Tesla cuts vehicle prices in China by as much as $5,000

Tesla reduces their prices in China by 5 to 10 percent.

Tesla

Tesla has reversed its most recent price hikes across the board in China — cutting the cost of some models by 5 to 10 percent.

Just last month the company started offering incentives to those who bought Tesla’s insurance. Observers speculate this could signal the beginning of the price war in the country as numerous electric vehicle makers are jousting for the top spot. The implications could be far-reaching as more companies are building EVs, and a recession is looming. Price will be the number one factor for many considering an EV.

Reuters reports Tesla stated, “it was adjusting prices in line with costs. Capacity utilization at its Shanghai Gigafactory has improved, while the supply chain remains stable despite the impact on the economy of China's stringent zero-COVID restrictions, leading to lower costs.” However, the report also claims that retail sales numbers are down, and electric car demand has also slowed.

Interestingly, the slash in prices was reported by The Paper, a Chinese digital newspaper, a month ago. But the media outlet later reported that Tesla China responded to their story, saying “Rumors, false news,” and that customer service “has not received relevant notices.” The drop in prices was remarkably close to the decreases that were rumored a month ago.

There’s been no speculation of a price cut in North America; in fact, the demand remains high with long waiting lists. Elon Musk said during the third quarter earnings call that he doesn’t see that slowing down. He said every vehicle they make would be sold. However, Elon did comment on Twitter back in July of this year saying that Tesla can lower its prices if 'inflation calms down.' We'll have to wait and see if Tesla reduces their prices in any other regions.

However, he did discuss creating a new vehicle that many believe could be the Model 2. This Model is expected to be less expensive, therefore being more competitive with companies who are offering EVs at cheaper prices.

Price Reductions in China

• Model 3 RWD: reduced by $1,400 USD
• Model 3 Performance: reduced by $2,500 USD
• Model Y RWD: reduced by $2,400 USD
• Model Y Long Range: reduced by $5,100 USD
• Model Y Performance: reduced by $2,700 USD

While Tesla is the EV giant in North America, and much of the world, it is third place in China. BYD Motor and SAIC-GM-Wuling are the leaders in that country, but Tesla is gaining. The Shanghai factory is producing 22,000 units per week, a jump of nearly 5,000 since June. The company delivered more than 83,000 vehicles last month, the highest output since the factory open in 2019.

China Merchants Bank International (CMBI) told Reuters the price reductions highlight the looming recession and the industry-wide slowdown that is expected in the EV industry in China.  Shi Ji, an analyst with CMBI said, "The price cuts underscore the possible price war, which we have been emphasizing since August." Some Twitter users are posting screenshots of wait lists developing in China just hours after the prices were dropped.

Tesla Updates FSD From V12.3.6 to V12.5 on Update 2024.44

Not a Tesla App

Tesla maintains two primary software branches: the main feature branch and the FSD branch. In general, the FSD branch lags behind on new features pushed to the main branch but provides a more recent FSD version.

However, now Tesla is updating the main branch to a much more recent version of FSD.

Current FSD Build & Shadow Mode

Nowadays, the main branch always includes an older but stable build of FSD. It’s been on FSD V12.3.6 since July 2024. So, if you subscribe to FSD in North America, this is the FSD version you’ll receive until you get added to the FSD track.

Even if you don’t subscribe to or have purchased FSD, your vehicle has v12.3.6 on it. That includes vehicles in regions where FSD isn’t available for general use, such as Europe and China. In those cases, FSD runs in Shadow Mode, providing training data to Tesla if you’ve agreed to their data privacy policies. So Tesla is always analyzing what the vehicle would do compared to what the driver does. When there are contradictions, these are the clips and data Tesla will want to analyze.

FSD V12.5.4.2 on Main Branch

For the first time in five months, Tesla has now updated the baseline version of FSD in the main branch. The new version included with 2024.44 updates is FSD v12.5.4.2. This Tesla is updating the baseline FSD version to FSD V12.5.4.2

FSD 12.5 includes many features for a much smoother experience compared to FSD 12.3.6. Many users will appreciate that it gets rid of the steering wheel nag and instead relies on the cabin camera to provide real-time driver monitoring. This version also includes support for sunglasses with driver monitoring. It’ll be a big upgrade for anyone coming from FSD 12.3.6.

