Tesla is updating their Safety Score program to version 2.0, up from v1.2. The Safety Score acts as a driving coach for Tesla owners. It assesses their driving behavior and provides feedback on how they can improve their habits, potentially resulting in lower insurance premiums. And now, with version 2.0, Tesla has introduced two new safety factors and updated the calculation of the Safety Score. Let's take a closer look at what these changes mean for Tesla owners.
The Safety Score is between 0 and 100, with a higher score indicating safer driving. It is based on several metrics called Safety Factors, which are measured by the Tesla vehicle using various sensors and Autopilot software. The Safety Score aims to encourage safer driving habits and potentially result in lower insurance premiums for Tesla owners.
What's New in Safety Score 2.0
The new Safety Factors are Excessive Speeding and Unbuckled Driving. Excessive Speeding is defined as the proportion of time spent driving more than 85 mph, while Unbuckled Driving is defined as the proportion of time spent driving above ten mph without fastening the driver’s seatbelt. Late Night Driving, added in version 1.2, has also been updated to be risk-weighted based on when drivers are driving from 10 PM to 4 AM, with the impact on the Safety Score reduced earlier in the night and increased later in the night.
The updates are added to other safety factors, including Forward Collision Warnings, Hard Braking, Aggressive Turning, Unsafe Following and Forced Autopilot Disengagement. The Safety Score is calculated using the Predicted Collision Frequency (PCF) formula, which is based on statistical modeling using 8 billion miles of fleet data.
It is worth noting that yellow traffic light detection is only available on vehicles with FSD hardware 3.0 or later. The Tesla vehicle relies on its cameras and firmware to detect yellow traffic lights, so it may not detect all yellow traffic lights. Examples of situations that could lead to undetected yellow traffic lights include when the cameras are obscured or do not have a line of sight of the traffic signals, inclement weather, or low light environments.
How to Achieve a Safe Score
Unfortunately, Tesla's Safety Score isn't available for everyone, at least not yet. To see your Safety Score, you need to have Tesla Insurance or have requested FSD Beta, but have not received it yet.
To determine which Safety Score version you're on, you can open the Tesla app and scroll to the bottom of the Safety Score screen. It'll show you whether you're enrolled in version 1.0, 1.2 or 2.0.
Tesla owners can improve their Safety Score by improving each Safety Factor, such as maintaining a safe following distance, engaging the brake pedal early, turning gradually, not tailgating, planning trips to avoid driving between 10 PM and 4 AM, and fastening their seatbelts before driving.
It is important to note that miles driven while Autopilot is engaged are not used to determine the Forward Collision Warnings per 1,000 Miles. Additionally, driving on Autopilot (including 5 seconds after Autopilot is disengaged) will not be factored into the Safety Score formula. Still, the miles driven while on Autopilot are included in the total.
Safety Score 2.0 Requirements
Safety Score 2.0 requires the vehicle to be on software update 2023.2.12 or later (2021.24.25 or later for Tegra vehicles) or be enrolled in FSD Beta version 11.3 or higher.
The Safety Score can help drivers identify areas to improve, such as reducing speed or maintaining a safe following distance. In addition to providing feedback to individual drivers, the Safety Score data is also used by Tesla to improve the safety features of their vehicles. The data collected from millions of miles of driving can be analyzed to identify patterns and trends in driving behavior, which can then be used to inform the development of new safety features or improvements to existing features.
Overall, Tesla's Safety Score is a powerful tool for promoting safer driving habits and improving the safety of its vehicles, which are already the safest in the world.
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Tesla has been working on the 4680 cell since 2023, with its initial deployment of the structural battery pack Model Y. This was quickly pulled from sales due to lackluster charging performance, but the latest generation of the 4680 cells can now achieve charging speeds of up to 500kW, which is a huge improvement.
However, Tesla has invested in a 4680 new cell design that will help drive down costs to make these vehicles more affordable.
