News
Tesla’s alleged Thanksgiving FSD crash in SF is being recreated by media
Tesla Owners Club of East Bay cofounder Wilmer Awayan teamed up with the local media to simulate an accident with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Beta engaged. The club shared behind-the-scenes videos and photos on Twitter.
On Thanksgiving Day, the owner of a 2021 Tesla Model S claimed that his vehicle was operating with Tesla’s FSD Beta engaged and that the technology malfunctioned, causing an eight-car pile-up on San Francisco’s Bay Bridge.
The club tweeted that it had the unique opportunity to host an FSD Beta ride along with Brooks Jarosz with KTVU to simulate and re-enact what could have occurred in the accident. At this time, KTVU hasn’t published its story yet, but San Francisco has been dealing with a rainstorm that’s been keeping the local news crews pretty busy.
Al Shen, president of the club, told Teslarati that this was a great opportunity to share a first-hand look at Tesla’s FSD Beta technology.
FSD thru the same spot the accident occurred. Couldn’t get the original tweet to include this video. Camera crew was along for the ride. pic.twitter.com/ahWtNGmtVs
— Tesla East Bay Fremont (@TeslaOwnersEBay) January 13, 2023
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In the video above, Shen shared footage of FSD Beta at the exact location of the accident, noting that the camera crew was along for the ride. Shen told Teslarati that he received an email from an investigative reporter from his local Fox News Station affiliate Channel 2.
“They were seeking a chance to re-enact and test out what FSD capability is and how it works on roads, particularly on the section of the SF Bay Bridge, one of the busiest bridges in America where that Tesla Driver caused that eight-car pile up on thanksgiving 2022,” he said.
Shen chose to help his local news station because he felt it was a unique opportunity to share a first-hand look at Tesla’s technology.
“As educated owners and a Tesla Owners enthusiast group here to support the brand’s mission, we felt it was a unique opportunity to give a first-hand look at what Tesla’s emerging autonomy and driver’s assist features for Full Self Driving look like from inside a Tesla as opposed to only reading about it or third-hand knowledge,” he said.
-->“We utilized FSD beta to navigate us to our rendezvous location and proceeded on the simulated drive across the SF-Oakland Bay bridge, even with inclement rain weather, the system performed nominally under rainy conditions although slower than some traffic.”
“As the FSD Beta vehicle approached the infamous tunnel where the Thanksgiving crash occurred, we proceeded through and even simulated a lane change similar to the one seen in the now-released traffic footage. Again we noticed a slight deceleration but nothing as extreme as what occurred in the accident.”
“FSD Beta offered some lane changes, which we declined to proceed with, the news team was impressed with the visualization and the car’s ability to visualize and process the world around it in real-time.”
“What we felt paramount to do, despite incurring a legitimate strike, was that our driver purposely disobeyed the software and did not confirm when warnings came to put our hands on the wheel and remain attentive at all times. The vehicle disengaged and began to slow down, however, given the open ‘testing’ environment we were in, we pressed the accelerator and resumed our drive at safer speeds and distances,” Shen added.
Update:
-->KTVU aired the video on this evening’s news.
Here’s the @KTVU evening news covering the simulated @Tesla FSD/AP drive we took @BrooksKTVU on this morning across the SF Bay Bridge to dive deeper into what sadly transpired on Thanksgiving 2022. 🔑: It’s on all of us as drivers to be attentive. pic.twitter.com/gwGnuVq7b6
— Tesla East Bay Fremont (@TeslaOwnersEBay) January 14, 2023
Disclosure: Johnna is a $TSLA shareholder and believes in Tesla’s mission.
-->Your feedback is welcome. If you have any comments or concerns or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter at @JohnnaCrider1.
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News
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
The refreshed Tesla Model 3 has won the DRIVEN Car Guide AA Insurance NZ Car of the Year 2025 award in the Passenger Car category, beating all traditional and electric rivals.
Judges praised the all-electric sedan’s driving dynamics, value-packed EV tech, and the game-changing addition of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) that went live in New Zealand this September.
Why the Model 3 clinched the crown
DRIVEN admitted they were late to the “Highland” party because the updated sedan arrived in New Zealand as a 2024 model, just before the new Model Y stole the headlines. Yet two things forced a re-evaluation this year.
