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Tesla customers report 2024 Spring Release update rollout

Credit: Tesla

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Tesla owners are reporting that they are now receiving update 2024.14.3, which is the 2024 Spring Release. The Spring Release includes user interface V12, Audible support, hands-free trunk, and sentry mode previews, among others. It also includes a number of new features for the Cybertruck. 

Tesla previewed a number of the Spring Release’s updates in a post on X earlier this month. While Tesla did not indicate the exact release that would include the new features would be rolled out, the announcement was appreciated by electric vehicle owners nonetheless. Notable software updates, after all, are among the most unique parts of the Tesla ownership experience. 

As per Tesla software tracker Not A Tesla App, the Spring Release has started rolling out to customers. The Tesla software tracker also shared the release notes for the update, which could be found below. Interestingly enough, only AMD-based vehicles would be receiving some of the update’s new features, like the new V12 UI that’s similar to the Cybertruck.

Following are the release notes for software update 2024.14.3.

Visual Updates

User Interface v12 elevates your visual experience with the following updates:

  • Immersive full-screen vehicle controls when you’re parked
  • Large playback controls and quick access to Recents, Favorites, and Up Next in the media player
  • Expandable Autopilot driving visualizations, with a smaller map in the top right for trip guidance
  • A sleeker and more compact drive mode strip and refined driving readouts

Audible

Listen to thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts. Pick up where you left off and listen seamlessly between your device and Tesla.

Scan the QR code to log in to your Audible account, or try it out with a selection of free audiobooks and podcasts. Requires Premium Connectivity.

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Hands-Free Trunk

Open your trunk even when your hands are full. Stand still behind your trunk with Phone Key unobstructed, listen for the chimes, and the trunk will open on its own.

To enable this feature, go to your vehicle settings > Locks > Hands-Free Trunk. Ensure your phone settings allow Nearby Interactions for the Tesla app, or open the app and go to Phone Key > Upgrade. Keep people and clothing clear of moving parts.

Requires iPhone 11+ and Tesla app 4.31.0+. A future update will extend this feature to Android users.

Preview of Sentry Mode Recordings

When Sentry Mode triggers your vehicle alarm and records an event, you can immediately preview a brief clip of the recording on your phone.

Press and hold the notification to watch the recording. In your vehicle settings, you must have Safety > Dashcam turned on.

Requires a USB with sufficient memory plugged into the vehicle, Tesla app 4.31.5+ on iPhone, and Premium Connectivity. Preview videos are end-to-end encrypted and can’t be accessed by Tesla.

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Trip Progress Bar

Below the turn-by-turn list in your navigation, you’ll now see a progress bar that changes as you drive closer to your destination or next stop.

The progress bar also reflects live traffic conditions on your route if you have Online Routing turned on.

For real-time traffic and road conditions to appear on your routes, the setting at Navigation > Online Routing must be turned on. Requires Premium Connectivity.

Spotify Queue and Playback Speed

You can now sync your Spotify queue across vehicles and devices, and adjust playback speed.

Better Route Available

Navigation now shows you, at the top of your turn list, if a faster route becomes available. It will reroute unless you decline before the option expires.

To choose how often you see these suggestions, adjust the number of minutes saved.

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In your vehicle settings, go to Navigation > Online Routing > Reroute to save. To use this feature, you must have Online Routing turned on.

Wiper Controls

Scroll Wheel — When you press the wipers button to view wiper controls, you can now adjust wiper speed by moving the left scroll wheel up or down.

Wipers Button — When you have the wipers set to I, II, III, or IIII, you can press the wipers button to cycle through speeds.

Other Updates

  • When you’re parked, you can expand the browser to full screen.
  • Access Car Wash Mode more quickly in vehicle settings > Controls.
  • Rear passengers can now see the current trip details, time, and temperature at the top of the rear touchscreen, except when Entertainment apps are using the full screen.
  • You can now swipe to delete Sentry Mode recordings in the Dashcam app on your vehicle touchscreen, or at Security > Sentry Mode Alarm Previews in the Tesla app 4.32.0+.
  • When you have Valet Mode on, and your vehicle is unlocked or shifted out of Park, you’ll receive a notification on your phone.
  • The Vampire Survivors game in Arcade now has the “Space 54” and “Deeploreble” updates.
  • Arcade includes the latest game update for Polytopia “Path of the Ocean.”
  • If you have no passengers in the back seat, the rear touchscreen now turns off when you shift out of Park, to reduce unnecessary energy use.

Speed Camera Chime

To hear a chime when you’re approaching a speed camera, turn on Navigation > Speed Camera Chime in your vehicle settings.

You must have Online Routing turned on. Requires Premium Connectivity.

Average Speed Zones

When driving through an average speed zone, you now see your average speed in the zone and the distance to the end of it.

You must have Navigation > Online Routing turned on. Requires Premium Connectivity.

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Adaptive High Beams

High beams now adapt to reduce glare for other drivers and cyclists.

