Firmware
What We Know About Tesla Firmware 7.0
If you’re an owner of a Model S, chances are you’ve been waiting anxiously for Tesla’s upcoming firmware 7.0 update which promises Autopilot capabilities along with a completely revamped user interface.
UPDATE: Elon Musk takes to Twitter and announces October 15 rollout of Version 7
Until recently there’s been no official reveal of firmware 7.0 by Tesla however video leaks from Model S beta-testers provide insight on what’s in store in this next major release.
Tesla Firmware 7.0 – What we know so far
We know that the Model X will be delivered with firmware 7.0 but Model S owners are still waiting for the official roll out. I’ll be sure to provide an in-depth review of each feature once I receive the over-the-air update on my Model S.
Overall the whole look of the user interface (UI) has been flattened which may take some time to get used to, similar to when Apple made the major UI change on iOS. You have a mixed bag of opinions when it came to the new iOS look. Some love it and others seemed to have just gotten used to it, and I expect we’ll have a similar experience when firmware 7.0 is released.
Dashboard updates
The dashboard display seems to have received the most significant updates in 7.0 and include the following features.
Center Display
- The speedometer (center portion) is completely gone and replaced with new elements.(see questions below for non-autopilot cars)
- The driving speed is now displayed as a large number and replaces the analog display.
- The cruise control symbol appears near the speed when activated.
- Range has been moved from the center display to the bottom left.
- Driving mode (P, R, N, D) is displayed on the bottom right of the screen.
- A major new element that appears on screen is an image of your Model S towards the portion of the center display (see video below). The image adjusts according to the following statuses:
- Blind spot warning indicators
- Lane keep assist indicators
- Traffic Aware Cruise Control indicator
- Standard indicators like turn signals, hazard indicators, brake lights, headlights
- Speed limit warning indicator
- Collision warning indicator
- Headlight, high beam and auto high beam indicators still appear on the top left.
- There’s a new tow indicator when you have something attached to the Model X hitch.
- Hill hold is much improved and there’s a special hill hold indicator on the dash now.
Left and right side widgets:
- A clock widget is now available but, without activating this, there doesn’t seem to be any other indicators of time and date from the center display.
- An updated energy graph is present. This widget also pops up when power is limited.
- The trip widget received a major UI update and displays the since last charge and trip meter (A), but removes the second trip meter (B). The second trip meter is still accessible but only through the 17″ center touchscreen display.
- There is a “Car Status” widget which displays a real-time in-context view of the vehicle’s current state (seat belt warning, parking and proximity sensor indicators, .. etc). Among the statuses being displayed is a tire pressure readout for each corner. Tire pressures are displayed while the vehicle is in motion.
17″ Screen Updates
The 17″ touchscreen received relatively minor updates when compared with the center display. Most of the updates appear to be cosmetic with little refresh of the existing apps. Limitations of the onboard Navigation system, slow browser problems, and previously found issues seem to persist in firmware 7.0.
The few improvements we’ve seen so far are found in the version for the Model X
- Controls for opening/closing driver/passenger doors
- Controls for opening/closing falcon wing doors
- Visuals for the new doors
- A bioweapon defense mode control
- A cool overlay when an automatic door is open
What’s obviously missing
Some key features are still obviously missing from 7.0 for most people — basically everything related to self-driving has yet to come.
- Auto park
- Auto steer
- Automatic lane change
I’ve seen very few pictures and videos of these features across YouTube and various outlets. There’s a TMC forum thread which discusses the 7.0 release notes.
What we don’t know
There are a number of unanswered questions surround Tesla firmware 7.0.
- How is the set cruise control speed shown? (not cruise enabled but the speed I have it set to)
- How is limited regeneration shown? Is it only through the pop up energy widget?
- How is limited power (acceleration) shown? Is it only through the pop up energy widget?
- Do non-autopilot Model S’ get the same center display? It seems like a pretty big waste of space since there’s little to show in that real estate for cars that do not have the autopilot hardware.
- Will all cars be able to show the tire pressure readings or will the feature be limited to certain models that perhaps have updated sensors?
- Did any of the 17″ screen widgets receive improvements (Navigation, I’m talking about you)?
