Tesla's Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen alludes to new colors coming to North America
Tesla
Tesla's Giga Berlin factory started producing vehicles in the new Quicksilver and Midnight Cherry Red in October 2022. Since then, Tesla enthusiasts, observers and future buyers have been waiting for the new colors to start spreading to other regions. While there have been several changes to the Tesla ordering page, mainly the price, the five colors have remained the same. But that may be due for a refresh.
Tesla's New "Pretty" Colors
Tesla's Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen appeared on the Ride the Lightning podcast. Host Ryan McCaffrey asked about bringing the new colors to North America, pointing out that the same five colors have been available for several years. He asked if we were due for new paint colors in this country, and von Holzhausen replied, "yeah, I hope so." After the host reminded von Holzhausen (at the 43rd minute of the podcast) that he was in charge of that, the designer said, "yeah, wait and see."
While von Holzhausen always has to be guarded with his responses, he may have given enough information earlier in the interview to guarantee that new colors are coming to North America. "Both those colors are so pretty in person," gushed the 54-year-old, "tough to capture how really amazing those colors are until you see them in person."
Gleaming with pride, the designer reminisced about creating those colors, "we developed all the colors here (Fremont) with the team. We evolve them and do all the testing and kind of developments. As with anything we design, we're always trying to make the best we can at the moment. If we can improve it, then we will."
Von Holzhausen Talking Colors
Franz von Holzhausen talks about new paint colors at the 43rd minute mark below.
Time and Resources to Develop
A lot of time and resources went into producing Quicksilver and Midnight Cherry Red just to be used in the Giga Berlin location. We know Elon Musk does not waste time on production, and given the positive feedback, it would make sense to offer more colors.
Given that more Teslas are on the road than ever before and the company continues to pump out thousands of cars daily, it may be time for some more options. Pearl White Multi-Coat, Solid Black, Midnight Silver Metallic, Deep Blue Metallic and Red Multi-Coat have done the company well. But, follow a few Tesla forums, and you will see that many people are wrapping their Tesla to give a unique look and stand out from the pack.
Tesla's production has thrived because of streamlined choices. So, it's unlikely that Tesla would keep the existing gray and red colors and would likely replace them with these new options.
Tesla’s first major update of 2025, software update 2025.2, is now rolling out to select vehicles in North America and Europe. While the update isn’t widespread yet, it is rolling out to most vehicles, including HW3 and HW4 cars. The Cybertruck and legacy Model S/X vehicles are currently the only vehicles that haven’t received this update.
Let’s take a look at everything we know that’s included in this update.
Third-Party Charger Preconditioning
First up, vehicles will now support preconditioning for third-party chargers. While this was previously available in Europe for approved third-party chargers that met Tesla’s strict standards, it’s now available in North America for the first time.
What’s New: When you navigate to a charging location, whether it’s listed in the vehicle’s charging locations or not, the vehicle will now precondition the battery for faster charging. It looks like the vehicle will automatically determine if the destination is an EV charging location and enable preconditioning. If the destination is a charging location, you’ll see a little banner show up, letting you know the vehicle’s battery is now being preconditioned. There isn’t a button to manually precondition the battery yet.
What’s Not Added: In Europe, the vehicle's charging filter shows approved third-party chargers. Unfortunately, it does not look like this is being added in North America, where Tesla only displays Superchargers and destination chargers. However, the above feature still applies in North America, where the vehicle will precondition the battery for fast chargers such as Electrify America.
The video below shows how the feature will work:
Muchos me habéis pedido que haga un vídeo de cómo se activa el precalentamiento en cargadores "no Tesla". Pues simplemente, en la ruta que elijáis, pulsáis sobre el cargador en cuestión y automáticamente se activa solo. pic.twitter.com/snMoPDx6Dr
Following up on the addition of rear cross-traffic alerts showing up as red indicators as part of the 2024 Tesla Holiday Update, Tesla is now adding an alert chime to go with it. Now, there is a visual indicator on the screen, as well as an audible indicator that a vehicle or object has been detected crossing behind you.
This is a great addition and almost looked like a glaring omission in the initial release of the feature. Tesla likely wanted to make sure the feature was working as expected in the wider fleet before introducing a more drastic alert.
The chime is enabled by default, but if you want to disable it, you can go to Controls > Safety > Rear Cross-Traffic Chime to disable it. Joe Mode will reduce the chime’s volume if you prefer that instead.
Improved Phone Key Reliability: Ultra-wideband (UWB) is an alternative to Bluetooth, which offers highly accurate positioning and tracking of devices. It uses about the same amount of energy as Bluetooth Low Energy but with increased location accuracy. By having your phone communicate with the vehicle over UWB, the vehicle knows exactly where your phone is in relation to the car, drastically increasing the reliability of your vehicle’s phone key.
Hands-Free Trunk and Frunk Opening: More precise location tracking enables new features such as Hands-Free Trunk and Hands-Free Frunk support. This feature has been available on iOS devices for approximately a year and will now be available on Android devices.
Supported Models: Unfortunately, not all models are supported, and your vehicle needs to have ultra-wideband sensors. Supported models include the 2021+ Model S and Model X, the 2024+ Model 3, the Cybertruck, and the upcoming 2025+ Model Y. Only the Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck support the hands-free frunk.
