Elon Announces FSD Beta V11.3 Will Be Released Soon

FSD Beta V11 will be Tesla's next major FSD update

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Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Elon Musk says Version 11 of Full Self Driving will be released in two weeks. Tesla’s CEO has promised the long-awaited FSD V11 a few times. Most observers were certain it would be part of the Holiday update, but here we are in the second week of 2023 without Version 11.

However, unprompted, Musk responded to a general tweet about Tesla and the stock price. Musk tweeted: Looks like V11.3 will be ready for wide release in about 2 weeks. Many major improvements.

Improved Highway Autopilot

This is the build that has been touted by the CEO as the big one for several months now. The big change in FSD Beta V11 will be the new highway Autopilot experience. Tesla is leveraging and adapting the neural nets they use for city driving to highway driving. Navigate on Autopilot hasn't seen many advances in the last few years, but that's expected to change with this update.

Highway driving is notably easier than city driving, but when Tesla finally merges the two tech stacks we should see several improvements to Navigate on Autopilot, including smoother lane changes, merges and better transitions when entering or exiting the highway.

FSD Beta V11.3 may also finally include Tesla's 'reverse creep' feature which has been talked about for some time. This will allow the vehicle to reverse and readjust or move out of dangerous situations.

Release Notes

The FSD V11 release notes were partially leaked in November. However, there are likely now even more improvements in V11.3. The notes for V11 stated:

Enabled FSD Beta on highway. This unifies the vision and planning stack on and off-highway and replaces the legacy highway stack, which is over four years old. The legacy highway stack still relies on several single-camera and single-frame networks, and was setup to handle simple lane-specific maneuvers. FSD Beta's multi-camera video networks and next-gen planner, that allows for more complex agent interactions with less reliance on lanes, make way for adding more intelligent behaviors, smoother control and better decision making.

Improved Occupancy Network's recall for close by obstacles and precision in severe weather conditions with a 4x increase in transformer spatial resolution, 20% increase in image featurizer capacity, improved side camera calibration, and 260k more video training clips (real-world and simulation).

It's Unknown Who Gets FSD Beta V11

It’s unclear who's getting FSD Beta V11 in two weeks. Will it include a wider range of employees, or will it go to the OG beta testers as well?

With the latest Tesla updates, it appears Tesla has finally merged FSD Beta software and production builds, meaning that FSD Beta is available to everyone in the U.S. and Canada. However, does that mean all FSD Beta users will get v11 right away? Likely not, as Tesla will probably want to roll it out slowly and release minor revisions before everyone has access to it.

What to Expect

Expectations are key. Whenever Elon Musk communicates a date, that is often the best-case scenario and delays are a real possibility.

We may see the first glimpse of FSD Beta V11 in two to three weeks, but it'll likely be in limited numbers.

We know that Tesla employees were testing V11 in November. At that time, it was believed that the program would soon roll out to a small group of public testers to get more input.

We don't know just how far into testing V11 has been. But for Musk, who has been busy with Tesla, Twitter, and SpaceX, to take the time to again give an update and a timeline for V11, the most advanced FSD yet must be coming soon. Right?

Tesla Improves Wrap Services: Switches to Vinyl, Cuts Prices Drastically, Adds New Colors and Expands Availability

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After canceling the in-house wrap program for the Cybertruck last month, Tesla has reintroduced the program with a lot of changes. Let’s take a look at the original program, then we’ll dive into what’s changed.

Tesla began the wrap program for the Model 3 and Model Y in the fall of 2023. With the arrival of the Cybertruck, Tesla launched Matte Black and Satin White options for the Cybertruck and later added 11 more colors.

Tesla initially offered high-quality PPF (Paint Protection Film) wraps, which protect the paint in addition to changing the color of the vehicle. PPF is thicker than traditional vinyl wraps, but the material costs more and is more time-consuming to apply.

Tesla’s updated program switches away from PPF wraps and now offers traditional vinyl wraps at a cheaper price. This makes Tesla’s wrap service more comparable to third-party installers.

