Polestar plans to demonstrate its Smart Eye driver monitoring technology in January at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
Polestar’s Smart Eye technology is designed using two closed-loop premium driver monitoring cameras that track head, eye, and eyelid movements and trigger warning sounds or messages, or even go as far as bringing the car to a stop if the system detects a distracted, drowsy, or disconnected driver. Smart Eye, in conjunction with other standard Driver Assistance features like Lane Keeping, Adaptive Cruise Control, and more, helps to keep drivers safe.
Smart Eye and @PolestarCars will demonstrate the Polestar 3 #DMS, designed to help avoid accidents and save lives, at CES 2023 in Las Vegas!
The Polestar 3 will be on display in Smart Eye’s booth (#6353) in the West Hall. See you there!
Read more: https://t.co/9bNW1xJl17 pic.twitter.com/i4Hqa2fBjO
— Smart Eye (@SmartEyeAB) December 15, 2022
Polestar plans to display to visitors how the Smart Eye system utilizes AI software to detect driver attentiveness in real time and how it tracks head and eye movements to determine if an operator is paying attention and engaged in driving behaviors.
“This technology addresses some of the main reasons behind fatal accidents and can help save lives by prompting the driver to refocus attention on the road – and can initiate preventive action when they don’t, or can’t,” Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar’s CEO, said.
The development of driver monitoring systems has helped decrease instances of distracted driving. The technology is advantageous in multiple applications, especially as semi-autonomous driving systems and more advanced ADAS systems have come to the market.
In vehicles not equipped with semi-autonomous driving functionality, driver monitoring systems can help keep drivers’ eyes on the road and off of things like cell phones, which are a leading cause of distracted driving accidents in the United States. The NHTSA said 3,142 people were killed due to distracted driving in 2020.
The systems are also hugely effective in cars that feature semi-autonomous driving. Although these systems allow drivers to relinquish certain responsibilities like speed control or lane keeping, they are not fully autonomous and still require the operator’s attention. Unfortunately, some drivers take advantage of these features and use them irresponsibly, which is where systems like Smart Eye will come in.
Polestar is not the first and will certainly not be the last automaker to employ these systems to keep drivers safe. Tesla activated cabin-facing cameras to monitor driver behavior in mid-2020. General Motors has driver monitoring systems for its Super Cruise system. Ford also has driver monitoring for its BlueCruise. Lucid has driver monitoring as a primary focus of its DreamDrive suite. It’s only a matter of time before more automakers adopt camera or AI-based driver monitoring systems.
Ford Blue Cruise and GM Super Cruise lauded in Consumer Reports’ driver monitoring rankings
Generally, driver monitoring systems help keep drivers safe. They are more effective than things like steering wheel sensors as they can be cheated with various methods, including vehicle-specific cheat devices. Educating drivers on how the systems work and how they keep operators accountable is essential. Polestar’s demonstration will likely lead to a better understanding of how technology and AI can lead to safer roads.
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Tesla announces major milestone at Gigafactory Shanghai
First deliveries started in December 2019, with the first units being given to employees. By the end of 2020, the plant was building cars at a run rate of around 150,000 vehicles annually.
Tesla has announced a major milestone at its Chinese manufacturing facility, Gigafactory Shanghai, confirming on Monday that it had built its four millionth vehicle.
Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai first started building cars back in October 2019 with Model 3 assembly, just ten months after the company broke ground on the plant’s 86-hectare piece of land.
First deliveries started in December 2019, with the first units being given to employees. By the end of 2020, the plant was building cars at a run rate of around 150,000 vehicles annually. Production continued to ramp up, and by September 2023, less than three years after it started building Tesla’s EVs, it had built its two millionth vehicle.
Fast forward to December 2025, and Tesla has confirmed that four million cars have rolled off of production lines at the plant, a major milestone in the six short years it has been active:
Produced our 4 millionth vehicle at Gigafactory Shanghai🎉
Thanks to all our owners and supporters❤️ pic.twitter.com/DayVXUr220— Tesla Asia (@Tesla_Asia) December 8, 2025
The capacity at Giga Shanghai is exceeding 950,000 vehicles per year, and this year, the company has delivered 675,000 cars through the first three quarters. It is also the only plant to manufacture the Model Y L, a longer wheel-based configuration of the all-electric crossover that is exclusive to the Chinese market.