Supported Phones: Most recent Android phones support ultra-wideband, especially flagship devices, however, it’s not available on all phones. If you have a Google Pixel 6 or higher, Samsung Fold 2 or higher, Samsung S21+, or other recent Android phone, then your phone already supports ultra wideband.
Users with Android devices with UWB will initially be prompted to “Upgrade” their phone key when opening the Tesla app. This will switch your phone key from using Bluetooth to ultra-wideband. Once upgraded, you can go to Controls > Locks > Hands-Free Frunk / Trunk in your vehicle settings to enable the new hands-free feature. If you aren’t prompted for the upgrade, you’ll find it under Security & Drivers > Phone Key > Upgrade in the Tesla app.
Weather Information
With every Tesla update, there are smaller features, and this one is no different. In this update, the weather information is now displayed for both the final destination and any additional stops (waypoints) you have set along the way. Previously, the weather would only be displayed for your current location and your destination.
Battle of Polytopia
Next up, Battle of Polytopia is receiving another update. This time “The Forgotten” skin is being added for the recently-added Aquarion faction, adding some old-world Atlantis vibes to the fishy folk. Additional language support and balance changes are also included in this Battle of Polytopia update.
Cybertruck Charging Improvements
Last month we reported that The Cybertruck is expected to receive charging and regenerative braking improvements soon. Tesla was aiming at releasing these updates in the 2025.2 update, so there’s a chance that these cold weather improvements are also included in the 2025.2 update, but we won’t know for sure until the Cybertruck starts receiving this update in the coming days or weeks.
Other Features?
Since this update hasn’t rolled out to all models or regions yet, it’s possible we may see some additional features added in this update, although at this point, it may only be features for the Cybertruck or the legacy Model S and Model X.
Finally, as usual, Tesla includes minor fixes, performance enhancements, security fixes, and improvements. If you notice any undocumented changes, please let us know.
Well-known Tesla hacker Greentheonly has discovered a new FSD computer labeled Model Y “Reloaded.” This AI4 FSD computer differs from other Model Y Autopilot hardware which is usually just labeled “Model Y.”
Initially, it looks like this new computer may be for the just-announced refreshed Model Y Juniper, which is now open for orders in North America and Europe as well as Asia Pacific, but several features reveal it’s not for Tesla’s upcoming best-seller.
So, with that said, put on your detective hats, we’re going for a little sleuth into what exactly this “Reloaded” computer could be used for.
Model Y Reloaded Computer
The AI4 computer is the brain behind Tesla’s FSD. It is the Autopilot computer, where all the vehicle’s cameras connect, enabling real-time data processing and analysis.
This particular unit is not the standard FSD unit that’s being shipped with the current, now “first-gen” Model Y. The biggest sign that it differs from the current AI4 computer is that it features a connector for the front bumper camera. While the 2024 Model 3 was expected to come with a front bumper camera, it was only ever available on the Cybertruck and will soon be available on the new 2025 Model Y.
This is similar to the physical connector for the front bumper camera present in newer iterations of the Model S and Model X computers. These vehicles were originally slated to get a bumper camera last year, but that hasn’t happened yet. We reported back in 2022 that they received the additional camera hook-ups but no camera.
Tesla recently issued a recall for the AI4 computer, citing physical and software issues that could cause a potential short on the board. According to Green, this board is not the recalled unit but could instead be a replacement unit. However, why the board includes a front bumper camera connection remains a mystery.
Not a Juniper FSD Computer
We know that this isn’t the correct part for the refreshed Model Y Juniper because it lacks a connector for the secondary rear screen in the upcoming model.
Additionally, Tesla has labeled this computer unit as “MY Reloaded” - previous versions of the computer for the Model Y were listed as just “MY.” In addition, all the other computer versions have been pulled from Tesla’s Electronic Parts Catalogue - only this one is now available as Part #2003160-S0-E.
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@greentheonly on X
Speculation
This new FSD hardware doesn’t appear to match the current or new Model Y, so what could it be? Well, there are a few things here. Tesla wouldn’t bother populating that front bumper camera slot for no reason - and this computer is a slightly different form factor than the one that goes in the Model S and Model X - so they’re not just sharing parts between the Model S and Model Y.
The most likely scenario is that Tesla is planning to replace any faulty AI4 computers with this updated part. But could Tesla be open to offering a retrofit for the front bumper camera? It’s important to note that this is not the hardware upgrade that many HW3 owners are waiting for. It is a different form factor than the HW3 computer and wouldn’t fit in HW3 vehicles. If anything, this is a potential replacement for the AI4 computer to support forward compatibility if FSD ever requires a bumper camera.
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@greentheonly on X
Bumper Camera Retrofit?
Is Tesla planning to offer a front bumper camera retrofit? Maybe. Tesla doesn’t typically offer retrofits. They did for several items in the past, but they have largely stopped doing so.
Tesla included a front bumper camera on the refreshed Model Y Juniper, as well as on the Cybertruck - and it could be extremely useful for both Actually Smart Summon and FSD to remove the frontal blind spot.
However, it could be an optional feature rather than a retrofit feature. Until FSD Unsupervised arrives, we won’t know for sure whether a bumper camera is required.
For now, it would be best to keep an eye on this. Just like the Model S and Model X having the slot populated, it may not necessarily happen, but it leaves the door open for a future upgrade if necessary.
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