

News
Tesla 85D sets record: 550.3 mi on a single charge
Casey Spencer has just done the unthinkable by driving 550.3 miles (885.62 km) on a single charge in a Tesla 85D
With calculated precision and a lot of determination, Casey Spencer crosses a major milestone to become the first ever Tesla to cross the 500 mile barrier on a single charge.
Casey originally set up a live stream of his record breaking attempt, but having gone through several laptop batteries during his first 14 hours of driving, the stream ended leaving many Tesla fans in the dark on his progress.
We now know that after 26+ hours of continuous driving, at a snail’s pace of 22 mph, Casey completed his epic trip by registering 550.3 mi (885.62 km) with 0 mi left on the display. This shatters the previous record for the longest distance travelled in a Model S set by Bjørn Nyland, besting it by nearly 100 mi.
So, how was Casey able to do it?
What it takes to drive 500+ miles in a Tesla
According to Casey’s initial live stream video, he took a very methodical approach by taking into account time of day, temperature, elevation and even wind speed. Nothing, apparently, was overlooked.
For one, Casey ensured that every single energy-robbing feature of the car was disabled which includes the climate control. He embarked on his voyage in the early AM hours when temperature was at its lowest point thereby eliminating the need to have any air conditioning on. Driving at night also guaranteed that a minimal amount of cars would be on the road. Two external battery-powered fans were used to keep in-cabin temperatures bearable as daylight swung around the horizon.
Casey broke the journey down into three legs with each leg having a different characteristic. The first leg would be mainly downhill, and at night – low temperatures, no wind and coasting most of the way.
Editor’s note: A tipster emailed us and corrected details for the first leg of the trip. Casey accounts in his video that “There is an initial down hill segment. The first [leg] will be somewhat downhill”.
The second leg would be mainly flat elevation but would take him into the daylight hours with an increase in windspeed. The third and final leg of the record run would see mainly tail winds bringing him over the finish line at an astonishing 550.3 mi (885.62 km) of distance travelled on a single charge.
Stats
- 76.8 kWh used which represents 90% of the 85kWh pack
- 140 Wh/mi average for the record-breaking trip compared to Casey’s lifetime average at 324 Wh/mi translates to a 231% increase in energy usage for every mile driven
- Tires overinflated to 50 psi
- Casey drove for 26 hours straight
- Casey was powered by 1 box of granola bars
News
Tesla FSD (Supervised) V14.1 with Robotaxi-style dropoffs is here
This represents FSD’s most significant update in nearly a year.

Tesla has started the rollout of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) V14.1, the advanced driver-assist system’s most significant update in nearly a year. The release introduces vision-based navigation for real-time detour handling and a new “Arrival Options” feature that simulates Robotaxi-style drop-offs.
New Tesla Vision-based features
With Version 14.1, Tesla has integrated navigation and routing directly into its vision-based neural network, enabling the system to respond to scenarios such as blocked roads or closures in real time. The update also enhances emergency vehicle detection, allowing the car to pull over or yield when police, fire, or ambulances are nearby.
Other improvements include refined responses to debris, school buses, and lane cut-ins, as well as smoother handling of unprotected turns and gated entries. The update also adds a Robotaxi-style automatic camera-cleaning system. Tesla also promises improved fault recovery for greater reliability during degraded system operation.
New Speed Profiles and other features
Drivers can now personalize FSD’s behavior more precisely through new Speed Profiles. A new “Sloth” mode has joined the lineup, offering a more conservative lane and speed selection than “Chill.” Preferences for parking and arrival positions are saved per destination, while the system’s reasoning model automatically recommends several options for each route.
Users can start FSD from a single tap, adjust settings from the central visualization, and expect fewer driver “nags,” according to Elon Musk. The CEO noted that Version 14 features a 10x higher parameter count and said it “feels sentient” compared to earlier builds. While it’s still a supervised system, unlike the Austin Robotaxi pilot, FSD 14.1 seems to be a key milestone toward the refinement of Tesla’s autonomous driving efforts.
