Tesla appears ready to have FSD Beta make an international release
Not a Tesla App
Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) is reportedly on the verge of a major international expansion, with China being a significant focus, but other countries may also be nearing release. This speculation is fueled by various indicators pointing towards Tesla's preparation for a global release of FSD Beta beyond its current availability in North America.
Last week, we broke the news that Tesla's FSD v12 was released to employees. This could be the version that Tesla aims to release into additional markets.
Key Indicators of International Expansion
Tesla has begun translating FSD Beta release notes into multiple languages. This includes the release notes such an explanation of FSD Beta, FSD Beta Suspension, and Driving Visualization Improvements, however, the technical release notes that change from version to version remain mostly untranslated. These release notes are now available in various languages including German, Danish, Italian and others. This selective translation process suggests a preparation phase for introducing FSD Beta to international markets, although not in its current version.
Developments in China
The prospect of Tesla's FSD Beta entering the Chinese market has been a topic of discussion for some time. Recent observations indicated that Tesla China's website briefly featured references to FSD Beta, although these were later removed, adding to the speculation.
According to reports from Chinese media, including China Fund News, Tesla is actively moving forward with plans to release FSD in the Chinese market.
A joint notice from several Chinese government departments mentioned that vehicles with Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous capabilities might be allowed for road tests in certain areas. This development aligns well with Tesla's potential plans to test FSD Beta in China.
Infrastructure Developments
In 2021, Tesla established a data center in Shanghai to gather data from its domestic operations. Additionally, Tesla has formed an FSD operations team and a data labeling team in Shanghai. Despite these developments, there are hurdles to overcome before FSD Beta's release in China, such as data collection qualifications.
Tesla has not provided a specific timeline for the FSD Beta release in China, but the company has confirmed ongoing preparations. This aligns with recent changes observed in Tesla's online manuals in China.
Tesla's FSD Beta is poised for an international rollout, with China being a primary target. The translation of release notes, updates to owner manuals, and recent government notices all point toward Tesla's preparation for an international release. While challenges remain, the groundwork laid by Tesla, particularly in China, indicates significant progress in bringing FSD Beta to international markets.
Below is part of the German release notes for FSD Beta, which read:
Autonomes Fahren (Beta)"
Sie können die Funktion Autonomes Fahren (Beta) aktivieren. Tippen Sie hierzu auf ‚Fahrzeug‘ > ‚Autopilot‘ > ‚Autonomes Fahren (Beta)‘ und folgen Sie den Anweisungen.
Die Funktion Autonomes Fahren befindet sich in einer frühen, eingeschränkten Beta-Phase und muss daher mit zusätzlicher Vorsicht verwendet werden. Da sie möglicherweise im schlechtesten Moment falsch reagiert, müssen Sie Ihre Hände immer am Steuer lassen und genau auf die Straße achten. Werden Sie nicht nachlässig. Wenn Vollautonomes Fahren aktiviert ist, wird Ihr Fahrzeug Spurwechsel auch abseits der Autobahn durchführen, Ihrer Navigationsroute an Abzweigungen folgen sowie um andere Fahrzeuge und Objekte herum steuern und nach rechts und links abbiegen. Verwenden Sie die Funktion Autonomes Fahren im eingeschränkten Beta-Modus nur, wenn Sie jederzeit auf die Straße achten und sofort eingreifen können, insbesondere an uneinsehbaren Ecken, beim Überqueren von Kreuzungen und in Fahrsituationen mit wenig Platz.
Ihr Fahrzeug nutzt Tesla Vision! Beachten Sie, dass für Tesla Vision auch einige vorübergehende Einschränkungen gelten: Der Folgeabstand ist auf 2-7 und die Höchstgeschwindigkeit des Autopiloten auf 85 mph begrenzt.
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To show off its scalability, Tesla has officially launched its first major expansion of its Robotaxi service area in Austin, Texas. The expansion comes just 22 days after the program’s initial public launch.
That’s a stunningly quick pace that sets a benchmark for how fast we’ll be expecting Tesla to roll out additional expansions as they validate and safety-check in additional area and cities. The new geofence not only adds a significant amount of new territory, but also makes Tesla’s service area in Austin approximately 4 miles larger than Waymo’s.
The expansion, which went live for users in the early access program earlier today, reshapes the map into… what we can call an upside-down T. It helps connect more parts of the city, and increases the service area by more than double.
So far, the initial launch has been operating without any significant issues, which means Tesla is ready and willing to continue expanding the program.
Rapid Scaling
While the larger map is a clear win for early-access users and especially those who live in Austin, the most significant aspect here is just how fast Tesla is going. Achieving a major expansion in just over three weeks since its initial launch is a testament to Tesla’s generalized autonomy approach with vision only.
Unlike methods that require intensive, street-by-street HD mapping that can take months or even years just to expand to a few new streets, Tesla’s strategy is built for this type of speed.
This is Tesla’s key advantage - it can leverage its massive fleet and AI to build a generalized, easily-applicable understanding of the world. Expanding to a new area becomes less about building a brand-new, high-definition map of every street light and obstacle, but instead a targeted safety validation process.
