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Tesla is trying to make a statement with its Q2 delivery numbers

Tesla’s aggressive promotions for its vehicles today are quite strategic.

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Credit: Tesla/X

It is no secret that Tesla had subpar delivery numbers in the first quarter. It was due to a number of things, most of all the changeover to the new Model Y across its factories worldwide. The results, however, were enough for critics, both longtime and new, to declare that Tesla is just about done.

Looking at Tesla’s recently rolled out promotions across its lineup, however, it seems like the electric vehicle maker is dead serious about proving its skeptics wrong. 

Promotions, Promotions Everywhere

Just recently, Tesla announced that it was rolling out yet another free FSD transfer program for its customers. Such a program is designed to encourage longtime Tesla owners who may be holding onto their old vehicles with FSD to upgrade to a newer car. Tesla noted that its free FSD transfer is available for the Model S, X, 3, Y, and the Cybertruck in North America.

Tesla also announced a 0% APR financing program for new Model 3 orders in the United States. The Model 3 Performance even received an extra incentive, with the company offering premium paint colors such as Deep Blue Metallic and Pearl White for free with every vehicle purchase. Owners of Model Y classic units are also offered a $2,000 discount off the price of a new Model Y. Cybertruck customers, on the other hand, are offered special leasing rates.

Over in China, Tesla has announced a five-year, zero-interest financing program for the new Model Y. A similar program was also made available for the Model 3 sedan.

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Taking Control of the “Demand Issue” Narrative

Tesla’s aggressive promotions for its vehicles today are quite strategic. The United States and China, after all, are two of the company’s largest markets. If Tesla wishes to post healthy delivery numbers this Q2, robust delivery numbers in the U.S. and China are practically required. 

When Tesla announced its earnings earlier this week, critics were overjoyed to see that the company had seen a notable drop in revenue. Arguments about the company’s demand issues were highlighted anew as well. It’s ironic, but just a few months after the Model Y secured its place as the world’s best-selling car by volume for the second year in a row, arguments about Tesla’s demand issues are abounding once more.

It remains to be seen if Tesla’s aggressive promotions this Q2 will make a difference in its vehicle sales worldwide. But if the company ends the second quarter with an impressive number of vehicle deliveries, it could take control of its demand narrative with authority. 

A Potential Elon Musk Point

A healthy delivery result for the second quarter may also renew faith among investors that CEO Elon Musk is indeed serious about leading Tesla to new heights. Over the past months, Musk’s attention had been evidently focused on his activities with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but during the Q1 2025 earnings call, the CEO stated that he would be spending more time at Tesla starting May. 

This suggests that Musk would be extremely hands-on with the electric car maker for the majority of Q2 2025. Tesla is typically at its best when pushed by its aggressive CEO, so it would be interesting to see just how far the company could go before the end of June 2025.

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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 FSD (Supervised) is about to go on “widespread” release

In a comment last October, Elon Musk stated that FSD V14.2 is “for widespread use.”

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Tesla has begun rolling out Full Self-Driving (Supervised) V14.2, and with this, the wide release of the system could very well begin. 

The update introduces a new high-resolution vision encoder, expanded emergency-vehicle handling, smarter routing, new parking options, and more refined driving behavior, among other improvements.

FSD V14.2 improvements

FSD (Supervised) V14.2’s release notes highlight a fully upgraded neural-network vision encoder capable of reading higher-resolution features, giving the system improved awareness of emergency vehicles, road obstacles, and even human gestures. Tesla also expanded its emergency-vehicle protocols, adding controlled pull-overs and yielding behavior for police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances, among others.

A deeper integration of navigation and routing into the vision network now allows the system to respond to blocked roads or detours in real time. The update also enhances decision-making in several complex scenarios, including unprotected turns, lane changes, vehicle cut-ins, and interactions with school buses. All in all, these improvements should help FSD (Supervised) V14.2 perform in a very smooth and comfortable manner.

Elon Musk’s predicted wide release

The significance of V14.2 grows when paired with Elon Musk’s comments from October. While responding to FSD tester AI DRIVR, who praised V14.1.2 for fixing “95% of indecisive lane changes and braking” and who noted that it was time for FSD to go on wide release, Musk stated that “14.2 for widespread use.”

FSD V14 has so far received a substantial amount of positive reviews from Tesla owners, many of whom have stated that the system now drives better than some human drivers as it is confident, cautious, and considerate at the same time. With V14.2 now rolling out, it remains to be seen if the update also makes it to the company’s wide FSD fleet, which is still populated by a large number of HW3 vehicles. 

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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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