By detecting other road users, and selectively dimming individual pixels of the headlight, your high beams stay on more often for greater visibility at night.

To turn them on, in your vehicle settings go to Lights > Adaptive High Beams.

Beach Buggy Racing 2

Drive your own kart racer in an action-packed race to the finish. Careen through Egyptian pyramids, dragon-infested castles, pirate shipwrecks, and experimental alien bio-labs. Blast your opponents with an arsenal of fun and wacky Powerups.

When you play games, Cybertruck’s steer-by-wire system lets you turn the steering wheel without moving the tires.

To play, go to your vehicle settings > Entertainment > Arcade > Beach Buggy Racing 2.

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Cabin Overheat Protection

For hot days or parking in direct sun, Cabin Overheat Protection helps maintain the temperature you set for up to 12 hours after you park. It will turn off at 20% battery to conserve range.

In your vehicle settings, go to Safety > Cabin Overheat Protection. Never leave children or pets unattended.

Customize Scroll Wheel Functions

Do more with the left scroll button on the steering wheel. You can perform actions like raise or lower ride height, open the glovebox, or save Dashcam footage, and adjust settings like brightness and drive mode.

Press and hold the left scroll button to open the menu and choose a function. Next time, the button will perform the most recent function you chose.

To choose a function any time you use this feature, go to vehicle settings > Display > Scroll Wheel Function, and choose Ask Each Time.

Cybertruck Colorizer

Customize how your Cybertruck appears on the touchscreen and Tesla app.

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In your vehicle settings, go to ToyBox > Colorizer.

Improved Turning Circle

Your Cybertruck’s turning circle is improved by 1.6 feet, making parking and low-speed maneuvers easier. This is achieved by an increase in the turning angle of the front and rear wheels.

Front Passenger Air Vent

You can now open or close the front passenger air vent separately, with the rest of your vehicle Climate still on.

Tap the temperature to open Climate controls, touch the front passenger air wave on the touchscreen, and follow the instructions.

New Lock Sounds

You’ll hear new signature sounds from your Cybertruck when you lock and unlock.

You can enable or disable the sounds in your vehicle settings at Locks > Lock Confirmation Sound.

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Zoom

Attend video calls with Zoom using the interior cabin camera.

Open the app directly, or join meetings from your Calendar. Shift to Park to use participant video and screen sharing. If you drive, then meetings switch to audio only.

Driver has sole responsibility to consult and comply with all local regulations while using Zoom. Requires Premium Connectivity.

Security Improvements

This update includes important security fixes and improvements.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla has a Cybercab problem nobody saw coming

Tesla’s Cybercab line now builds robotaxis faster than Tesla can deploy them, Lars Moravy says.

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Tesla’s Cybercab line in Texas can now build the two seat robotaxi faster than the company can put it into service, according to Lars Moravy, Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering. “We don’t run every day because the line can run so fast. It’s currently outpacing our deployments,” Moravy said in a new Cybercab deep dive from Munro Live. “So, it’s a bit of a race right now. Who’s going to go faster? Right now the manufacturing line’s ahead.”

Tesla’s official Robotaxi account shared a Cybercab analysis video on X on Monday, calling it a “Cybercab engineering deep dive.” Moravy’s comments go further than what he told analysts on the Q3 earnings call last week, when he said the Cybercab line’s listed capacity of more than 125,000 units a year undersells what it can actually run.

The tour shows where that speed comes from. Tesla’s unboxed process splits the Cybercab into front, rear, side and center modules that are built and tested on their own before they meet on a short final line. That final line has just 25 fully automated stations, which Tesla’s team estimated is a fifth to a tenth of what a Model Y needs. The full line is about 78% automated, the framing line is already at 100%, and the layout uses roughly 50% less floor space per vehicle. The stated goal is “100% automation in 10 second cycle time,” or one finished Cybercab every 10 seconds.

Tesla also deleted the paint shop. Only the side modules are coated, and the exterior panels get their color inside the molding machine. Engineers said the car is designed to run at least 500,000 miles, which matters for a vehicle that will spend most of its day carrying riders.

The battery got the same treatment. The Cybercab uses an 88S6P pack of 4680 cells in a steel enclosure, a first for Tesla, with each module potted separately so a single failed module can be swapped instead of the whole pack. Wireless battery management boards replace a wiring harness, and new contactors are fast enough to drop the pyro fuse entirely. Tesla’s battery director graded the pack an A minus, compared with a D for the Model Y structural pack and a B minus for Cybertruck. Up front, the drive unit runs an 11:1 gear ratio versus roughly 9:1 on most Teslas, since the Cybercab does not need a high top speed.

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The deployment side is now the bottleneck Moravy described. Tesla had more than 50 Cybercabs working the Formula 1 weekend in Austin, and Texas records show 463 Cybercabs registered. Tesla said on its earnings call that Cybercab service will launch in Dallas next month, and Moravy said the company is aiming to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of 2026. Every unit built so far has gone into Tesla’s own fleet since the line moved into volume production in April.