FSD (Supervised) V14.1 release notes
Following are the release notes for FSD (Supervised) V14.1:
FSD(Supervised) v14.1 includes:
• Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, in a Parking Garage, or at the Curbside.
• Added handling to pull over or yield for emergency vehicles (e.g. police cars, fire trucks, ambulances).
• Added navigation and routing into the vision-based neural network for real-time handling of blocked roads and detours.
• Added additional Speed Profile to further customize driving style preference.
• Improved handling for static and dynamic gates.
• Improved offsetting for road debris (e.g. tires, tree branches, boxes).
• Improve handling of several scenarios including: unprotected turns, lane changes, vehicle cut-ins, and school buses.
Improved FSD’s ability to manage system faults and recover smoothly from degraded operation for enhanced reliability.
• Added automatic narrow field washing to provide rapid and efficient front camera self-cleaning, and optimize aerodynamics wash at higher vehicle speed.
• Added alerting for residue build-up on interior windshield that may impact front camera visibility. If affected, visit Service for cleaning!
Upcoming Improvements:
• Overall smoothness and sentience
• Parking spot selection and parking quality
• You can now select an arrival option such as Parking Lot, Street, Driveway, Parking Garage and Curbside for Robotaxi-style drop offs.
• Your preferences for arrival options and preferred parking positions are persisted for each destination.
• Our reasoning model will assess the suitable options for your destination and pick an intuitive default.
Speed Profiles:
FSD (Supervised) will now determine the appropriate speed based on a mix of driver profile, speed limit, and surrounding traffic:
• Introduced new Speed Profile SLOTH, which comes with lower speeds & more conservative lane selection than CHILL.
• Driver profile now has a stronger impact on behavior. The more assertive the profile, the higher the max speed.
• Right scroll-wheel up/down now adjusts Speed Profile setting rather than your precise max speed offset selection in mph/kph.
UI Improvements:
• Start Self-Driving with a tap of the touchscreen from Park, or any time during your drive.
• Adjust settings like the Speed Profile and Arrival Options directly from the Autopilot visualization on the center display.
News
Tesla plant manager tips off affordable model production

A plant manager at a Tesla factory just tipped off the fact that the company will begin production of an affordable model in the coming weeks, all but confirming that a new car will be unveiled tomorrow.
Tesla has been teasing some kind of product unveiling for October 7 on its social media accounts. It has now dropped two separate indications that a new product is coming on its X account.
Fans have been anticipating two things: either the company’s planned affordable model, which has been codenamed “E41,” or the Roadster, a long-awaited vehicle that Tesla has kept under wraps for much longer than it would likely care to admit.
Tesla all but confirms that affordable Model Y is coming Tuesday
André Thierig, Tesla’s plant manager at the German production plant Gigafactory Berlin, tipped off what is likely coming tomorrow at the product unveiling as he revealed during an internal event today that a light version of the Model Y will begin series production and deliveries “in a few weeks.”
Thierig’s revealing of plans was reported by Handelsblatt, a German media outlet.
The description of a “light version of the Model Y” aligns with what CEO Elon Musk said earlier this year, as well as what we have seen on public roads, both covered and uncovered.
Last week, we finally saw an uncovered version of what the affordable model likely is, as it was cruising around near Gigafactory Texas, just outside of Austin.
Tesla coding shows affordable model details, including potential price
Musk said earlier this year, candidly during an Earnings Call, that the affordable model Tesla planned to release was a Model Y.
“It’s just a Model Y. Let the cat out of the bag there,” Musk said.
The images of what we assumed to be the affordable model lined up with Musk’s candid statement:
🚨 It looks like the new affordable Tesla Model Y was spotted near Giga Texas
Model Y body with the Model 3 fascia, no glass roof, and looks as if there is a front bumper camera!
Should be coming soon! https://t.co/UAXQMHjM23 pic.twitter.com/9lC5te9GnW
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 3, 2025
Tesla is expected to unveil its affordable model tomorrow during the planned event, which has been teased twice. Pricing and other details are still pending, but the company is expected to reveal this information tomorrow.
