You can name your Tesla by navigating to the vehicle's Software menu
Not a Tesla App
In the realm of electric vehicles, Tesla has always stood apart, not just for its cutting-edge technology and exquisite design but also the personalization it offers owners. One of the most endearing ways Tesla has allowed owners to embrace their vehicles is by allowing them to name them.
Your Tesla can bear a name that resonates with your personality and style. This guide will walk you through the process of naming your Tesla, reveal some hidden Easter Eggs, and offer a cornucopia of popular and creative names to inspire you.
How to Change the Name of Your Tesla
Whether you're cruising in a Model Y, Model 3, X, or S, the process of naming your Tesla remains the same. To assign a name to your Tesla, you can either be in your vehicle or use the Tesla app on your phone.
Change the Name in the Car
Tap the Car icon on the bottom left and proceed to the 'Software' section.
This space holds all vital information about your Tesla, from the hardware it's equipped with to any subscriptions you may have, such as Premium Connectivity or Full Self-Driving, and the current software version your vehicle runs on.
Locate the image of your car; you'll find your exact model name on the left and a spot for your car's name on the right, highlighted in blue. If your car is yet unnamed, you'll see the default text, 'Name your vehicle.' Tap on this, and a screen to rename your car will appear. Voila! Your Tesla is ready for its new identity.
Change the Name in the App
If you prefer to update your vehicle's name using the Tesla app, you can simply tap your vehicle's name at the top of the app. A prompt will pop up, asking you to rename your Tesla.
Unlock Easter Eggs By Setting Your Car's Name
Now, here's an interesting twist. Tesla has hidden a few Easter eggs related to the car's name. As a tribute to Monty Python, name your car “Patsy", "Rabbit of Caerbannog", "Mr. Creosote", "Biggus Dickus," or "Unladen Swallow" and watch the magic unfold. Fans of Douglas Adams' science fiction comedy, 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,' aren't left out either. Tesla has something special waiting for you too!
Popular and Creative Tesla Names
Around the globe, Tesla owners have been bestowing upon their vehicles names that are as unique as they are. Drawing from pop culture, puns, personal tastes, and even color themes, here are some popular choices, along with a few creative ideas:
Tributes to Greats: Elon or Musk, no explanation needed, Nikola the inventor, not the truck, Edison, Jarvis (Iron Man's AI assistant), Eevee (the Pokémon), Vader (Star Wars fans, unite!).
Electricity Inspired Names
Sparky, Wattson, Bolt, Ohm Sweet Ohm, Volta.
Color Inspired Names
Snowy for white Teslas, Raven for black ones, Cherry for red, Sapphire for blue, and Quicksilver for silver.
My Precious, Dream Rider, Freedom Machine, Serenity, Joyride.
The possibilities are truly endless. Let your imagination soar, and bestow upon your Tesla a name that mirrors your personality and style. Whether you're a movie buff, a science enthusiast, a lover of humor, or someone who appreciates the finer things in life, there's an ideal name for your Tesla. Let it reflect what you love, and let it speak volumes about who you are as you cruise down the streets in your one-of-a-kind, personally-named Tesla.
Tesla recently showed off a demo of Optimus, its humanoid robot, walking around in moderately challenging terrain—not on a flat surface but on dirt and slopes. These things can be difficult for a humanoid robot, especially during the training cycle.
Most interestingly, Milan Kovac, VP of Engineering for Optimus, clarified what it takes to get Optimus to this stage. Let’s break down what he said.
Optimus is Blind
Optimus is getting seriously good at walking now - it can keep its balance over uneven ground - even while walking blind. Tesla is currently using just the sensors, all powered by a neural net running on the embedded computer.
Essentially, Tesla is building Optimus from the ground up, relying on as much additional data as possible while it trains vision. This is similar to how they train FSD on vehicles, using LiDAR rigs to validate the vision system’s accuracy. While Optimus doesn’t have LiDAR, it relies on all those other sensors on board, many of which will likely become simplified as vision takes over as the primary sensor.
Today, Optimus is walking blind, but it’s able to react almost instantly to changes in the terrain underneath it, even if it falls or slips.
What’s Next?
