Connect with us

News

Elon Musk says Autopilot can have ‘significant improvements’ via software update

Published

on

Tesla Autopilot Version 7.0 Dashboard Display [Source: Tesla Motors]
Tesla owners are given the ability to 'unlock' Autopilot as an optional upgrade after purchase

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that current Autopilot can see ‘significant improvements’ via an over-the-air software update. The announcement was made on Sunday after Musk took to Twitter to reveal that he had earlier talks with Bosch, maker of the radar equipment used on the Model S and Model X. Aside from feeling hopeful that the existing Autopilot system can be improved without hardware upgrades, Musk also thanked driver-assistance technology company MobilEye “for their help and support in making Autopilot better.”

When questioned about whether radar would be capable of detecting people – previous tests pitting a moving Tesla vs. a live human suggested that current versions of Autopilot were not great at detecting humans – Musk defended the company’s use of radar stating that radar can in fact detect humans at moderate range, however Tesla’s Autopilot suite also uses ultrasonic sensors which are “very good at human detection”.

Advertisement

Musk did not provide any details on when the next update of Autopilot would arrive, but did say that Tesla Version 8.0 would be the company’s largest software release since the first rollout of Autopilot 1.0.

Musk also took the opportunity to defend his position on Autopilot after Consumer Reports criticized Tesla for releasing the auto-steering feature within the Autopilot suite. CR along with mass media have continued to put pressure on the Silicon Valley automaker and energy company to reconsider the use of beta software after Joshua Brown was killed when his Model S driving on Autopilot collided with a tractor trailer.

Musk posted a link to the a great write up by a Tesla owner on TMC who shared his thoughts on Autopilot. He also tweeted praise on an article in The Guardian entitled “The First Self-Driving Car Fatality Proves Nothing.”, by John Naughton. The author quite correctly points out, “In the US, about 33,000 people are killed in automobile accidents every year. That’s 90 a day on average. So on 7 May, about 89 other people as well as Joshua Brown were killed in car crashes. But we heard nothing about those 89 personal and family tragedies: the only death that most people in the US heard about was Mr Brown’s.”

Media and even the US Senate want to get in on the Tesla bashing fun. The New York Times claims “the race by automakers and technology firms to develop self-driving cars has been fueled by the belief that computers can operate a vehicle more safely than human drivers. But that view is now in question after the revelation on Thursday that the driver of a Tesla Model S electric sedan was killed in an accident when the car was in self-driving mode.”

Really, asks Naughton? He refers to a recent report by the Rand Corporation that says, “[F]ully autonomous vehicles would have to be driven hundreds of millions of miles and sometimes hundreds of billions of miles to demonstrate their safety in terms of fatalities and injuries. Under even aggressive testing assumptions, existing fleets would take tens and sometimes hundreds of years to drive these miles — an impossible proposition if the aim is to demonstrate performance prior to releasing them for consumer use.

“Our findings demonstrate that developers of this technology and third-party testers cannot simply drive their way to safety. Instead, they will need to develop innovative methods of demonstrating safety and reliability. And yet, it may still not be possible to establish with certainty the safety of autonomous vehicles.

Advertisement

“Therefore, it is imperative that autonomous vehicle regulations are adaptive — designed from the outset to evolve with the technology so that society can better harness the benefits and manage the risks of these rapidly evolving and potentially transformative technologies.”

The hope here is that concerns about Autopilot do not turn into a media driven maelstrom. If Musk’s tweets are any indication, Tesla is laser-focused on bringing about its next generation Autopilot 2.0.

"I write about technology and the coming zero emissions revolution."

Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla Model X shocks everyone by crushing every other used car in America

The Model X is one of Tesla’s flagship models, the other being the Model S. Earlier this year, Tesla confirmed it would discontinue production of both the Model S and Model X to make way for Optimus robot production at the Fremont Factory in Northern California.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Asia | X

The Tesla Model X was the fastest-selling used vehicle in the United States in the first quarter of the year, crushing every other used car in America.

iSeeCars data for the first quarter shows that the Model X was the fastest-selling used car, lasting just 25.6 days on the market on average, two days better than that of the second-place Lexus RX 350h. The Cybertruck, Model Y, and Model S, in seventh, ninth, and thirteenth place, respectively, also made the list.

The Model X is one of Tesla’s flagship models, the other being the Model S. Earlier this year, Tesla confirmed it would discontinue production of both the Model S and Model X to make way for Optimus robot production at the Fremont Factory in Northern California.

Tesla brings closure to flagship ‘sentimental’ models, Musk confirms

Advertisement

Bringing closure to these two vehicles signaled the end of the road for the cars that have effectively built Tesla’s reputation for luxury and high-end passenger vehicles.

Relying on the sales of its mass market Model Y and Model 3, as well as leaning on the success of future products like the Cybercab, is the angle Tesla has chosen to take.

Teslas are also performing extremely well as a whole on the resale market. iSeeCars data shows that, “while the average price of a 1- to 5-year-old non-Tesla EV fell 10.3% in Q1 2026 year-over-year, the average price of a used Tesla was essentially flat at 0.1% lower across the same period. Traditional gas car prices dropped 2.8% during this same period.”

