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Elon Musk says next FSD version to let drivers wear sunglasses

Image Credit: Dirty Tesla/YouTube

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Tesla’s next version of Full Self-Driving (FSD) has been widely discussed in recent weeks, and a new update from CEO Elon Musk over the weekend highlights the fact that it won’t prevent drivers from wearing sunglasses anymore.

The FSD Supervised system uses a driver monitoring feature that makes sure drivers remain attentive and awake, though the system won’t allow the driver to wear sunglasses with the system engaged without nags. In response to one X user complaining about not being able to wear sunglasses while using FSD on Saturday, Musk wrote that the issue would be fixed in v12.5, to which many users in the thread expressed appreciation.

Tesla FSD v12.4.1 with no nag starts rolling out to select customers

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It’s still not clear exactly when Tesla plans to start deploying FSD Supervised v12.5.

Musk originally said that FSD v12.5 would be out in late June, and many are especially waiting for the update as it’s expected to finally bring FSD Supervised to the Cybertruck. Despite missing the late June target for the release, Musk has highlighted a handful of the other improvements in the version, as well as noting on Thursday that the release was in fact ready to hit the Cybertruck upon its deployment.

He also said this month that FSD Supervised v12.5 will finally merge the city and highway software stacks, as was previously done with v11, though it was apparently rolled back at some point with the arrival of v12.

Tesla started rolling out FSD Supervised v12.4.3 to some customers earlier this month, after previous versions had been delayed due to an extremely low level of interventions—and after the company essentially halted the rollout of v12.4.2.

Musk highlighted the issue of low interventions earlier this month.

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He also detailed the problem during Tesla’s Annual Shareholder Meeting last month, explaining that the fewer interventions there are, the more difficult it becomes to test versions and point versions against each other to see which ones are performing best.

“And then, like I was saying earlier, it actually gets, as the system gets better, it gets harder to figure out which AI model is better, because now you know, like, ‘Okay, it’s thousands of miles between interventions.’

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“How do we, as quickly as possible, figure out which AI model is better. And when you make these different AI models, they’re obviously not like super deterministic, so we have a new model that eliminates one problem but creates another problem. So we’re trying to solve this by a combination of simulation, uploading models, having them run in Shadow Mode.

“It’s actually kind of helpful that not everyone has Full Self-Driving, because we can see, we can run it in Shadow Mode and see, ‘What would this new model have done compared to what the user did?’

“So since we’ve got, you know, millions of cars that we can do this with, that gives us a delta between what the AI model predicted would do and the user would do. And if you kind of sum up the errors between them, you can see ‘Oh, there was a bigger error stack from this model versus that model,’ when you uploaded them into, each uploaded them into 100,000 cars.

“But that’s the biggest limiter right now. It’s not training, it’s not data, it’s actually testing the AI models. And then figuring out clever ways to figure out if a new model is better or not. Like there were sort of particular intersections that are difficult.”

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Tesla offers owners $1,000 off to upgrade from EAP to FSD in new car

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Tesla Model Y L gets disappointingly far production date in the United States

Fans of the extended wheelbase six-seater in the United States are in for a long wait.

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Credit: @TeslaNewswire/X

The Tesla Model Y L is making a lot of waves in the electric vehicle community, but fans of the extended wheelbase six-seater in the United States are in for a long wait.

This was, at least, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who provided a disappointingly long timeline for the Model Y L’s production in the United States.

The Model Y L

The Model Y L has received near universal acclaim from electric vehicle enthusiasts and auto reviewers in China alike. Priced at just RMB 339,000 ($47,180) and fitted with a spacious and comfortable cabin, the Model Y L seemed destined to become a segment killer. And since the vehicle is also produced in Tesla’s existing Model Y lines, it seemed like the vehicle would be released worldwide soon. 

It was then no surprise that many Tesla community members were keen on asking if the Model Y L will be released in the United States anytime soon. Others also wondered why CEO Elon Musk was very quiet about the vehicle despite all the buzz it was generating. Eventually, Musk did share an update about the Model Y L, but it was not what many expected.

Elon Musk’s update

Amidst the conversations on X about the Model Y L, longtime FSD tester Whole Mars Catalog noted that Elon Musk would not be saying anything about the vehicle until its international release, likely because he would like to avoid an Osbourne Effect on the standard Model Y. Tesla’s sales today are still highly dependent on the standard Model Y, after all, as it is the company’s best-selling vehicle.