Lowest Price Per kWh
Michael Guilfoy, Tesla’s Director of Cell Manufacturing Operations, mentioned on LinkedIn that Tesla has finally achieved a major milestone with the 4680 cell. One of the goals for 4680 was to bring down the cost per kWh to the lowest of all Tesla’s cells - and as of the end of 2024, they’ve done just that.
The Cybercell - the 2nd generation of the 4680 cell- is now Tesla’s lowest cost per kWh cell, meaning that it is the cheapest to produce for Tesla in terms of assembling the parts that go into a vehicle battery pack.
While the Cybertruck is the only Tesla that using the 4680 right now, the 4680 cell is primed to be Tesla’s primary cell going forward due to cost savings, manufacturing optimizations, and usefulness as part of the vehicle structure.
The 4680 cell also offers significant weight savings while also being more rigid, which allows Tesla to build vehicles in a unique fashion that are far safer than others on the road today.
Of course, 4680 isn’t the only cell Tesla is developing - they’ve got a whole host of other things they’re working on. Tesla is developing four new cell types, with some potentially launching in 2026.
Dry Cathode on the Horizon
Guilfoy also mentioned that this isn’t Tesla Energy’s only achievement this year - there’s more upcoming. One of these is the Dry Cathode tech that will help drive that cost down even further.
Dry Cathode manufacturing removes the toxic solvents and furnace baking processes from the battery manufacturing process, saving time and being more environmentally friendly, but it is a new technology. Tesla has been working on this for quite some time - in fact, since the initial introduction of the 1st generation of 4680 cells back in 2023.
We’re quite excited to see what Tesla will do next with the 4680 and their other future cells. Perhaps it is time for the good old 2170 cell to be laid to rest? That’s something we’ll find out in the near future - as the Model S and Model X Plaid rely upon the 2170 to be able to produce the instantaneous power required to make them so fast - but the 4680 cell in the Cyberbeast can do much the same.
With FSD now beginning to roll out to more regions outside the United States and Canada - namely Mexico and China - there’s hope that we’ll see more of a global rollout. That hope also includes Europe, which is stuck behind a relatively thick wall of regulation, preventing Tesla from easily deploying its autonomy software in any nations that follow the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) commerce guidelines on autonomy.
The UNECE sets regulations for the entire European Union - as well as some countries outside of the EU, such as the United Kingdom. However, the body responsible for autonomy meets infrequently, sometimes with months between sessions. The last meeting occurred last month, while the next meeting isn’t taking place again until at least June, and autonomy isn’t even on the agenda for that meeting.
Teasing FSD
However, that doesn’t stop Tesla from showing off what FSD is capable of - even in Europe. In a lighthearted post on X, Tesla Europe showed off FSD Supervised in Europe, with the caption “pending regulatory approval”.
— Tesla Europe & Middle East (@teslaeurope) April 5, 2025
Tesla’s executives, including Elon Musk, have mentioned that FSD is ready for Europe - the biggest constraint is regulatory approval. There is still some hope that Tesla could get around UNECE regulation 157, which governs autonomy with some nation-by-nation deals, but that will take time and regulatory effort to grind through all the red tape.
While it seems FSD and Tesla are ready to launch the moment regulatory approval arrives, the UNECE is set on taking the snail’s pace to this challenge, with comments from participating nations stating:
“While [a driver assistance system] may help reduce collisions, it may also introduce new safety risks.”
For those Europeans who are waiting, petitioning your representatives to work on autonomy is going to be key to getting FSD approved in Europe. Without consumer support, politicians have no reason to focus on something so specific. Meanwhile, they can approve six new and different types of light fixtures in three days.
So - when is FSD coming to Europe? Whenever regulation permits - because at this point, it definitely isn’t a data or training issue - Tesla has clearly gathered the key information it needs to make a product comparable to what’s available in North America. Tesla is confident enough to test and show off in action on X, so we hope that’s enough to at least get some regulators’ attention.