News
Tesla introduces Safety Score (Beta) system that incentivizes safe driving
As Tesla starts the rollout of its “Request Full Self Driving” button to more members of its fleet, the company has also introduced its Safety Score (Beta) system to evaluate driving behaviors. With this new system on hand, Tesla has effectively incentivized and gamified safe driving, which would likely make the rollout of programs such as FSD Beta a lot smoother and less likely to result in accidents.
Safety Scores are an assessment of driving behavior based on five metrics that the company calls “Safety Factors.” These factors are Forward Collision Warnings (FCW) per 1,000 Miles, Hard Braking, Aggressive Turning, Unsafe Following, and Forced Autopilot Disengagement. Tesla utilizes a Predicted Collision Frequency (PCF) formula based on statistical modeling using 6 billion miles of fleet data to predict how many collisions may occur per 1 million miles driven. The PCF is converted into a Safety Score between 0 and 100, which are then viewed through the Tesla App.
Tesla released some tips on how drivers could improve their Safety Score. To improve ratings on Forward Collision Warnings per 1,000 Miles, drivers are advised to maintain a following distance that gives enough time to react to slower or stationary vehicles ahead. Hard Braking scores, on the other hand, could be improved by engaging the brake pedal early when slowing down and using regen braking whenever possible and safe to do so. Hard Braking scores should also improve when drivers maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front of them.
Aggressive Turning is defined as left/right acceleration in excess of 0.4g. Thus, drivers could improve their numbers in this metric by taking turns gradually, reducing their speed heading into a turn, and gradually accelerating afterward. Unsafe Following scores would likely be easy to improve, as drivers simply need to maintain a following distance worth several car lengths to the vehicle in front. This way, drivers could have enough time to react just in case something untoward happens.
Forced Autopilot Disengagement highlights the need to use the company’s advanced driver-assist features in a responsible manner. Proper Autopilot use is outlined in vehicles’ Owner’s Manual, and it requires drivers to have their hands on the wheel and pay close attention to the road. Tesla notes that the Forced Autopilot Disengagement metric is a 1 or 0 indicator, with the value being 1 if Autopilot forcibly disengages during a drive and 0 if the system is operated nominally.
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- An example of a high Safety Score, reflecting generally good driving behaviors. (Credit: Jason DeBolt/Twitter)
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- An example of a low Safety Score, reflecting some unsafe driving behaviors. (Credit: Tesla Raj/Twitter)
Safety Scores are updated every time a trip is taken on a Tesla vehicle. Provided that a Tesla is connected to the internet, Safety Scores should provide immediate feedback on a driving session. Vehicles that are not connected to the internet would update their Safety Scores as soon as cellular connectivity is secured. It should also be noted that all trips over 0.1 miles are considered as a valid driving session that could affect a driver’s rating.
Safety Scores are vehicle-specific as well, so drivers with multiple Teslas could have varying ratings for each of their cars. Lastly, Safety Scores should reset when a vehicle is sold, which means that a Tesla’s new owner should not be affected by the ratings of the previous driver. Drivers could also not carry over their Safety Scores from one vehicle if they purchase a new Tesla.
A full and extensive discussion of how Tesla’s Safety Scores work could be found here.
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News
Tesla FSD’s newest model is coming, and it sounds like ‘the last big piece of the puzzle’
“There’s a model that’s an order of magnitude larger that will be deployed in January or February 2026.”
Tesla Full Self-Driving’s newest model is coming very soon, and from what it sounds like, it could be “the last big piece of the puzzle,” as CEO Elon Musk said in late November.
During the xAI Hackathon on Tuesday, Musk was available for a Q&A session, where he revealed some details about Robotaxi and Tesla’s plans for removing Robotaxi Safety Monitors, and some information on a future FSD model.
While he said Full Self-Driving’s unsupervised capability is “pretty much solved,” and confirmed it will remove Safety Monitors in the next three weeks, questions about the company’s ability to give this FSD version to current owners came to mind.
Musk said a new FSD model is coming in about a month or two that will be an order-of-magnitude larger and will include more reasoning and reinforcement learning.
He said:
“There’s a model that’s an order of magnitude larger that will be deployed in January or February 2026. We’re gonna add a lot of reasoning and RL (reinforcement learning). To get to serious scale, Tesla will probably need to build a giant chip fab. To have a few hundred gigawatts of AI chips per year, I don’t see that capability coming online fast enough, so we will probably have to build a fab.”
NEWS: Elon Musk says FSD Unsupervised is “pretty much solved at this point” and that @Tesla will be launching Robotaxis with no safety monitors in about 3 weeks in Austin, Texas. He also teased a new FSD model is coming in about 1-2 months.
