Tesla initially released their Safety Score algorithm to provide insurance premiums to drivers that matched their driving habits.
Tesla's Safety Score
Last year when Tesla was preparing to expand the FSD beta to more testers they reused the Safety Score algorithm to determine the safest drivers.
Tesla also provided transparency in how the Safety Score was calculated and they let you view your detailed Safety Score in the Tesla app.
If you’re in the US, you can press the ‘Request FSD Beta’ button and opt-in to Tesla's Safety Score.
The Safety Score can at times be inaccurate, harash or even infuriating. However, it can also be fun and enlightening.
While many drivers are happy to finally get rid of the Safety Score when they finally receive the FSD beta, some are also sad to see it go.
Currently, only owners who are in the US, have the FSD option and request the FSD Beta can see their Safety Score. However, there are many drivers around the world that would like to see how the Safety Score would evaluate their driving.
According to a tweet from Elon Musk, all owners may finally be able to see their Safety Score, regardless of where they live or whether they have Tesla's $12,000 FSD option.
Two users on Twitter recently asked Elon if the Safety Score could be released in Europe and to non-FSD owners.
Elon replied with his typical 'Ok,' response when has usually meant that Tesla is looking into or will look into the possibility of adding the feature.
According to Elon, Tesla is going to release the FSD Beta in Canada in the next two to four weeks. Tesla will likely utilize the Safety Score again in Canada to determine which drivers will receive the FSD Beta first.
Tesla has made a spate of improvements to its vehicle software recently, starting with the big Spring Update, and then the Summer Update more recently. While we see most of the updates mentioned in the release notes, Tesla often also adds smaller quality-of-life improvements along the way.
Browser Controls
When using the Tesla Browser in the vehicle, you can now swipe left and right to go back or forward a page in your browser history. When you start swiping on the screen, Tesla’s Chromium-based browser will now display an arrow that slides out from the left or right. The circular icon is initially white, meaning that the action won’t be executed, but if you continue moving to the left/right, the icon will eventually turn blue. The blue icon means that the action will be executed once you let go of the screen.
This is a simple quality-of-life improvement that makes using the built-in browser easier.
We’re happy to see updates like these come to the browser, whose last major feature was the full-screen button that was added in update 2024.14.
Future Browser Improvements
While we’re on the topic, let’s look at some future Tesla web browser improvements we’d love to see.
Access to the Mic
Full access to the vehicle microphone isn’t allowed through the web browser right now. That means if you want to get into a Discord, Slack, or Teams call, you’ll only be able to listen – not speak. All of these apps fully function in the Tesla browser for sending messages, but are fairly limited for meetings.
Better Bookmarks
Tesla’s current bookmark system is simple and barebones. You can bookmark a page and give it a name. Once you visit a bookmarked page enough, it’ll show up as an icon in the center of the browser when you go to the homepage.
However, it's difficult to keep a larger set of bookmarks since there aren’t any organizational tools provided. A better bookmark system or the ability to sync bookmarks would be a welcomed feature.
Custom Homepage
Tesla’s current homepage in its browser is simply just a Tesla logo in black or white, depending on whether your car is in dark mode or not. A custom homepage that provides widgets with basic local news, stock information or other details would be fantastic. We’d ask for weather too, but the recent Summer update shows weather at the top of your screen.
If you’ve got more ideas for the fairly barebones Tesla web browser, let us know.
Tesla has changed how they advertise and sell Full Self-Driving on their website. Although the text changes are small, this change could have greater implications in the future.
Previously, customers were offered the option to purchase “Full Self-Driving Capability,” with text saying that FSD will “continuously improve”. This specific text is no longer offered, and instead, customers can now only purchase “Full Self Driving (Supervised),” which no longer mentions continuous improvement.
You can view the old text on the Web Archive page (photo below) for the Model Y. This change comes right before the upcoming Robotaxi event, so we’re not quite sure what to make of it. Let’s look at what else has changed on Tesla’s website on FSD before we dive into the wording changes.
This news comes hot on the heels that Tesla recently pulled its blog pages for Elon Musk’s Masterplan Part II, which mentioned that all future Tesla vehicles would be Robotaxi capable. However, this has since turned out to be part of regular website trimming and maintenance. However, this FSD change is more intentional.
The previous FSD option you could buy from Tesla (left), and the new one (right)
Not a Tesla App
Definition Changes
These text changes are pretty broad, but that’s not all. There are a few other items that changed, including the removal of the following text:
The activation and use of these features are dependent on achieving reliability far in excess of human drivers as demonstrated by billions of miles of experience, as well as regulatory approval, which may take longer in some jurisdictions. As these self-driving features evolve, your car will be continuously upgraded through over-the-air software updates.
This has now been changed to say:
The activation and use of these features are dependent on development and regulatory approval, which may take longer in some jurisdictions.
That’s a pretty big difference overall, so let’s dig in.
Can Only Buy FSD (Supervised)
Tesla is now only offering the purchase of “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)”, instead of “Full Self-Driving Capability." This has a bit of an implication for the many people who have paid for FSD in the past, expecting their vehicles to become fully autonomous, without supervision being required. With the specific terms on Tesla’s website today, that promise doesn’t seem to be in place for future sales of Full Self-Driving.
Instead, future customers should expect that they may only receive Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which will always require some form of supervision. Tesla no longer states full autonomy on this page, but on the other hand, the Autopilot/FSD Support Page still contains the text for full autonomy.
This seems to be a legal wording change to prevent Tesla from making promises it may not be able to fulfill. On the other hand, Tesla has recently had a fantastic spate of updates this year, with the huge upgrade from FSD V11 to FSD V12. However, they’ve more recently had more trouble with moving on from FSD V12.3.6, which is what most vehicles are still on today. Tesla initially pushed FSD V12.4 and its subversions to early access testers but quickly halted that push. They moved on to FSD V12.5, and V12.5.3 with Actually Smart Summon will begin going out wide sometime next week, to both Hardware 3 and AI4 vehicles.
What Does This Mean for Customers?
For future customers, this likely means that Tesla is intending on only offering Full Self Driving (Supervised), rather than Full Self Driving. This could mean that Tesla will launch a new package for Full Self Driving (Unsupervised) for commercial entities or that it could only be available for Robotaxi vehicles.
For older customers – those who have purchased “Full Self-Driving Capability”, as the feature was previously called, we’re not quite sure whether Tesla will include you in this new ‘Supervised’ description, or if you’ll be offered Full Self-Driving (Unsupervised) when that ultimately becomes available. As for subscribers, Tesla can change their offerings at any point since you’re only paying for what’s available for that month.
Today, we’re not quite sure what to make of this change, especially since that same change hasn’t been reciprocated elsewhere on Tesla’s website. The changes could be anywhere from a protective legal change, to Tesla offering a new FSD (Unsupervised) package in the future, or fully autonomous FSD being something that Tesla will not commit a date or price to.
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