News
Three things Tesla needs to improve with Full Self-Driving v14 release
These are the three things I’d like to see Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 improve.

As Tesla plans to release Full Self-Driving version 14 this week after CEO Elon Musk detailed a short delay in its rollout, there are several things that continue to plague what are extremely well-done drives by the suite.
Tesla Full Self-Driving has truly revolutionized the way I travel, and I use it for the majority of my driving. However, it does a few things really poorly, and these issues are consistent across many drives, not just one.
Tesla Full Self-Driving impressions after three weeks of ownership
Musk has called FSD v14 “sentient” and hinted that it would demonstrate drastic improvements from v13. The current version is very good, and it commonly performs some of the more difficult driving tasks well. I have found that it does simple, yet crucial things, somewhat poorly.
These are the three things I’d like to see Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 improve.
Navigation, Routing, and Logical Departure
My biggest complaint is how poorly the navigation system chooses its route of departure. I’ve noticed this specifically from where I Supercharge. The car routinely takes the most illogical route to leave the Supercharger, a path that would require an illegal U-turn to get on the correct route.
I managed to capture this yesterday when leaving the Supercharger to go on a lengthy ride using Full Self-Driving:
You’ll see I overrode the attempt to turn right out of the lot by pushing the turn signal to turn left instead. If you go right, you’ll go around the entire convenience store and end up approaching a traffic light with a “No U-Turn” sign. The car has tried to initiate a U-turn at this light before.
If you’re attempting to get on the highway, you simply have to leave the convenience store on a different route (the one I made the vehicle go in).
It then attempted to enter the right lane when the car needed to remain in the left lane to turn left and access the highway. I manually took over and then reactivated Full Self-Driving when it was in the correct lane.
To achieve Unsupervised Full Self-Driving, such as navigating out of a parking lot and taking the logical route, while also avoiding illegal maneuvers, is incredibly crucial.
Too Much Time in the Left Lane on the Highway
It is illegal to cruise in the left lane on highways in all 50 U.S. states, although certain states enforce it more than others. Colorado, for example, has a law that makes it illegal to drive in the left lane on highways with a speed limit of 65 MPH or greater unless you are passing.
In Florida, it is generally prohibited to use the left lane unless you are passing a slower vehicle.
In Pennsylvania, where I live, cruising in the left lane is illegal on limited-access highways with two or more lanes. Left lanes are designed for passing, while right lanes are intended for cruising.
Full Self-Driving, especially on the “Hurry” drive mode, which drives most realistically, cruises in the left lane, making it in violation of these cruising laws. There are many instances when it has a drastic amount of space between cars in the right lane, and it simply chooses to stay in the left lane:
The clip above is nearly 12 minutes in length without being sped up. In real-time, it had plenty of opportunities to get over and cruise in the left lane. It did not do this until the end of the video.
Tesla should implement a “Preferred Highway Cruising Lane” option for two and three-lane highways, allowing drivers to choose the lane that FSD cruises in.
It also tends to pass vehicles in the slow lane at a speed that is only a mile an hour or two higher than that other car.
This holds up traffic in the left lane; if it is going to overtake a vehicle in the right lane, it needs to do it faster and with more assertiveness. It should not take more than 5-10 seconds to pass a car. Anything longer is disrupting the flow of highway traffic.
Parking
Full Self-Driving does a great job of getting you to your destination, but parking automatically once you’re there has been a pain point.
As I was arriving at my destination, it pulled in directly on top of the line separating two parking spots. It does this frequently when I arrive at my house as well.
Here’s what it looked like yesterday:
Parking is one of the easier tasks Full Self-Driving performs, and Autopark does extremely well when the driver manually chooses the spot. I use Autopark on an almost daily basis.
However, if I do not assist the vehicle in choosing a spot, its performance pulling into spaces is pretty lackluster.
With a lot of hype surrounding v14, Tesla has built up considerable anticipation among owners who want to see FSD perform the easy tasks well. As of now, I believe it does the harder things better than the easy things.
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