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Tesla begins rolling out FSD Beta 10.69.3.1 to new users who've been patiently waiting for access. Tesla begins rolling out FSD Beta 10.69.3.1 to new users who've been patiently waiting for access.

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Tesla FSD update 11.4 dramatically improves vehicle behavior

Credit: Tesla Joy

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Tesla has issued yet another giant update for its Full Self Driving (FSD) software, dramatically improving vehicle behavior in numerous situations.

Despite the controversy that seems to consistently surround Tesla’s autonomous driving suite, it just keeps improving, with new features and capabilities added at an astounding rate. Now, Tesla has issued yet another dramatic update to Full Self Driving, bringing significant improvements in vehicle intelligence and the dream of fully autonomous vehicles one step closer to reality.

@Winnersechelon first reported the newest FSD update on Twitter, posting a screenshot of the release notes for the update.

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Perhaps more than previous updates, 11.4 focuses on vastly improving vehicle behavior, with new features taking a back seat. According to Tesla’s release notes, those improvements are seen throughout numerous environments.

Foremost, Tesla FSD is better than ever at recognizing and reacting to pedestrians that are either about to cross the street or are already doing so. This stems from an improvement in kinematic calculations, which allows the vehicle to predict where people, vehicles, and objects are going. Regarding pedestrians, the vehicle will act more smoothly, either progressing through the intersection or stopping.

This improvement also extends to other “vulnerable road users,” such as bikers and cyclists, which Tesla FSD will now react more quickly to and slow down for if necessary.

Another improvement that urbanites can enjoy is in “turn performance.” When in dense city areas or unexpected turns, the vehicle will now follow the turn more correctly, dodging parked vehicles and avoiding bus lanes. This improvement is paired with an update to bus lane recognition overall, helping to prevent the vehicle from being where it isn’t supposed to be.

Other updates focus on improving performance in more rural areas. One such improvement is improved lane, line, and edge of road detection, which can be helpful in areas with less consistent road painting and paving. This update feeds into two others, improved lane guidance, ensuring the vehicle is in the correct lane to reach its destination, and improved prediction of the movement of “partial cut-ins,” or cars that haven’t wholly dedicated to a lane. Tesla’s massive library of clips and auto-labeling system makes both upgrades possible.

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In the case of improved lane guidance, Tesla states that this update will reduce driver interventions by 64%, ensuring the vehicle isn’t in the wrong lane and reaches the destination more consistently.

Another update affecting how Tesla vehicles behave in lanes is lane change speed control. Tesla FSD will now consider “upcoming navigation deadlines” and will use more or less speed if necessary to switch lanes. Moreover, the vehicle will more accurately calculate the number of lanes it needs to change, thanks to Tesla’s ever-improving vehicle network.

Vehicle speed also improves in countless other situations as well. Thanks to Tesla’s all-new “Vision Speed” network, its network of vehicles can now infer the typical driving speed of any given roadway, improving how the vehicle reacts to areas that typically require lower speeds, such as neighborhoods or parking lots.

The final speed update regards how the vehicle reacts to the weather. The max autopilot speed will now take into account current weather conditions and limit driving speed if visibility or traction is too poor. According to Tesla’s release notes, this calculation is quite advanced, as it will take into account not only its condition, such as tire tread, and its data on visibility and road wetness, but it will also account for outside factors, such as tire spray from other vehicles and traffic intensity.

The final two updates are far more general and will improve the vehicle’s autonomous operation overall. First, Tesla has improved “long-range path blockage,” meaning that its vehicles will more quickly merge into other lanes to avoid obstacles in the road. Second, Tesla has reduced “photon-to-control” latency by 2%, meaning the vehicle will react 2% faster to anything it “sees.”

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What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!

Will is an auto enthusiast, a gear head, and an EV enthusiast above all. From racing, to industry data, to the most advanced EV tech on earth, he now covers it at Teslarati.

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Cybertruck

Tesla Cybertruck is getting a big security upgrade

“Cybertruck was not 100% carryover in execution like S3XY, so it required work.”

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla confirmed today that a massive Cybertruck security feature is on the way soon, and it is one that owners have been asking about for a long time.

Like all Teslas, Cybertruck has the excellent security feature known as “Sentry Mode.” The feature essentially turns your Tesla into a moving security camera, recording any event that happens nearby.

It has been used to solve crimes such as vandalism and burglary, and even used by police departments to solve other, high-profile crimes.

Tesla quietly added this extra Sentry Mode feature to deter vandals

However, Cybertruck has been missing one key feature of Sentry Mode: the use of the B-Pillar camera has not been enabled, leaving one of the most vandalized and targeted vehicles in the United States with a weakness.

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One person who has been vocal about it is Tesla Cybertruck enthusiast Greggertruck, who has been pushing for answers for months. He finally got his answer from Cybertruck Vehicle Program Manager Siddhant Awasthi:

“It will come soon! Cybertruck was not 100% carryover in execution like SX3Y so it required work. Team has finished work on this and just need to make sure it’s validated and runs reliably (which it should for its feature).”