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Musk responded to the FSD tester, stating that the Model Y L will not start production in the United States until the end of 2026. He also noted that the vehicle might not even make it in America at all, considering Tesla’s focus on self-driving. “This variant of the Model Y doesn’t start production in the US until the end of next year. Might not ever, given the advent of self-driving in America,” Musk wrote in his post.

Musk’s post was received with much disappointment from many X users, some of whom joked that the CEO was risking alienating families with three kids with his comments. The Model Y L, after all, is a legitimate family car that can comfortably seat six, and it seemed like a vehicle that Musk would prioritize considering his stance on people having bigger families. Of course, the CEO might still just be preventing an Osbourne Effect with his comments, but it’s difficult to deny that a 2026 U.S. production date for the Model Y L is still disappointing.

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Tesla’s Elon Musk considers insane Cybertruck mod: ‘Maybe we should make this’

The Cybertruck won’t do what the video shows (at least not in our lifetime), but a very entry-level version of it could be developed.

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Credit: Cybertruck | X

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has teased what could potentially be the company’s next big project, and while it is likely many, many years away, it shows the company truly has its sights set on the craziest things the world has seen.

Musk shared a video created by Grok Imagine, the AI tool that is able to take images and turn them into videos, showing a Cybertruck flying above the clouds and buildings of what appears to be a very futuristic city.

There are also massive robots roaming around in the video, so it is obviously an illustration of what life could look like in several generations.

However, Musk, who does not shy away from some really optimistic projects and goals, shared the video on X and said, “Maybe Tesla should make this.”

What is depicted in the video is not what we’d see Tesla create anytime soon. However, the company could potentially engineer something to make the Cybertruck hover, as it plans to do with the Roadster.

Of course, this is likely a huge “if” considering the current state of the car industry. Vehicles are becoming more advanced with every passing day as companies like Tesla, Waymo, and others are working to sort out things like autonomous and driverless travel.

Tesla has been working on somewhat of a similar idea with the Roadster, a vehicle that has been delayed on several occasions because of Musk’s spectacular imagination. Earlier this year, Tesla’s Chief Designer, Franz von Holzhausen, revealed Musk wanted to push the limits of that vehicle even more.

The new Tesla Roadster will be able to fly: Elon Musk

It seems it could be on the way soon, considering Tesla has teased an “epic” demo for the car, which could come before the end of the year.

Tesla has been working to make the Roadster hover, using SpaceX cold gas thrusters. It will also utilize these for what could be an incredibly fast 1.1-second 0-60 MPH acceleration rate that has been teased countless times.

This project that Musk is teasing with the Cybertruck is likely one that we will not see in our lifetimes. However, this is just one example of the outlandish ideas Musk continues to tease for Tesla in the future.

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Tesla Model Y L addresses one huge complaint from many owners

If you have ever used a wireless charger inside a Tesla or almost any vehicle, for that matter, you will notice that your phone will charge slowly, and it will get extremely hot. This is mostly due to the inherent inefficiency of electromagnetic induction, which is the process that wireless chargers use to transfer energy to the phone.

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The new Tesla Model Y L is officially launching in China at a great price and with all of the awesome features of the original model, but with more space. The vehicle is also addressing one huge complaint that many owners have discussed.

The new Model Y L features a more spacious interior, new front seats with adjustable headrests, captains chairs, and mechanical armrests in the second row, and B Pillar air vents for improved circulation.

Tesla Model Y L officially launched: price, features, and more

However, there are some other features that are flying under the radar, including one that addresses a common complaint of many Tesla owners: wireless charging.

If you have ever used a wireless charger inside a Tesla or almost any vehicle, for that matter, you will notice that your phone will charge slowly, and it will get extremely hot. This is mostly due to the inherent inefficiency of electromagnetic induction, which is the process that wireless chargers use to transfer energy to the phone.

The inefficiency is evident in the heat, as that is the lost energy that should be going to the phone, but does not.

To combat this problem, Tesla has rolled out a new feature with the wireless charging mat in the Model Y L.

Tesla has used small slit air vents in the center of the wireless charger, which separates the two pads, to blow cool air on the phones to prevent overheating:

This will keep the temperature of your phone down and could prevent the dreaded “iPhone too hot” message that deems your device unusable until it reaches a more stable temperature.

Additionally, Tesla has upgraded the driver’s side wireless charger to support 50W charging speeds. The passenger charger remains at 30W.

This is a small but valuable improvement to the wireless charging apparatus could be a game changer, as there have been so many complaints about this feature in other Tesla vehicles.

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