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Tesla beats Ferrari, Mercedes and BMW in brand experience for 2nd year in a row

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Tesla has once again made the list of Top 30 Global Experience Brands, beating out Ferrari, Mercedes Benz and BMW for the second year in a row to take the title for best automotive brand experience. The list was compiled by New York-based Group XP, a leading experience consultancy.

Companies with unparalleled brand presence like Disney, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Apple, and Tesla, among 25 other recognizable companies, were scored based on four unique dimensions: Create, Deliver, Engage and Strive. “Our lives are defined by experiences and today people are as demanding of an experience as they are of a purchase. The businesses that have responded to this shift in expectation are flourishing more than ever” says Group XP.

Tesla took the 26th spot in the overall list, down from last year’s 20th ranking, but leads in automotive company with top-notch brand experience.

Group XP’s Top 30 Global Experience Brands report [download]

 

Pampers once again lands in the top spot, followed by Facebook, PayPal, Disney, and FedEx for companies that deliver an outstanding experience to its customers while exerting profound differentiation on the marketplace. The use of artificial intelligence by these companies, trading human connection with AI, is also highlighted in the report.

Tesla leads the charge in the automotive sector as a brand that has created a unique and innovative set of intellectual property that’s difficult to replicate. Though Volvo, Volkswagen, Maserati, and other automakers including Mercedes Benz and BMW – also ranked in Group XP’s report for automaker with top brand experience – have made pledges to electrify their lineup, Tesla has a competitive advantage over these brands with its global network of fast charging Superchargers and efficient sales and distribution model.

“Tesla has also re-imagined the sales experience far beyond the ‘let me just speak to my manager about this’ artifice and intensity of battling through endless forms and paperwork. The modernity of the experience is more aligned with the friction-free experiences we now expect when buying online.” says Group XP of Tesla’s e-commerce-based direct-to-consumer sales model.

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In addition, Tesla continues to improve its service experience by increasing its fleet of Tesla mobile service vans, making it easier for customers to service their vehicles while providing an enjoyable experience. “Tesla has equally re-imagined the Servicing experience—they realize people don’t enjoy driving to a garage so 80% of service needs can be resolved by their technicians coming to the customer via mobile vans. Most times this home or road-side visit isn’t even needed, however, as the brains of the car can remotely diagnose 90% of the issues— ‘Smart Alerts’ warn of potential problems and suggest simple fixes while the car receives regular ‘over the air’ updates putting the brand into the realm of an IOT (Internet of things) product.”

Tesla’s high profile CEO Elon Musk has created a brand that reaches far beyond the electric car consumer and one that represents a vision of the future that’s attainable now.

I'm friendly. You can email me. gene@teslarati.com

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Tesla FSD V14.2 starts rolling out to initial batch of vehicles

It would likely only be a matter of time before FSD V14.2 videos are posted and shared on social media.

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Credit: Grok Imagine

Tesla has begun pushing Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.2 to its initial batch of vehicles. The update was initially observed by Tesla owners and veteran FSD users on social media platform X on Friday.

So far, reports of the update have been shared by Model Y owners in California whose vehicles are equipped with the company’s AI4 hardware, though it would not be surprising if more Tesla owners across the country receive the update as well. 

Based on the release notes of the update, key improvements in FSD V14.2 include a revamped neural network for better detection of emergency vehicles, obstacles, and human gestures, as well as options to select arrival spots. 

It would likely only be a matter of time before FSD V14.2 videos are posted and shared on social media.

Following are the release notes of FSD (Supervised) V14.2, as shared on X by longtime FSD tester Whole Mars Catalog.

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Release Notes

2025.38.9.5

Currently Installed

FSD (Supervised) v14.2

Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.2 includes:

  • Upgraded the neural network vision encoder, leveraging higher resolution features to further improve scenarios like handling emergency vehicles, obstacles on the road, and human gestures.
  • Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, in a Parking Garage, or at the Curbside.
  • Added handling to pull over or yield for emergency vehicles (e.g. police cars, fire trucks, ambulances.
  • Added navigation and routing into the vision-based neural network for real-time handling of blocked roads and detours.
  • Added additional Speed Profile to further customize driving style preference.
  • Improved handling for static and dynamic gates.
  • Improved offsetting for road debris (e.g. tires, tree branches, boxes).
  • Improve handling of several scenarios including: unprotected turns, lane changes, vehicle cut-ins, and school busses.
  • Improved FSD’s ability to manage system faults and improve scenarios like handling emergency vehicles, obstacles on the road, and human gestures.
  • Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, in a Parking Garage, or at the Curbside.
  • Added handling to pull over or yield for emergency vehicles (e.g. police cars, fire trucks, ambulances).
  • Added navigation and routing into the vision-based neural network for real-time handling of blocked roads and detours.
  • Added additional Speed Profile to further customize driving style preference.
  • Improved handling for static and dynamic gates.
  • Improved offsetting for road debris (e.g. tires, tree branches, boxes).
  • Improve handling of several scenarios, including unprotected turns, lane changes, vehicle cut-ins, and school buses.
  • Improved FSD’s ability to manage system faults and recover smoothly from degraded operation for enhanced reliability.
  • Added alerting for residue build-up on interior windshield that may impact front camera visibility. If affected, visit Service for cleaning!