“We’re just going through validation… https://t.co/Msne72cgMB pic.twitter.com/i3wfKX3Z0r
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 10, 2025
It rings back to late November when Musk said that v14.3 “is where the last big piece of the puzzle finally lands.”
With the advancements made through Full Self-Driving v14 and v14.2, there seems to be a greater confidence in solving self-driving completely. Musk has also personally said that driver monitoring has been more relaxed, and looking at your phone won’t prompt as many alerts in the latest v14.2.1.
This is another indication that Tesla is getting closer to allowing people to take their eyes off the road completely.
Along with the Robotaxi program’s success, there is evidence that Tesla could be close to solving FSD. However, it is not perfect. We’ve had our own complaints with FSD, and although we feel it is the best ADAS on the market, it is not, in its current form, able to perform everything needed on roads.
But it is close.
That’s why there is some legitimate belief that Tesla could be releasing a version capable of no supervision in the coming months.
All we can say is, we’ll see.
Investor's Corner
SpaceX IPO is coming, CEO Elon Musk confirms
However, it appears Musk is ready for SpaceX to go public, as Ars Technica Senior Space Editor Eric Berger wrote an op-ed that indicated he thought SpaceX would go public soon. Musk replied, basically confirming it.
Elon Musk confirmed through a post on X that a SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) is on the way after hinting at it several times earlier this year.
It also comes one day after Bloomberg reported that SpaceX was aiming for a valuation of $1.5 trillion, adding that it wanted to raise $30 billion.
Musk has been transparent for most of the year that he wanted to try to figure out a way to get Tesla shareholders to invest in SpaceX, giving them access to the stock.
He has also recognized the issues of having a public stock, like litigation exposure, quarterly reporting pressures, and other inconveniences.
However, it appears Musk is ready for SpaceX to go public, as Ars Technica Senior Space Editor Eric Berger wrote an op-ed that indicated he thought SpaceX would go public soon.
Musk replied, basically confirming it:
As usual, Eric is accurate
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2025
Berger believes the IPO would help support the need for $30 billion or more in capital needed to fund AI integration projects, such as space-based data centers and lunar satellite factories. Musk confirmed recently that SpaceX “will be doing” data centers in orbit.
AI appears to be a “key part” of SpaceX getting to Musk, Berger also wrote. When writing about whether or not Optimus is a viable project and product for the company, he says that none of that matters. Musk thinks it is, and that’s all that matters.
It seems like Musk has certainly mulled something this big for a very long time, and the idea of taking SpaceX public is not just likely; it is necessary for the company to get to Mars.
The details of when SpaceX will finally hit that public status are not known. Many of the reports that came out over the past few days indicate it would happen in 2026, so sooner rather than later.
But there are a lot of things on Musk’s plate early next year, especially with Cybercab production, the potential launch of Unsupervised Full Self-Driving, and the Roadster unveiling, all planned for Q1.
Tesla has added the 15th automaker to the growing list of companies whose EVs can utilize the Supercharger Network this year, as BMW is the latest company to gain access to the largest charging infrastructure in the world.
BMW became the 15th company in 2025 to gain Tesla Supercharger access, after the company confirmed to its EV owners that they could use any of the more than 25,000 Supercharging stalls in North America.
Welcome @BMW owners.
Download the Tesla app to charge → https://t.co/vnu0NHA7Ab
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) December 10, 2025
Newer BMW all-electric cars, like the i4, i5, i7, and iX, are able to utilize Tesla’s V3 and V4 Superchargers. These are the exact model years, via the BMW Blog:
- i4: 2022-2026 model years
- i5: 2024-2025 model years
- 2026 i5 (eDrive40 and xDrive40) after software update in Spring 2026
- i7: 2023-2026 model years
- iX: 2022-2025 model years
- 2026 iX (all versions) after software update in Spring 2026
With the expansion of the companies that gained access in 2025 to the Tesla Supercharger Network, a vast majority of non-Tesla EVs are able to use the charging stalls to gain range in their cars.
So far in 2025, Tesla has enabled Supercharger access to:
- Audi
- BMW
- Genesis
- Honda
- Hyundai
- Jaguar Land Rover
- Kia
- Lucid
- Mercedes-Benz
- Nissan
- Polestar
- Subaru
- Toyota
- Volkswagen
- Volvo
Drivers with BMW EVs who wish to charge at Tesla Superchargers must use an NACS-to-CCS1 adapter. In Q2 2026, BMW plans to release its official adapter, but there are third-party options available in the meantime.
They will also have to use the Tesla App to enable Supercharging access to determine rates and availability. It is a relatively seamless process.
Tesla FSD’s newest model is coming, and it sounds like ‘the last big piece of the puzzle’
SpaceX IPO is coming, CEO Elon Musk confirms