It's always a good thing when Tesla updates the baseline FSD version—that means that Tesla is confident that this new baseline is considerably safer and will continue to train the fleet against it.

What Update Am I Getting?

If you’re already on FSD V12.5.4.2, you’ll likely remain on that FSD build unless V13.3 manages to make its way to the public as Tesla originally planned, but that’s unlikely to happen before the Thanksgiving holiday. In all likelihood, you’ll be getting update 2024.44, which will give you some additional Tesla features while keeping you on the same FSD version.

For those who are already on 2024.44 - if you subscribe now, you’ll have V12.5.4.2 enabled on your vehicle.

If you have a Cybertruck, then you’ll receive update 2024.39.5 with FSD V12.5.5.3. They’re on a unique build for the moment, and this will likely be the case until Tesla acquires enough training data from the Cybertruck fleet.

What About FSD V12.5.6? V13?

FSD V12.5.6 is currently the build being provided to early access testers who have AI4 vehicles. It has new features like Driver Profiles, better lane change decisions, improved Max Speed Offset, and a few others. Tesla last pushed an update to FSD 12.5.6.2 in early November with some improvements to Driver Profiles.

That build is likely going to be deprecated as Tesla gets closer to releasing FSD v13, which they showed off at the We, Robot event back in October. The AI4 Model Ys and Cybercabs at We, Robot were running an early V13 build/ 

The updated FSD roadmap provided at the end of October mentioned that V13.3 will be the build that will make its way to customers sometime around Thanksgiving, but so far, no employee vehicles have been spotted with FSD v13.

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Tesla Cybertruck: Puddle Lights, Powershare in Canada, Cybertruck on Mars? [Update: FSD Now Available in Canada]

Not a Tesla App

The Cybertruck is having an eventful November. Just last week, we shared the news that Tesla isn’t offering their in-house wrap service for the Cybertruck anymore; the Foundation Series is now available in inventory in select US locations, Crossbars have arrived, and faster charging is around the corner. Now there’s even more to discuss about the stainless steel beast.

Projection Puddle Lights

Like the recently launched puddle lights for the Model 3 and Model Y, Tesla has introduced a set of add-on Projector Puddle Lights for the Cybertruck. These Cybertruck-specific ones go for $75 USD, or $105 CAD and are available in both the Canadian and US Tesla stores.

However, these don’t have the Tesla wordmark - instead, they feature the iconic Cybertruck symbol and, in our opinion, look even nicer. Here’s to hoping Tesla also introduces a set with the graffiti-style Cybertruck wordmark.

Powershare in Canada

While the Foundation Series Cybertruck has been getting delivered in Canada since November 7th, there was no news on Powershare being supported due to regulatory constraints. On the 20th, Foundation Series owners in Canada began to receive emails to get their Powershare installs started through Tesla’s official installer - Qmerit.

More to follow on pricing and the process as we receive our Canadian quote from Qmerit soon.

FSD in Canada

The Cybertruck Program Manager, Siddhant Awasthi, confirmed that with Powershare now becoming available, FSD for the Cybertruck in Canada will also become available soon. Canadian trucks shipped with a factory software build that didn’t include FSD, but did include TACC and stoplight/traffic control.

Early this morning Tesla began rolling out a new version of FSD 12.5.5.3 for the Cybertruck, which is update 2024.39.5. Will this be the version that rolls out in Canada?

Update: Yesterday, Tesla started rolling out FSD on the Cybertruck in Canada for the first time. The update being rolled out is update 2024.39.5, which not only features the latest FSD available on the Cybertruck, version 12.5.5.3, but it also includes all the features update 2024.38, which includes the huge Sentry Mode improvements that reduce power consumption by about 40%.

First Mars Payload

Following Integrated Flight Test 6 for SpaceX’s Starship, Elon Musk confirmed that uncrewed Starships are likely to begin making their way to Mars in about 2 years. You’re probably going to ask what’s going to be in those Starships - that’s what Brett Winston on X asked as well. Elon confirmed that Cybertrucks and Optimus robots will be among some of the first items landing on Mars.

That’s a ton of awesome news for Cybertruck, and there’s absolutely going to be more around the corner, especially as we await the big Tesla Holiday Update. While you wait, why not take a look at our Holiday Update Wishlists?

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