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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 Cybercab tests are going on overdrive with production-ready units

Tesla is ramping its real-world tests of the Cybercab, with multiple sightings of the vehicle being reported across social media this week.

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Credit: @JT59052914/X

Tesla is ramping its real-world tests of the Cybercab, with multiple sightings of the autonomous two-seater being reported across social media this week. Based on videos of the vehicle that have been shared online, it appears that Cybercab tests are underway across multiple states.

Recent Cybercab sightings

Reports of Cybercab tests have ramped this week, with a vehicle that looked like a production-ready prototype being spotted at Apple’s Visitor Center in California. The vehicle in this sighting was interesting as it was equipped with a steering wheel. The vehicle also featured some changes to the design of its brake lights.

The Cybercab was also filmed testing at the Fremont factory’s test track, which also seemed to involve a vehicle that looked production-ready. This also seemed to be the case for a Cybercab that was spotted in Austin, Texas, which happened to be undergoing real-world tests. Overall, these sightings suggest that Cybercab testing is fully underway, and the vehicle is really moving towards production.

Production design all but finalized?

Recently, a near-production-ready Cybercab was showcased at Tesla’s Santana Row showroom in San Jose. The vehicle was equipped with frameless windows, dual windshield wipers, powered butterfly door struts, an extended front splitter, an updated lightbar, new wheel covers, and a license plate bracket. Interior updates include redesigned dash/door panels, refined seats with center cupholders, updated carpet, and what appeared to be improved legroom.

There seems to be a pretty good chance that the Cybercab’s design has been all but finalized, at least considering Elon Musk’s comments at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting. During the event, Musk confirmed that the vehicle will enter production around April 2026, and its production targets will be quite ambitious. 

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Tesla gets a win in Sweden as union withdraws potentially “illegal” blockade

As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal. 

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Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Swedish union Vision has withdrawn its sympathy blockade against Tesla’s planned service center and showroom in Kalmar. As per recent reports, the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla action might have been illegal. 

Vision’s decision to pull the blockade

Vision announced the blockade in early December, stating that it was targeting the administrative handling of Tesla’s facility permits in Kalmar municipality. The sympathy measure was expected to start Monday, but was formally withdrawn via documents sent to the Mediation Institute and Kalmar Municipality last week. 

As noted in a Daggers Arbete report, plans for the strike were ultimately pulled after employer group SKR highlighted potential illegality under the Public Employment Act. Vision stressed its continued backing for the Swedish labor model, though Deputy negotiation manager Oskar Pettersson explained that the Vision union and IF Metall made the decision to cancel the planned strike together.

“We will not continue to challenge the regulations,” Petterson said. “The objection was of a technical nature. We made the assessment together with IF Metall that we were not in a position to challenge the legal assessment of whether we could take this particular action against Tesla. Therefore, we chose to revoke the notice itself.”

The SKR’s warning

Petterson also stated that SKR’s technical objection to the Vision union’s planned anti-Tesla strike framed the protest as an unauthorized act. “It was a legal assessment of the situation. Both for us and for IF Metall, it is important to be clear that we stand for the Swedish model. But we should not continue to challenge the regulations and risk getting judgments that lead nowhere in the application of the regulations,” he said. 

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Vision ultimately canceled its planned blockade against Tesla on December 9. With Vision’s withdrawal, few obstacles remain for Tesla’s long-planned Kalmar site. A foreign electrical firm completed work this fall, and Tesla’s Careers page currently lists a full-time service manager position based there, signaling an imminent opening.

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Tesla Semi program Director teases major improvements

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla Semi Program Director Dan Priestly teased the major improvements to the all-electric Class 8 truck on Thursday night, following the company’s decision to overhaul the design earlier this year.

Priestley said he drove the Semi on Thursday, and the improvements appear to be welcomed by one of the minds behind the project. “Our customers are going to love it,” he concluded.

The small detail does not seem like much, but it is coming from someone who has been involved in the development of the truck from A to Z. Priestley has been involved in the Semi program since November 2015 and has slowly worked his way through the ranks, and currently stands as the Director of the program.

Tesla Semi undergoes major redesign as dedicated factory preps for deliveries

Tesla made some major changes to the Semi design as it announced at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting that it changed the look and design to welcome improvements in efficiency.

Initially, Tesla adopted the blade-like light bar for the Semi, similar to the one that is present on the Model Y Premium and the Cybertruck.

Additionally, there are some slight aesthetic changes to help with efficiency, including a redesigned bumper with improved aero channels, a smaller wraparound windshield, and a smoother roofline for better aero performance.

All of these changes came as the company’s Semi Factory, which is located on Gigafactory Nevada’s property, was finishing up construction in preparation for initial production phases, as Tesla is planning to ramp up manufacturing next year. CEO Elon Musk has said the Semi has attracted “ridiculous demand.”

The Semi has already gathered many large companies that have signed up to buy units, including Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., which have been helping Tesla test the vehicle in a pilot program to test range, efficiency, and other important metrics that will be a major selling point.

Tesla will be the Semi’s first user, though, and the truck will help solve some of the company’s logistics needs in the coming years.

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