Tesla is shipping Software Update 2023.12 to select employees today with a variety of new interface improvements and features that are aimed toward customization and ease of access.
Tesla has been making a recent effort to vastly improve both its vehicles and App with new features. In-vehicle updates have included a new version of the Owner’s Manual, a revision to the cabin heat system that improves its functionality, and navigation fixes.
For the app, Tesla improved Supercharger visits by including wait times and rates. Additionally, a small fix in the navigation feature of the App was also included.
Now, a variety of new interface-related features are being shipped as part of 2023.12, which was discovered by TeslaScope.
Text Size
“Choose Standard or Large text size for the touchscreen.
Go to Controls > Display > Text Size.”
Controls Search
“Use the ‘Search’ function for quicker access to controls and settings. Go to Controls > Search and enter a search term. Make changes directly from the result or tap the link to jump to that panel in Controls.”
Points of Interest
“See photos and reviews when you select a point of interest or Supercharger location.”
Phone Call Controls
“Control your phone calls from the steering wheel.
Use the left scroll button to answer or decline incoming calls. While you’re on a call, use it to mute/unmute yourself or hang up.”
Exclusive: A new unreleased @Tesla software update (2023.12) is now going out to employee vehicles, including a trove of interface-oriented improvements.
– Text Size Adjustments
– Controls Search
– Points of Interest
– Phone Call Controls
– and more (included in the next tweets) pic.twitter.com/yOWtXxGG5d— Teslascope (@teslascope) April 10, 2023
Scroll Wheel Customization
“Do more with the left scroll wheel button on the steering wheel.
You can adjust settings like brightness and Acceleration Mode, or perform actions like toggling the Camera App, opening the glovebox, and saving Dashcam footage.
Long press the left scroll button to bring up a list of functions and scroll through the list.
To choose which function comes up by default, go to Controls > Display > Scroll Wheel Function.”
Gear Chimes
“A chime now sounds when you shift gears. To toggle gear chimes, go to Controls > Safety > Gear Chimes.”
Passenger Seat Controls
“Adjust the passenger seat from the rear touchscreen to make it easier to enter or exit the rear seat.
To access the passenger seat controls, tap the seat icon on the rear touchscreen. Hold one of the arrows to move the passenger seat forward or backward. The controls are available only when the vehicle is not moving.
To access the same controls from the front touchscreen, tap the App Launcher and go to the rear screen remote control app.”
Get to Know Your Tesla
“Learn basics like creating Driver Profiles, using Phone Key and regenerative braking from the ‘Get to Know Your Tesla’ educational experience within the new ‘Manual’ app. Each topic includes a visual and, if applicable, a link to the relevant feature. The ‘Manual’ app also provides easy access to resources for learning much more about your Tesla, such as the on-screen Owner’s Manual and online tutorial videos.
Go to App Launcher > Manual.”
– Scroll Wheel Customization
– Gear Chimes
– Passenger Seat Controls
– Get To Know Your @Tesla (seen in a few recent builds, but soft launched) pic.twitter.com/owMfrPjAip— Teslascope (@teslascope) April 10, 2023
Zoom Meetings
Zoom Meetings are an already-launched feature in several markets, but it is now available in additional regions. There have also been improvements in performance and changes have been applied in the background.
Voice Recognition Language
“British English is now available as a voice recognition language.
To update your voice recognition language, go to Controls > Display > Voice Recognition Language and choose an option from the list.”
Factory Reset Bug Fix
This update also includes fixes to the factory reset bug that caused some vehicles to lose all data. It was partially resolved in 2023.6, but new fixes have been included in this update, TeslaScope said.
– Zoom Meetings (now available in additional regions, and minor improvements/performance changes have been applied in the background).
– Speech Recognition Language
British English is now available as a voice recognition language. pic.twitter.com/wCoHlRaFNq— Teslascope (@teslascope) April 10, 2023
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News
Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature not available on typical Model Ys
These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.
Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature that is not available on typical Model Ys that people like you and me bring home after we buy them. The feature is something that many have been wanting for years, especially after the company adopted a vision-only approach to self-driving.
After Tesla launched driverless Robotaxi rides to the public earlier this week in Austin, people have been traveling to the Lone Star State in an effort to hopefully snag a ride from one of the few vehicles in the fleet that are now no longer required to have Safety Monitors present.
BREAKING: Tesla launches public Robotaxi rides in Austin with no Safety Monitor
Although only a few of those completely driverless rides are available, there have been some new things seen on these cars that are additions from regular Model Ys, including the presence of one new feature: camera washers.
With the Model Y, there has been a front camera washer, but the other exterior “eyes” have been void of any solution for this. For now, owners are required to clean them manually.