Munro Live also asked when it could get a Cybercab to tear down. Tesla’s answer: “Not yet.”

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Elon Musk

How SpaceX Is raising Raptor’s sea-level thrust while holding engine mass steady

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX’s Raptor engine family has steadily increased sea-level thrust while simultaneously reducing mass, turning iterative engineering gains into substantially higher performance for the Super Heavy booster. CEO Elon Musk shed more light on how powerful Raptor 4 will be, and it’s pretty crazy.

Raptor 1 delivered 185 metric tons of thrust at roughly 2,080 kilograms, while Raptor 2 raised that to 230 tons while cutting mass to about 1,630 kilograms. SpaceX data for Raptor 3 lists a target of 280 tons at 1,525 kilograms (with further reductions in associated vehicle hardware), while operational flight ratings have been cited near 250 tons.

This morning, Elon Musk stated that Raptor 4 is expected to reach 300 tons of sea-level thrust at roughly the same mass as Raptor 3. Across these versions, thrust has risen by more than 60 percent from the first engines while engine mass has fallen, producing a sharp improvement in thrust-to-weight ratio. This is a true testament to how great SpaceX engineering has been:

With 33 engines on SuperHeavy, the jump from earlier versions to a 300-ton Raptor 4 would produce roughly 9,900 metric tons of total liftoff thrust, nearly three times the Saturn V’s approximately 3,400 metric tons from its five F-1 engines.

This is not just a larger number on a data sheet, either, as sea-level thrust is the force available the moment the vehicle leaves the pad. This is when it is heaviest and still deep in Earth’s gravity well and dense atmosphere.

Higher levels of sea-level thrust directly improves the initial thrust-to-weight ratio of the full stack. A higher ratio produces faster acceleration off the pad, which shortens the time the rocket has to spend fighting gravity, and gravity losses during the first minute or two of the flight are a major drain on total available delta-v. Every second shaved off of that early climb preserves more propellant energy for reaching orbital velocity or for carrying extra payload.

Because Super Heavy’s engine count is constrained by vehicle diameter and packing density, increasing thrust per engine is the most straightforward way to raise total liftoff performance without redesigning the booster structure or design.

The same-mass target for Raptor 4 is equally important. Holding engine mass roughly constant while raising thrust improves the engine’s own thrust-to-weight ratio and reduces the structural and propellant mass fraction that must be carried solely to support the engines.

Earlier Raptor iterations also simplified or eliminated extensive vehicle-side hardware such as heat shields. These gains compound: more force for less installed mass leaves additional capacity for propellant, payload, or operational margins such as engine-out capability.

For Starship’s architecture, the practical effects are large. Greater liftoff thrust supports heavier vehicles, larger propellant loads, and higher payloads to low Earth orbit, figures SpaceX has targeted in the 100-plus-ton reusable range. That capacity underpins orbital refueling, lunar missions, and eventual Mars cargo and crew flights.

Continued growth in sea-level thrust therefore tightens the gap between theoretical rocket performance and the high flight rates and reusability needed to make large-scale space transport practical.

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Tesla Assisted Driving expands to tenth EU country

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Tesla has expanded its Tesla Assisted Driving (TAD) suite to its tenth European country, as Latvia joined a growing list of European Union member states authorizing the company’s advanced driver assistance technology.

Tesla Europe announced this morning that the system is now approved in Latvia, with a software rollout to begin soon.

The approval and rollout follow recognition of a provisional European type approval originally granted by the Netherlands’ RDW authority on April 10.

Latvia’s Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD) evaluated the Dutch documentation, coordinated with the other national authorities, and reviewed updates from Tesla. These included tightened limits on speed offsets, automatic resets of any manual speed adjustments after each trip, and stronger driver monitoring.

In Europe, the feature is marketed as Tesla Assisted Driving after a recent rule change that labeled the name “Full Self-Driving” as misleading.

Tesla starts showing how FSD will change lives in Europe

The system remains an SAE Level 2 driver assistance tool, not unsupervised autonomy. It can control speed, steering, braking, lane changes, and intersections while following a navigation route. Drivers need not keep their hands on the wheel at all times, yet they must continuously monitor the road and be prepared to intervene immediately.

The sequence of EU recognitions began with the Netherlands in April and continued through Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Belgium, Slovenia, Czechia, Croatia, and Slovakia. Most have relied on mutual recognition of the single Dutch provisional approval rather than independent national testing.

These national clearances do not yet constitute bloc-wide authorization. An EU-wide decision requires a qualified majority in the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles: at least 15 of 27 member states representing 65 percent of the EU population. Larger markets, like Germany, France, and Italy, remain under review, and a vote is expected this December.

However, for Latvian Tesla owners with compatible vehicles and software, the imminent rollout expands access to the supervised system while underscoring that attentive human oversight remains essential.

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