Additionally, market share for gas cars has dropped nearly 3 percent since the same quarter last year. Tesla has remained level, while the non-Tesla EV market share has increased 30 percent, mostly due to more models available.

Advertisement

Nevertheless, those non-Tesla EVs have seen their value drop by over 10 percent, while Tesla’s values have remained level.

Executive Analyst Karl Brauer said:

“Used electric vehicles without a Tesla badge have lost more than 10% of their value in the past year. This compares to stable values for Teslas and hybrids, and a modest 2.8% drop for traditional gasoline vehicles.”

Teslas, as well as non-luxury hybrids, are displaying the strongest resistance in the face of faltering demand, the publication says. But the more impressive performance is that of the Model X alone.

Advertisement

Tesla’s decision to stop production of the Model X may have played some part in the vehicle’s pristine performance in Q1. With the car already placed at a premium price point, used models are already more appealing to consumers. Perhaps second-hand versions were more than enough for those who wanted a Model X, and only a Model X.

Continue Reading

Cybertruck

Tesla Cybertruck’s head-scratching trim sold terribly, recall documents reveal

The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

After Tesla decided to build a Rear-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck trim back in 2025, which was void of many features and only featured a small discount.

The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.

The recall deals with a potentially separating wheel stud and potentially impacts 173 Cybertruck units with the 18-inch steel wheels. The Cybertruck RWD was the only trim level to feature these, and the 173 potentially impacted units represent a portion of the population of pickups. Therefore, it’s not the entire number of RWD Cybertruck sold, but it could show how little interest it gathered.

The NHTSA document states:

Advertisement

“On affected vehicles, higher severity road perturbations and cornering may strain the stud hole in the wheel rotor, causing cracks to form. If cracking propagates with continued use and strain, the wheel stud could eventually separate from the wheel hub.”

Only 5 percent are expected to be impacted, meaning less than 10 units will have the issue if the NHTSA and Tesla estimates are correct. Nevertheless, the true story here is how terribly the RWD Cybertruck sold.

Tesla ended production and stopped offering the RWD Cybertruck to customers last September. For just $10,000 less than the All-Wheel-Drive trim, Tesla offered the RWD Cybertruck with just one motor, textile seats instead of leather, only 7 speakers instead of 15, no Rear Touchscreen, no Powered Tonneau Cover for the truck bed, and no 120v/240v outlets.

Tesla brings closure to head-scratching Cybertruck trim

Advertisement

For just $10,000 more, at $79,990, owners could have received all of those premium features, as well as a more capable All-Wheel-Drive powertrain that featured Adaptive Air Suspension. The discount simply was not worth the sacrifices.

Orders were few and far between, and sources told us that when it was offered, sales were extremely tempered because customers could not see the value in this trim level.

Even Tesla’s most loyal supporters thought the offering was kind of a joke, and the $10,000 extra was simply worth it.

Advertisement

Cybertruck RWD Recall by Joey Klender

Continue Reading

News

Tesla Semi sends clear message to Diesel rivals with latest move

The truck is being built at a dedicated facility in Sparks, Nevada, just next to its Gigafactory Nevada facility.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has officially launched Semi production at what will be a mind-boggling rate of approximately 50,000 units per year.

The truck is being built at a dedicated facility in Sparks, Nevada, just next to its Gigafactory Nevada facility.

The company finally announced on April 29 that the first Tesla Semi truck has rolled off its new high-volume production line at the factory. This marks the transition from limited pilot builds to scaled manufacturing for the Class 8 all-electric heavy-duty truck, nearly nine years after its dramatic 2017 unveiling.

Tesla initially promised high-volume deliveries by 2019–2020, but battery supply constraints and prioritization for passenger vehicles delayed progress. The new 1.7-million-square-foot factory, purpose-built next to Gigafactory Nevada’s 4680 cell production lines, resolves those bottlenecks through deep vertical integration.

The Semi uses Tesla’s structural battery packs with cylindrical 4680 cells manufactured on-site. This integration enables efficient supply, reduced logistics costs, and the potential for high output. The factory is designed for an eventual annual capacity of approximately 50,000 trucks, positioning Tesla to address growing demand in long-haul freight electrification.

Advertisement

Tesla is using a redesigned Cybertruck battery cell to mitigate Semi challenges

Operating economics favor the Semi through dramatically lower fuel and maintenance costs compared to traditional diesel rigs, and companies involved in a pilot program for the Semi with Tesla have shown that.

Electricity is far cheaper than diesel on a per-mile basis, while the electric powertrain features fewer moving parts, reducing service intervals and lifetime expenses. Early deployments with customers like PepsiCo and others have validated these advantages in real-world service.

The Nevada factory’s ramp-up is targeted for full volume output before the end of June 2026, aligning with broader Tesla production goals for 2026. This includes parallel efforts on other new vehicles while expanding the Megacharger infrastructure to support widespread adoption.

Advertisement

By localizing battery and truck production, Tesla gains advantages in cost, quality control, and scalability that many competitors sourcing cells externally lack. The start of high-volume Semi production represents a pivotal step in Tesla’s strategy to electrify heavy transportation, potentially accelerating the shift toward zero-emission freight across North America and beyond.

As output increases, the Semi could reshape long-haul logistics with its combination of performance, efficiency, and sustainability.

Continue Reading