Correction: We initially reported that the new wrap program offered PPF rather than vinyl and that the program was only available for new deliveries.

New Wrap Prices

First things first - the price of the wraps has dropped considerably, mostly due to the change away from PPF. While these prices are still a little more expensive than what you could find at a third-party location, you have the advantage of getting it directly from Tesla.

Tesla initially offered 11 wrap colors, but that selection has now been reduced to eight per vehicle. Interestingly, the color options vary by model—Model 3 and Model Y owners have their own distinct palette. The Cybertruck also boasts its own unique set of colors, though unfortunately, the popular Satin White option is absent from its catalog.

Of course, the ever-popular Matte Black is still available, along with a fairly unique set of other vivid colors.

New Locations

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When the wrap program launched, it was limited to just three locations in California and one location in Texas. That meant that unless you were taking delivery at West Covina, Oceanside, Costa Mesa, or Santa Clara, you’d be unable to get a first-party wrap done by Tesla.

Under the new program, Tesla is offering wraps out of all the original locations and adding Seattle, Washington. What initially seemed like Tesla scaling back its wrap service has turned out to be them making it more affordable and efficient. While the switch to vinyl may disappoint some owners, in reality, a lot of owners probably didn’t know the difference between PPF and vinyl, making Tesla’s service seem disproportionally more expensive.

No Longer New Purchases Only

While the original wrap program was constrained to new vehicle purchases—you can now have Tesla wrap a vehicle that’s already been delivered. Paint damage and scuffs can impact the installation of wraps and require additional time to smooth out the vehicle surface, and most third-party installers charge additional fees to prepare the surface.

Tesla doesn’t appear to be charging any additional surface prep fees at this time and is able to install on any Model 3, Model Y, or Cybertruck that’s been delivered after 2023.

Either way, with cheaper wrap options, Tesla is now directly competing against third-party wrap shops. While it’s still a bit more expensive than you’d find elsewhere, it also comes with a level of care and precision from technicians intimately familiar with your vehicle.

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Tesla Increases Price of Model S; Starts Offering Free Lifetime Supercharging

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For the first time in quite a while, Tesla has increased the price of one of its vehicle offerings. The Model S Long Range and the Model S Plaid have both received a hefty price increase. However, not all is bad - as Tesla also added a new benefit for buyers.

Price Increase

The price increase for the Model S is $5,000 - currently only in the United States. This price increase will likely impact other markets, including Canada, in the coming days.

The Model S Long Range now starts at $79,990, while the Model S Plaid now starts at $94,990. The Model S and Model X now have the same starting price. Interestingly, that’s also the same pricing point for the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast Trimotor non-Foundation Series. 

The vehicle configuration does not appear to have changed, so the new pricing is simply an increase rather than the addition or removal of features. Tesla previously cut the price of the Model S and Model X by 15% in 2023, so this could simply be an adjustment to ensure that the vehicle pricing stays in line with inflation and other factors.

Free Lifetime Supercharging

For those on the fence about ordering a Model S, Tesla has brought back Free Lifetime Supercharging when you order a new Model S on or after December 13, 2024. As always, Free Lifetime Supercharging is restricted to the buyer’s Tesla account and to that specific vehicle. It cannot be transferred to another vehicle or another owner after ownership transfer. It’s worth noting, that it also doesn’t exclude the owner from receiving Supercharger idle fees or congestion fees. There is currently no end date for this promotion.

There are currently no changes to the Model X, neither a price increase nor the addition of Lifetime Superchargering. However, when Tesla makes changes to one of their premium vehicles, it usually affects the other one as well. So be on the lookout for potential changes to the Model X offering in the coming days.

We’ve seen Tesla value Lifetime Supercharging at $5,000, so this falls in line with the price increase we’re seeing. It’s possible that Tesla will begin to bring back Lifetime Supercharging as a perk for buying into their more premium Model S and Model X cars, or this could be another temporary promotion to get buyers who are on the fence to go ahead and make their purchase while this promotion lasts.

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