Gigafactory Shanghai’s four million cars have not all stayed within the domestic market, either. For a considerable period, the factory was exporting a significant portion of its monthly production to Europe, helping Gigafactory Berlin supplement some Model Y volume and all of its Model 3 deliveries. This is due to the Berlin plant’s exclusive production plans for the Model 3.
The site is one of the most crucial in the company’s global plans, and Gigafactory Shanghai’s incredible pace, which has led to four million production units in just about six years. It’s fair to say that it won’t be long until we’re seeing Tesla celebrate the plant’s five millionth vehicle produced, which should happen sometime late next year or in early 2027, based on its current manufacturing pace.
The company also builds the Megapack on the property in an adjacent Megafactory.
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Tesla gamifies Supercharging with new ‘Charging Passport’
It will also include things like badges for special charging spots, among other metrics that will show all of the different places people have traveled to plug in for range.
Tesla is gamifying its Supercharging experience by offering a new “Charging Passport,” hoping to add a new layer to the ownership experience.
While it is not part of the Holiday Update, it is rolling out around the same time and offers a handful of cool new features.
Tesla’s Charging Passport will be available within the smartphone app and will give a yearly summary of your charging experience, helping encapsulate your travel for that year.
It will also include things like badges for special charging spots, among other metrics that will show all of the different places people have traveled to plug in for range.
Tesla has just introduced “Charging Passport,” a new yearly summary of your charging.
• Charging badges: Iconic Charging badge (for visiting places like the Tesla Diner, Oasis Supercharger, etc), Explorer badge, green saver badge, etc.
• Total unique Superchargers visited
•… pic.twitter.com/c1DHTWXpj7— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 8, 2025
Tesla will include the following metrics within the new Charging Passport option within the Tesla app:
- Charging badges: Iconic charging badges for visiting places like the Tesla Diner, Oasis Supercharger, etc., Explorer Badge, and more
- Total Unique Superchargers Visited
- Total Charging Sessions
- Total Miles Added during Charging Sessions
- Top Charging Day
- Longest Trip
- Favorite Charging Locations
This will give people a unique way to see their travels throughout the year, and although it is not necessarily something that is needed or adds any genuine value, it is something that many owners will like to look back on. After all, things like Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay have been a great way for people to see what music they listened to throughout the year.
This is essentially Tesla’s version of that.
With a handful of unique Superchargers already active, Tesla is also building some new ones, like a UFO-inspired location in New Mexico, near Roswell.
Tesla is building a new UFO-inspired Supercharger in the heart of Alien country
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Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention.”
Tesla has launched its coolest gift idea ever, just a few weeks after it was announced.
Tesla is now giving owners the opportunity to gift Full Self-Driving for one month to friends or family through a new gifting program that was suggested to the company last month.
The program will enable people to send a fellow Tesla owner one month of the company’s semi-autonomous driving software, helping them to experience the Full Self-Driving suite and potentially help Tesla gain them as a subscriber of the program, or even an outright purchase.
Tesla is going to allow owners to purchase an FSD Subscription for another owner for different month options
You’ll be able to gift FSD to someone! https://t.co/V29dhf5URj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 3, 2025
Tesla has officially launched the program on its Shop. Sending one month of Full Self-Driving costs $112:
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention. All sales are final. Can only be purchased and redeemed in the U.S. This gift card is valued at $112.00 and is intended to cover the price of one month of FSD (Supervised), including up to 13% sales tax. It is not guaranteed to cover the full monthly price if pricing or tax rates change. This gift card can be stored in Tesla Wallet and redeemed toward FSD (Supervised) or any other Tesla product or service that accepts gift card payments.”
Tesla has done a great job of expanding Full Self-Driving access over the past few years, especially by offering things like the Subscription program, free trials through referrals, and now this gift card program.
Gifting Full Self-Driving is another iteration of Tesla’s “butts in seats” strategy, which is its belief that it can flip consumers to its vehicles and products by simply letting people experience them.
There is also a reason behind pushing Full Self-Driving so hard, and it has to do with CEO Elon Musk’s compensation package. One tranche requires Musk to achieve a certain number of active paid Full Self-Driving subscriptions.
More people who try the suite are likely to pay for it over the long term.
Tesla announces major milestone at Gigafactory Shanghai
Tesla gamifies Supercharging with new ‘Charging Passport’