Tesla can deploy a fleet of validation vehicles to intensely focus on one zone, allowing the neural nets to learn the quirks of that area’s intersections and traffic flows. Once a high level of safety and reliability is demonstrated, Tesla can simply just redraw the geofence.
Geofence Size
Tesla went from approximately 19.7 sq mi (51 sq km) to 42.07 sq mi (109 sq km)in just 22 days, following the initial launch and safety validation. Within a few short days of launch, we began seeing the first Tesla engineering validation vehicles, hitting Austin’s downtown core, preparing for the next phase.
The larger footprint means more utility for riders, and that’s big, especially since the new service area is approximately four square miles larger than Waymo’s established operational zone in the city.
Highways and Fleet Size
The new territory enables longer and more practical trips, with the longest trip at tip-to-tip taking about 42 minutes from the southern edge of the old geofence to the northern edge of the new geofence. For now, Tesla has limited its fleet to operating exclusively on surface streets and does not use highways to complete its routes.
We also don’t know if Tesla has increased the vehicle fleet size quite yet - but if they’re intending to maintain or reduce wait times for even the early-access riders, the fleet size will easily need to be doubled to keep up with the new area.
This video clip shows the @robotaxi follows the Interstate (I-35) but does not take the highest.
Perhaps the most telling bit about how fast Tesla is expanding is that they’re already laying the groundwork for the next expansion. Validation vehicles have been spotted operating in Kyle, Texas, approximately 20 miles south of the geofence’s southern border.
Robotaxi Validation vehicles operating in Kyle, Texas.
Financial_Weight_989 on Reddit
This means that while one expansion is being rolled out to the public, Tesla is already having its engineering and validation teams work on the next expansion. That relentless pace means that if this keeps up, Tesla will likely have a good portion of the Austin metropolitan area - the zone they’ve applied for their Autonomy license for - serviceable by the end of 2025.
The pilot? A success. The first expansion? Done. The second expansion? Already in progress. Robotaxi is going to go places, and the next question won't be about whether the network is going to grow. Instead, the new questions are: How fast, and where next?
One of the most welcome features of the recently refreshed 2026 Model S and Model X is the addition of a front bumper camera. Now, thanks to some clever work by the Tesla community, it has been confirmed that this highly requested feature can be retrofitted onto older HW4-equipped (AI4) Model S and Model X vehicles.
The discovery and first installation were performed by Yaro on a Model X, and Tesla hacker Green helped provide some additional insight on the software side.
Unused Port and a Software Switch
The foundation for this retrofit has been in place for a long time, laid by Tesla itself. All HW4-equipped Model S and Model X vehicles, even those built before the recent refresh, have an empty, unused camera connector slot on the FSD computer, seemingly waiting for this exact purpose.
While the physical port is there, getting the car to recognize the camera requires a software change. According to Green, a simple configuration flag change is all that is needed to enable the front camera view on the vehicle’s main display once the hardware is connected and ready.
The Hardware: Parts & Costs
Yaro, who performed the installation on a Model X, provided a detailed breakdown of the parts and approximate costs involved.
Front Camera - $200 USD
Bumper Grill (with camera cutout) - $80 USD
Bumper Harness - $130 USD
Washer Pump - $15 USD
Washer Hoses - $30 USD
The total cost for the Model X hardware comes to around $455 USD, which isn’t too expensive if you were to DIY it. Tesla’s Electronic Parts Catalog has some of these parts available for order, and some can be ordered via your local Service Center. Yaro did note that he had to jerry-rig the camera connector cable, having salvaged the cable from a different camera harness.
The Model S vs Model X
This is where the project varies significantly. For the Model X, the retrofit is relatively simple. Because the main bumper shape is the same, only the lower bumper grill needs to be swapped for the version with the camera opening, along with installing the camera itself and the washer hardware.
For the Model S, the process is a bit more complex and expensive. Due to the different shape of the pre-refresh bumper, the entire front fascia assembly must be replaced to accommodate the camera. This makes the project far more expensive and laborious.
DIY or Official Retrofit?
The official front bumper camera on the Model X
Not a Tesla App
Right now, this is only a DIY retrofit. Tesla hasn’t indicated that they intend to offer this as an official retrofit for older vehicles at this time, but given the fact that it isn’t too complex, we expect that there is a possibility that they may do so in the near future.
All in all, this is about 3-5 hours of labor for the Model X, and approximately 5-7 hours of labor for the Model S, based on the official Tesla Service Manuals, using the front fascia reinstall process as a guide.
That means if Tesla does offer this as a retrofit service, it will likely cost between $800 and $1,200 USD when factoring in Tesla’s labor rates, but the total cost will vary regionally.
For those who own an AI4 Model S or Model X, it could be possible to request service for this installation, but as far as we’re aware, there is no official service notice for this retrofit at this time.
What About the Model 3?
For owners of the refreshed Highland Model 3, the only vehicle now left without a front bumper camera, the possibility of a retrofit is still uncertain. It has been noted by Green that some, but not all Model 3s built in late 2024 have an empty camera port on the FSD computer. This inconsistency means that while a retrofit may be possible for a subset of Model 3s, it isn’t a guaranteed upgrade path like it is for the Model S or Model X.
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