First, experiencing the new Model Y reminded testers how many big upgrades originated in the Model 3, such as the smoother ride, quieter cabin, ventilated seats, rear touchscreen, and stalk-less minimalist interior. Second, and far more importantly, Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
FSD changes everything for Kiwi buyers
The publication called the entry-level rear-wheel-drive version “good to drive and represents a lot of EV technology for the money,” but highlighted that FSD elevates it into another league. “Make no mistake, despite the ‘Supervised’ bit in the name that requires you to remain ready to take control, it’s autonomous and very capable in some surprisingly tricky scenarios,” the review stated.
-->At NZ$11,400, FSD is far from cheap, but Tesla also offers FSD (Supervised) on a $159 monthly subscription, making the tech accessible without the full upfront investment. That’s a game-changer, as it allows users to access the company’s most advanced system without forking over a huge amount of money.
News
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out.
It appears that the Tesla AI team burned the midnight oil, allowing them to release FSD V14.2.1 on Thanksgiving. The update has been reported by Tesla owners with AI4 vehicles, as well as Cybertruck owners.
For the Tesla AI team, at least, it appears that work really does not stop.
FSD V14.2.1
Initial posts about FSD V14.2.1 were shared by Tesla owners on social media platform X. As per the Tesla owners, V14.2.1 appears to be a point update that’s designed to polish the features and capacities that have been available in FSD V14. A look at the release notes for FSD V14.2.1, however, shows that an extra line has been added.
“Camera visibility can lead to increased attention monitoring sensitivity.”
Whether this could lead to more drivers being alerted to pay attention to the roads more remains to be seen. This would likely become evident as soon as the first batch of videos from Tesla owners who received V14.21 start sharing their first drive impressions of the update. Despite the update being released on Thanksgiving, it would not be surprising if first impressions videos of FSD V14.2.1 are shared today, just the same.
-->Rapid FSD releases
What is rather interesting and impressive is the fact that FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out. This bodes well for Tesla’s FSD users, especially since CEO Elon Musk has stated in the past that the V14.2 series will be for “widespread use.”
FSD V14 has so far received numerous positive reviews from Tesla owners, with numerous drivers noting that the system now drives better than most human drivers because it is cautious, confident, and considerate at the same time. The only question now, really, is if the V14.2 series does make it to the company’s wide FSD fleet, which is still populated by numerous HW3 vehicles.
News
Waymo rider data hints that Tesla’s Cybercab strategy might be the smartest, after all
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota Connected Europe designer Karim Dia Toubajie has highlighted a particular trend that became evident in Waymo’s Q3 2025 occupancy stats. As it turned out, 90% of the trips taken by the driverless taxis carried two or fewer passengers.
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota designer observes a trend
Karim Dia Toubajie, Lead Product Designer (Sustainable Mobility) at Toyota Connected Europe, analyzed Waymo’s latest California Public Utilities Commission filings and posted the results on LinkedIn this week.
“90% of robotaxi trips have 2 or less passengers, so why are we using 5-seater vehicles?” Toubajie asked. He continued: “90% of trips have 2 or less people, 75% of trips have 1 or less people.” He accompanied his comments with a graphic showing Waymo’s occupancy rates, which showed 71% of trips having one passenger, 15% of trips having two passengers, 6% of trips having three passengers, 5% of trips having zero passengers, and only 3% of trips having four passengers.
The data excludes operational trips like depot runs or charging, though Toubajie pointed out that most of the time, Waymo’s massive self-driving taxis are really just transporting 1 or 2 people, at times even no passengers at all. “This means that most of the time, the vehicle being used significantly outweighs the needs of the trip,” the Toyota designer wrote in his post.
-->Cybercab suddenly looks perfectly sized
Toubajie gave a nod to Tesla’s approach. “The Tesla Cybercab announced in 2024, is a 2-seater robotaxi with a 50kWh battery but I still believe this is on the larger side of what’s required for most trips,” he wrote.
With Waymo’s own numbers now proving 90% of demand fits two seats or fewer, the wheel-less, lidar-free Cybercab now looks like the smartest play in the room. The Cybercab is designed to be easy to produce, with CEO Elon Musk commenting that its product line would resemble a consumer electronics factory more than an automotive plant. This means that the Cybercab could saturate the roads quickly once it is deployed.
While the Cybercab will likely take the lion’s share of Tesla’s ride-hailing passengers, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover would be perfect for the remaining 9% of riders who require larger vehicles. This should be easy to implement for Tesla, as the Model Y and Model 3 are both mass-market vehicles.
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