It sounds as if Tesla’s issue was something they similarly experienced when deploying Full Self-Driving to Cybertruck. The other four Tesla vehicles were able to use FSD because they’re all relatively similar in ride height and overall functionality. They share tons of similarities.

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Cybertruck did not get FSD right away because Tesla still had to work on the differences between it and the other cars in the lineup. As Awasthi said, “Cybertruck was not 100% carryover in execution like S3XY, so it required work.”

Tesla Cybertruck FSD release expected for Sept, Park Assist to come first

It sounds as if Tesla is close to resolving some of the more intricate details of adding the functionality, and it was just a matter of time before it figured out the issue.

The release of the B-Pillar camera being active during Sentry Mode events on Cybertruck will likely come in a software update in the coming weeks.

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Investor's Corner

Tesla investors may be in for a big surprise

All signs point toward a strong quarter for Tesla in terms of deliveries. Investors could be in for a surprise.

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla investors have plenty of things to be ecstatic about, considering the company’s confidence in autonomy, AI, robotics, cars, and energy. However, many of them may be in for a big surprise as the end of the $7,500 EV tax credit nears. On September 30, it will be gone for good.

This has put some skepticism in the minds of some investors: the lack of a $7,500 discount for buying a clean energy vehicle may deter many people from affording Tesla’s industry-leading EVs.

Tesla warns consumers of huge, time-sensitive change coming soon

The focus on quarterly deliveries, while potentially waning in terms of importance to the future, is still a big indicator of demand, at least as of now. Of course, there are other factors, most of them economic.

The big push to make the most of the final quarter of the EV tax credit is evident, as Tesla is reminding consumers on social media platforms and through email communications that the $7,500 discount will not be here forever. It will be gone sooner rather than later.

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It appears the push to maximize sales this quarter before having to assess how much they will be impacted by the tax credit’s removal is working.

Delivery Wait Time Increases

Wait times for Tesla vehicles are increasing due to what appears to be increased demand for the company’s vehicles. Recently, Model Y delivery wait times were increased from 1-3 weeks to 4-6 weeks.

This puts extra pressure on consumers to pull the trigger on an order, as delivery must be completed by the cutoff date of September 30.

Delivery wait times may have gone up due to an increase in demand as consumers push to make a purchase before losing that $7,500 discount.

More People are Ordering

A post on X by notable Tesla influencer Sawyer Merritt anecdotally shows he has been receiving more DMs than normal from people stating that they’re ordering vehicles before the end of the tax credit:

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It’s not necessarily a confirmation of more orders, but it could be an indication that things are certainly looking that way.

Why Investors Could Be Surprised

Tesla investors could see some positive movement in stock price following the release of the Q3 delivery report, especially if all signs point to increased demand this quarter.

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We reported previously that this could end up being a very strong rebounding quarter for Tesla, with so many people taking advantage of the tax credit.

Whether the delivery figures will be higher than normal remains to be seen. But all indications seem to point to Q3 being a very strong quarter for Tesla.

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Elon Musk

Tesla bear Guggenheim sees nearly 50% drop off in stock price in new note

Tesla bear Guggenheim does not see any upside in Robotaxi.

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tesla showroom
Credit: Tesla

Tesla bear Guggenheim is still among the biggest non-believers in the company’s overall mission and its devotion to solving self-driving.

In a new note to investors on Thursday, analyst Ronald Jewsikow reiterated his price target of $175, a nearly 50 percent drop off, with a ‘Sell’ rating, all based on skepticism regarding Tesla’s execution of the Robotaxi platform.

A few days ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company’s Robotaxi platform would open to the public in September, offering driverless rides to anyone in the Austin area within its geofence, which is roughly 90 square miles large.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirms Robotaxi is opening to the public: here’s when

However, Jewsikow’s skepticism regarding this timeline has to do with what’s going on inside of the vehicles. The analyst was willing to give props to Robotaxi, saying that Musk’s estimation of a September public launch would be a “key step” in offering the service to a broader population.

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Where Jewsikow’s real issue lies is with Tesla’s lack of transparency on the Safety Monitors, and how bulls are willing to overlook their importance.

Much of this bullish mentality comes from the fact that the Monitors are not sitting in the driver’s seat, and they don’t have anything to do with the overall operation of the vehicle.

Musk also said last month that reducing Safety Monitors could come “in a month or two.”

Instead, they’re just there to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Jewsikow said:

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“While safety drivers will remain, and no timeline has been provided for their removal, bulls have been willing to overlook the optics of safety drivers in TSLA vehicles, and we see no reason why that would change now.”

He also commented on Musk’s recent indication that Tesla was working on a 10x parameter count that could help make Full Self-Driving even more accurate. It could be one of the pieces to Tesla solving autonomy.

Jewsikow added:

“Perhaps most importantly for investors bullish on TSLA for the fleet of potential FSD-enabled vehicles today, the 10x higher parameter count will be able to run on the current generation of FSD hardware and inference compute.”

Elon Musk teases crazy new Tesla FSD model: here’s when it’s coming

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Tesla shares are down just about 2 percent today, trading at $332.47.

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