "Loving FSD Beta — but — could the vehicle initiate the turn signal before switching into the turn lane? It uses the signal for speed-based lane changes but not for merging into a turn lane." The tweet caused a lot of reaction as some users were critical of the company programming its cars to change lanes before signaling. Musk must've been on the same page because he responded with a simple "Yes" and no further explanation.
Match Speed to Traffic
Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley took to Twitter to ask: "Elon when will the tesla speed up when noticing traffic is going faster? Sometimes it's going slow." Again, Musk had a quick and short response tweeting back, "Next month." We can only guess that this will be part of the 10.69.3 release as well.
This trio of improvements is expected to be downloaded to Teslas with FSD right after AI Day. So while the world awaits the unveiling of Optimus, the humanoid robot, Tesla owners will be eager to see what 10.69.3 will bring to the vehicle.
Tesla is a regular in the news cycle; if it's not about the vehicle, it's about the CEO. It's no secret Tesla stock is down, and investors who are long on the stock have lost a considerable amount over the past month. One of those investors is Gary Black, the Future Fund managing partner, who said in August that Tesla is the fund's largest position. Black is calling on Tesla to hire a public relations department to inform the media and the public of the positives around the brand.
Oddly enough, at the shareholders' event in August, Black said, "the thing we worry about most is not PR; it's succession." Now it seems that is what Black is worried about. He recently tweeted: People can't complain about the media if TSLA refuses to correct articles that are wrong, or worse, won't maintain relationships with TSLA beat reporters and editors so they can get TSLA's POV out when needed. Strong PR will be needed to sell FSD safety. Think long-term.
Black's stance may be understandable to some, especially those who have watched their trading account shrink, but it's implausible because Tesla doesn't need a PR department.
Musk and the Mainstream Media Don't Mix
Musk is currently using his new company to hold mainstream media accountable. In case you missed it, he's releasing the Twitter Files, a detailed report backed up with real emails to show suppression of true stories.
The Tesla CEO also regularly calls out media outlets for false stories, misleading headlines and biased reporting. Musk will not hire a team to try to steer newsrooms, something he has so little respect for, and it's unlikely legacy media outlets will listen.
Media Biased Against Tesla
Bad news generates more views and clicks and keeps the advertisers paying. Even when the news isn't bad, take, for example, a recent Reliability Report by Consumer Reports. Most, if not all, mainstream media declared Tesla as the terrible one, even though Tesla moved up four spots from the previous year. It was hard to find a mention of the manufacturers that scored less. Those included Chevrolet, GMC, Volkswagen, Jeep, and Mercedes Benz. Yes, the expensive luxury brand was dead last in reliability. That is a story.
Reporters also picked up that electric vehicles scored low for reliability. Consumer Reports said it was because EVs are new on the market. However, scoring even lower were full-sized pickups. Those have been on the market for quite a bit longer.
Tesla, which also has not spent a dime on advertising, disbanded its public relations department in 2020. That's unheard of by a company its size, especially in the automotive sector. However, Tesla and Elon have something much better — you are reading it right now. Not a Tesla App is one of several blog sites that publish news about Tesla daily. Many of these websites have writers who own Teslas. The stories are much more accurate, positive and just plain better than anything readers will find in the mainstream. Who says bias must be negative?
Word of Mouth Advertising
Now add hundreds, maybe even thousands of loyal enthusiasts who defend and promote Tesla on social media platforms. Next, throw into the mix the hundreds of thousands of Tesla owners who quite often are spokespeople for the company whenever they get out of the car. I've been sure to add 10 minutes of travel time to my drives because I'm likely to get asked some questions at the grocery store or car wash.
This kind of advertising money cannot buy, and it's the kind of positive publicity media will not share. So while Black's concerns are legitimate, a PR department is not the solution. Instead, Tesla needs to keep doing what it's been doing and let the product, its fans and the Tesla-inspired websites do the rest.
Tesla is getting ready to introduce WiFi garage door support to their vehicles through MyQ.
Since our article yesterday additional details have emerged about how MyQ will operate, which vehicles will be supported and whether there will be a cost to use the service. This information is based on a page that appeared briefly on MyQ's website but has since been removed.
Vehicles Supported
MyQ's website stated that support for their garage door openers would be coming to the Model 3 and Model Y. While this makes a lot of sense because those vehicles don't include a HomeLink module, we'd be surprised if Tesla didn't also add support for the Model S and Model X.
Cost
Let's get cost out of the way. Although MyQ does not charge a fee today to remotely open and close their garage doors, they do plan on charging a fee to use their devices in vehicles. This could be looked at similarly to how some services are free to use on a PC but require a subscription to use on your mobile phone.
The price posted on MyQ's website was a five-year plan for $179, which is still cheaper than Tesla's $350 installation cost for HomeLink.
Unfortunately, this removes a big benefit we thought MyQ would have over buying a HomeLink module for the Model 3 or Model Y. For Model S and Model X owners who already have HomeLink included in their vehicles, it may not make as much sense.
However, MyQ does provide some advantages over HomeLink.
Integration
The good news is that MyQ integration will be very similar to HomeLink, and better in some ways. What appears to be a rendering of the feature working in a Tesla was also posted to their website which shows off a screen very similar to HomeLink.
On the MyQ settings screen, you'll have a list of supported devices on the left side, such as garage doors, gates and possibly lights, but we haven't see any evidence of the latter yet.
On the right side, you'll see options pertaining to the device selected, such as its current state, whether the garage door should auto-open or close and the distance when the device should be triggered.
You'll also be able to have the vehicle fold in its mirrors when reaching the target location.
If you've used HomeLink, this should all look very familiar since it's almost exactly the same. However, there are a couple of differences that give the advantage to MyQ.
The first is that MyQ is a smarter system and it knows the state of your garage door. So if you're arriving home and the garage door is already open, it won't try to close it on you.
The other advantage is distance. Since MyQ works over the internet you'll be able to trigger the garage door or gate from further down the driveway, giving the door plenty of time to fully open before you arrive.
MyQ supports an array of devices, but it waits to be seen whether there will be support for these additional devices such as lights and door locks.
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