In Austin, Tesla is doing things differently. It is now utilizing camera washers on the side repeater and rear bumper cameras, which will keep the cameras clean and keep operation as smooth and as uninterrupted as possible:
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
Rear Camera Washer on Tesla Robotaxi pic.twitter.com/P9hgGStHmV
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 24, 2026
These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.
This is the first time we are seeing them, so it seems as if Safety Monitors might have been responsible for keeping the lenses clean and unobstructed previously.
However, as Tesla transitions to a fully autonomous self-driving suite and Robotaxi expands to more vehicles in the Robotaxi fleet, it needed to find a way to clean the cameras without any manual intervention, at least for a short period, until they can return for interior and exterior washing.
Tesla made a dramatic change to the Online Design Studio to show its plans for Full Self-Driving, a major part of the company’s plans moving forward, as CEO Elon Musk has been extremely clear on the direction moving forward.
With Tesla taking a stand and removing the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright next month, it is already taking steps to initiate that with owners and potential buyers.
On Thursday night, the company updated its Online Design Studio to reflect that in a new move that now lists the three purchase options that are currently available: Monthly Subscription, One-Time Purchase, or Add Later:
🚨 Check out the change Tesla made to its Online Design Studio:
It now lists the Monthly Subscription as an option for Full Self-Driving
It also shows the outright purchase option as expiring on February 14 pic.twitter.com/pM6Svmyy8d
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
This change replaces the former option for purchasing Full Self-Driving at the time of purchase, which was a simple and single box to purchase the suite outright. Subscriptions were activated through the vehicle exclusively.
However, with Musk announcing that Tesla would soon remove the outright purchase option, it is clearer than ever that the Subscription plan is where the company is headed.
The removal of the outright purchase option has been a polarizing topic among the Tesla community, especially considering that there are many people who are concerned about potential price increases or have been saving to purchase it for $8,000.
This would bring an end to the ability to pay for it once and never have to pay for it again. With the Subscription strategy, things are definitely going to change, and if people are paying for their cars monthly, it will essentially add $100 per month to their payment, pricing some people out. The price will increase as well, as Musk said on Thursday, as it improves in functionality.
I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve.
The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD). https://t.co/YDKhXN3aaG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2026
Those skeptics have grown concerned that this will actually lower the take rate of Full Self-Driving. While it is understandable that FSD would increase in price as the capabilities improve, there are arguments for a tiered system that would allow owners to pay for features that they appreciate and can afford, which would help with data accumulation for the company.
Musk’s new compensation package also would require Tesla to have 10 million active FSD subscriptions, but people are not sure if this will move the needle in the correct direction. If Tesla can potentially offer a cheaper alternative that is not quite unsupervised, things could improve in terms of the number of owners who pay for it.
News
Tesla Model S completes first ever FSD Cannonball Run with zero interventions
The coast-to-coast drive marked the first time Tesla’s FSD system completed the iconic, 3,000-mile route end to end with no interventions.
A Tesla Model S has completed the first-ever full Cannonball Run using Full Self-Driving (FSD), traveling from Los Angeles to New York with zero interventions. The coast-to-coast drive marked the first time Tesla’s FSD system completed the iconic, 3,000-mile route end to end, fulfilling a long-discussed benchmark for autonomy.
A full FSD Cannonball Run
As per a report from The Drive, a 2024 Tesla Model S with AI4 and FSD v14.2.2.3 completed the 3,081-mile trip from Redondo Beach in Los Angeles to midtown Manhattan in New York City. The drive was completed by Alex Roy, a former automotive journalist and investor, along with a small team of autonomy experts.
Roy said FSD handled all driving tasks for the entirety of the route, including highway cruising, lane changes, navigation, and adverse weather conditions. The trip took a total of 58 hours and 22 minutes at an average speed of 64 mph, and about 10 hours were spent charging the vehicle. In later comments, Roy noted that he and his team cleaned out the Model S’ cameras during their stops to keep FSD’s performance optimal.
History made
The historic trip was quite impressive, considering that the journey was in the middle of winter. This meant that FSD didn’t just deal with other cars on the road. The vehicle also had to handle extreme cold, snow, ice, slush, and rain.
As per Roy in a post on X, FSD performed so well during the trip that the journey would have been completed faster if the Model S did not have people onboard. “Elon Musk was right. Once an autonomous vehicle is mature, most human input is error. A comedy of human errors added hours and hundreds of miles, but FSD stunned us with its consistent and comfortable behavior,” Roy wrote in a post on X.
Roy’s comments are quite notable as he has previously attempted Cannonball Runs using FSD on December 2024 and February 2025. Neither were zero intervention drives.
Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature not available on typical Model Ys
Tesla makes big Full Self-Driving change to reflect future plans