Upcoming Improvements:

  • Overall smoothness and sentience
  • Parking spot selection and parking quality
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Tesla Model X lost 400 pounds thanks to these changes

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Credit: Tesla

The Tesla Model X has always been one of the company’s most loved vehicles, despite its low sales figures, which can be attributed to its high price tag.

However, the Model X has been a signature item on Tesla’s menu of cars, most notably recognized by its Falcon Wing Doors, which are aware of its surroundings and open according to what’s around it.

But recent improvements to the Model X were looking slim to none, but it appears most of the fixes actually happened under the body, at least according to Tesla’s Vice President of Powertrain, Lars Moravy.

In a recent interview with Car and Driver, Moravy detailed all of the changes to the 2026 iteration of the vehicle, which was about 400 pounds lighter than it was originally. The biggest change is a modification with the rear motor, switching from an induction-type motor to a permanent-magnet design and optimizing the half-shafts, which shed about 100 pounds.

Tesla also got “almost 80 pounds out of the interior bits and pieces,” which “included making parts thinner, different manufacturing process choices, and incorporating airbag-deployment requirements into the headliner fabric,” the report said.

Additionally, the standard five-passenger, bench seat configuration saved 50 pounds by ditching pedestal mounting. This also helped with practicality, as it helped the seat fold flat. Engineers at Tesla also saved 44 pounds from the high-voltage wiring through optimizing the wiring from the charge-port DC/DC converter and switching from copper to aluminum wiring.

Tesla makes a decision on the future of its flagship Model S and Model X

Tesla also simplified the cooling system by reducing the number of radiators. It also incorporated Nürburgring cooling requirements for the Plaid variant, which saved nearly 30 pounds.

Many Tesla fans will be familiar with the megacastings, manufactured in-house by presses from IDRA, which also saves more than 20 pounds and boosts torsional stiffness by around 10 percent. Tweaks to the suspension also saved 10 pounds.

People were truly disappointed with what Tesla did with the Model S and Model X, arguing that the cars needed a more severe exterior overhaul, which might be true. However, Tesla really did a lot to reduce the weight of the vehicle, which helps increase range and efficiency. According to Grok, every 200 pounds removed adds between 7 and 15 percent to range estimations.

This makes sense considering the range estimations both increased by 7 percent from the Model X’s 2025 configuration to the 2026 builds. Range increased on the All-Wheel-Drive trim from 329 miles to 352 miles, while the Plaid went from 314 miles to 335 miles.

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Tesla launches its new branded Supercharger for Business with first active station

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has officially launched its first branded Supercharger just months after initiating a new program that allows third-party companies to brand their own charging piles.

The site opened in Land O’ Lakes, Florida, and features eight V4 Supercharging stalls offering up to 325 kW of charging speed. It appears it was purchased by a company called Suncoast Credit Union. This particular branch is located Northeast of Tampa, which is on the Gulf of Mexico.

It features graphics of Florida animals, like alligators:

Tesla launched this program back in September, and it basically was a way to expand its Supercharger presence and also allow companies to pay for the infrastructure. Tesla maintains it. When it announced the “Supercharger for Business,” it said:

“Purchase and install Superchargers at your business. Superchargers are compatible with all electric vehicles, bringing EV drivers to your business by offering convenient, reliable charging.”

The program does a few things. Initially, it expands EV charging infrastructure and makes charging solutions more readily available for drivers. It can also attract people to those businesses specifically.

Tesla launches new Supercharger program that business owners will love

The chargers can also be branded with any logo that the business chooses, which makes them more personalized and also acts as an advertisement.

The best part is that the customers do not have to maintain anything about the Supercharger. Tesla still takes care of it and resolves any issues:

“We treat your site like we treat our sites. By providing you with a full-service package that includes network operations, preventative maintenance, and driver support, we’re able to guarantee 97% uptime–the highest in the industry.”

It appears the Superchargers will also appear within the in-car nav during routing, so they’ll be publicly available to anyone who needs to use them. They are still available to all EVs that have worked with Tesla to utilize its infrastructure, and they are not restricted to people who are only visiting the business.

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