- Will there be different displays for autopilot vs non-autopilot cars? There’s been differences spotted between dashboard displays as seen in our first report of firmware 7.0 and a more recent video captured by a Model S beta-tester in Europe (enable closed-captioning in English).
Timing
We know that lucky Model X owners in North America are already out and about using version 7.0, but it appears to be a slightly different variation than what Model S owners will receive.
The beta auto-steering functions appear to be enabled for only a small number of people with 7.0. Any 7.0 caught in the wild is still considered a beta or pre-release version.
UPDATE: Elon Musk has since announced via Twitter that Version 7 will go to ‘wide release on Thursday’ (Oct 15, 2015)
Some exciting news this week: Tesla Version 7 software with Autopilot goes to wide release on Thursday!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2015
I expect that we’ll start seeing a roll out of firmware 7.0 to Model S owners sometime in November, timed with the deliveries of Model X throughout North America. But as most people know, Tesla’s release dates are increasingly difficult to guess at.
I hope that beyond the interface changes, autopilot features will be included with the upcoming software release. I suspect there will be angry discourse among the Tesla social community if this feature is omitted.
Summary
I’m still not sure what I think about version 7.0 but in general I’m a fan of the flat and cleaned-up look.
A lot of information that I’ve gotten used to will no longer be on the dash display. My guess is that the overall dash display will be a lot less busy. There’s also going to be a lot of empty space reserved for displaying information that my pre-autopilot Model S isn’t capable of capturing. My hunch is that firmware 7.0 will be a bit of a disappointment for early Model S adopters that lack the autopilot hardware. On the other hand, Model S owners with autopilot will likely welcome the plethora of information that will be presented on the center display.
If you have hands-on experience with firmware 7.0 on a Model X or you’re a Model S 7.0 tester looking to share some more insight, leave me your thoughts in the comments below.
Elon Musk
Tesla confirmed HW3 can’t do Unsupervised FSD but there’s more to the story
Tesla confirmed HW3 vehicles cannot run unsupervised FSD, replacing its free upgrade promise with a discounted trade-in.
Tesla has officially confirmed that early vehicles with its Autopilot Hardware 3 (HW3) will not be capable of unsupervised Full Self-Driving, while extending a path forward for legacy owners through a discounted trade-in program. The announcement came by way of Elon Musk in today’s Tesla Q1 2026 earnings call.
🚨 Our LIVE updates on the Tesla Earnings Call will take place here in a thread 🧵
Follow along below: pic.twitter.com/hzJeBitzJU
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 22, 2026
The history here matters. HW3 launched in April 2019, and Tesla sold Full Self-Driving packages to owners on the understanding that the hardware was sufficient for full autonomy. Some owners paid between $8,000 and $15,000 for FSD during that period. For years, as FSD’s AI models grew more demanding, HW3 vehicles fell progressively further behind, eventually landing on FSD v12.6 in January 2025 while AI4 vehicles moved to v13 and then v14. When Musk acknowledged in January 2025 that HW3 simply could not reach unsupervised operation, and alluded to a difficult hardware retrofit.
The near-term offering is more concrete. Tesla’s head of Autopilot Ashok Elluswamy confirmed on today’s call that a V14-lite will be coming to HW3 vehicles in late June, bringing all the V14 features currently running on AI4 hardware. That is a meaningful software update for owners who have been frozen at v12.6 for over a year, and it represents genuine effort to keep older hardware relevant. Unsupervised FSD for vehicles is now targeted for Q4 2026 at the earliest, with Musk describing it as a gradual, geography-limited rollout.
For HW3 owners, the over-the-air V14-lite update is welcomed, and the discounted trade-in path at least acknowledges an old obligation. What happens next with the trade-in pricing will define how this chapter ultimately gets written. If Tesla prices the hardware path fairly, acknowledges what early adopters are owed, and delivers V14-lite on the June timeline it committed to today, it has a real opportunity to convert one of the longest-running sore subjects among early adopters into a loyalty story.
Tesla announced its Spring 2026 software update, and it’s the most feature-dense seasonal release the company has put out. The update covers twelve named changes spanning FSD, voice AI, safety lighting, dashcam storage, and pet display customization, among other things.