Next up, Tesla AI will be adding vision to Optimus - helping complete the neural net. Remember, Optimus runs on the same overall AI stack as FSD - in fact, Optimus uses an FSD computer and an offshoot of the FSD stack for vision-based tasks.
Milan mentions they’re planning on adding vision to help the robot plan ahead and improve its walking gait. While the zombie shuffle is iconic and a little bit amusing, getting humanoid robots to walk like humans is actually difficult.
There’s plenty more, too - including better responsiveness to velocity and direction commands and learning to fall and stand back up. Falling while protecting yourself to minimize damage is something natural to humans - but not exactly natural to something like a robot. Training it to do so is essential in keeping the robot, the environment around it, and the people it is interacting with safe.
We’re excited to see what’s coming with Optimus next because it is already getting started in some fashion in Tesla’s factories.
In a relatively surprising move, GM announced that it is realigning its autonomy strategy and prioritizing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) over fully autonomous vehicles.
GM is effectively closing Cruise (autonomous) and focusing on its Super Cruise (ADAS) feature. The engineering teams at Cruise will join the GM teams working on Super Cruise, effectively shuttering the fully autonomous vehicle business.
End of Cruise
GM cites that “an increasingly competitive robotaxi market” and “considerable time and resources” are required for scaling the business to a profitable level. Essentially - they’re unable to keep up with competitors at current funding and research levels, putting them further and further behind.
Cruise has been offering driverless rides in several cities, using HD mapping of cities alongside vehicles equipped with a dazzling array of over 40 sensors. That means that each cruise vehicle is essentially a massive investment and does not turn a profit while collecting data to work towards Autonomy.
Cruise has definitely been on the back burner for a while, and a quick glance at their website - since it's still up for now - shows the last time they officially released any sort of major news packet was back in 2019.
Competition is Killer
Their current direct competitor - Waymo, is funded by Google, which maintains a direct interest in ensuring they have a play in the AI and autonomy space.
Interestingly, this news comes just a month after Tesla’s We, Robot event, where they showed off the Cybercab and the Robotaxi network, as well as plans to begin deployment of the network and Unsupervised FSD sometime in 2025. Tesla is already in talks with some cities in California and Texas to launch Robotaxi in 2025.
GM Admits Tesla Has the Right Strategy
As part of the business call following the announcement, GM admitted that Tesla’s end-to-end and Vision-based approach towards autonomy is the right strategy. While they say Cruise started down that path, they’re putting aside their goals towards fully autonomous vehicles for now and focusing on introducing that tech in Super Cruise instead.
NEWS: GM just admitted that @Tesla’s end-to-end approach to autonomy is the right strategy.
“That’s where the industry is pivoting. Cruise had already started making headway down that path. We are moving to a foundation model and end-to-end approach going forward.” pic.twitter.com/ACs5SFKUc3
With GM now focusing on Super Cruise, they’ll put aside autonomy and instead focus solely on ADAS features to relieve driver stress and improve safety. While those are positive goals that will benefit all road users, full autonomy is really the key to removing the massive impact that vehicle accidents have on society today.
In addition, Super Cruise is extremely limited, cannot brake for traffic controls, and doesn’t work in adverse conditions - even rain. It can only function when lane markings are clear, there are no construction zones, and there is a functional web connection.
The final key to the picture is that the vehicle has to be on an HD-mapped and compatible highway - essentially locking Super Cruise to wherever GM has time to spend mapping, rather than being functional anywhere in a general sense, like FSD or Autopilot.
Others Impressed - Licensing FSD
Interestingly, some other manufacturers have also weighed into the demise of Cruise. BMW, in a now-deleted post, said that a demo of Tesla’s FSD is “very impressive.” There’s a distinct chance that BMW and other manufacturers are looking to see what Tesla does next.
BMW chimes in on a now-deleted post. The Internet is forever, BMW!
Not a Tesla App
It seems that FSD has caught their eyes after We, Robot - and that the demonstrations of FSD V13.2 online seem to be the pivot point. At the 2024 Shareholder Meeting earlier in the year, Elon shared the fact that several manufacturers had reached out, looking to understand what was required to license FSD from Tesla.
There is a good chance 2025 will be the year we’ll see announcements of the adoption of FSD by legacy manufacturers - similar to how we saw the surprise announcements of the adoption of the NACS charging standard.