The centerpiece for owners with AI4 hardware is a redesigned Self-Driving app. The new interface lets owners subscribe to Full Self-Driving with a single tap and view ongoing FSD usage stats directly in the vehicle.
Grok gets its biggest in-car upgrade yet. The update adds a “Hey Grok” hands-free wake word along with location-based reminders, so a driver can now say “remind me to pick up groceries when I get home” without touching the screen. Grok first arrived in vehicles in July 2025, but each update has pushed it closer to genuine daily utility. Musk framed the broader vision clearly at Davos in January, saying Tesla is “really moving into a future that is based on autonomy.”
On safety, the update introduces enhanced blind spot warning lights that integrate directly with the cabin’s ambient lighting, building on the blind spot door warning that arrived in update 2026.8.
Dog Mode has been renamed Pet Mode and now lets owners choose a dog, cat, or hedgehog icon and add their pet’s name to the display.
Dashcam retention now extends up to 24 hours, up from the previous one-hour rolling loop, with a permanent save option for any clip. Weather maps now show rain and snow with better color differentiation and include the past hour of precipitation data along the route.
Tesla has now established a clear rhythm of two major OTA pushes per year. As with last year’s Spring update, that cycle started taking shape in 2025 with adaptive headlights and trunk customization. The 2025 Holiday Update then added Grok to the vehicle for the first time. This Spring follows that structure: the Holiday update introduces new architecture, and the Spring update broadens it across the fleet.
Two notable features still did not make it. IFTTT automations, which launched in China earlier this year, were held back from this North American release for unknown reasons, and Apple CarPlay remains absent, reportedly still delayed by iOS 26 and Apple Maps compatibility issues.
Below is the full list of feature updates released by Tesla.
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 13, 2026
It appears that Tesla may be preparing to roll out some subscription-based services soon. Based on the observations of a Wales-based Model 3 owner who performed some reverse-engineering on the Tesla mobile app, it seems that the electric car maker has added a new “Subscribe” option beside the “Buy” option within the “Upgrades” tab, at least behind the scenes.
A screenshot of the new option was posted in the r/TeslaMotors subreddit, and while the Tesla owner in question, u/Callump01, admitted that the screenshot looks like something that could be easily fabricated, he did submit proof of his reverse-engineering to the community’s moderators. The moderators of the r/TeslaMotors subreddit confirmed the legitimacy of the Model 3 owner’s work, further suggesting that subscription options may indeed be coming to Tesla owners soon.
Did some reverse engineering on the app and Tesla looks to be preparing for subscriptions? from r/teslamotors
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite has been heavily speculated to be offered as a subscription option, similar to the company’s Premium Connectivity feature. And back in April, noted Tesla hacker @greentheonly stated that the company’s vehicles already had the source codes for a pay-as-you-go subscription model. The Tesla hacker suggested then that Tesla would likely release such a feature by the end of the year — something that Elon Musk also suggested in the first-quarter earnings call. “I think we will offer Full Self-Driving as a subscription service, but it will be probably towards the end of this year,” Musk stated.
While the signs for an upcoming FSD subscription option seem to be getting more and more prominent as the year approaches its final quarter, the details for such a feature are still quite slim. Pricing for FSD subscriptions, for example, have not been teased by Elon Musk yet, though he has stated on Twitter that purchasing the suite upfront would be more worth it in the long term. References to the feature in the vehicles’ source code, and now in the Tesla mobile app, also listed no references to pricing.
The idea of FSD subscriptions could prove quite popular among electric car owners, especially since it would allow budget-conscious customers to make the most out of the company’s driver-assist and self-driving systems without committing to the features’ full price. The current price of the Full Self-Driving suite is no joke, after all, being listed at $8,000 on top of a vehicle’s cost. By offering subscriptions to features like Navigate on Autopilot with automatic lane changes, owners could gain access to advanced functions only as they are needed.
Elon Musk, for his part, has explained that ultimately, he still believes that purchasing the Full Self-Driving suite outright provides the most value to customers, as it is an investment that would pay off in the future. “I should say, it will still make sense to buy FSD as an option as in our view, buying FSD is an investment in the future. And we are confident that it is an investment that will pay off to the consumer – to the benefit of the consumer.” Musk said.
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