Tesla's Model 3 Long Range will be based on Project Highland
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The Tesla Model 3 has become a staple in the electric vehicle market, and fans eagerly await news of the highly anticipated Highland refresh. Rumors have been swirling about the possible start date of production, with some suggesting it could begin as early as June 1st. Despite denials from Tesla China, one of our sources has now confirmed that Tesla is indeed planning to kick off Project Highland in June.
Production Start Rumors Abound for Model 3 Highland
Recent rumors of the production start for the Model 3 Highland refresh were ignited by a tweet from Yan Chang (@cyfoxcat) stating that Tesla's Shanghai factory will prohibit workers from bringing cell phones into the workshop starting June 1st. This led to speculation that the Model 3 Highland would begin trial production on this date.
One of our sources, who has provided factual information in the past, is not only confirming the June production plans, but also signifying that the Model 3 Long Range model, will be Project Highland. The Model 3 Long Range was reintroduced in the U.S. earlier this month and has an estimated ship date of June, 2023.
Tesla China Denies Rumors, but History Suggests Otherwise
Tesla China has officially denied the rumors that appeared on Twitter, stating that there are no current plans to begin production on the Model 3 Highland. However, it is worth noting that Tesla China has previously denied rumors that later turned out to be true. Therefore, our source is confident in their information, but given the complexities of supply chains and other factors, it's essential to remember that dates can shift.
A Reminder of the Model 3 Highland Refresh Features
As a refresher, the Model 3, Project Highland is a significant redesign of the current Model 3, with updates such as striking new headlights, removing fog lights, additional cameras, improved GPS accuracy, and interior updates such as a fabric finish in place of the current wood trim. The refresh showcases Tesla's commitment to innovation and continuous improvement.
While the rumored production start is exciting, it is essential to remember that many factors could alter the date, such as supply chain issues, software delays, or retooling delays.
The Model 3 Highland refresh highlights Tesla's dedication to evolving its vehicles and staying ahead of the competition with exciting new features and updates that will generate buzz among Tesla enthusiasts. Stay tuned for more information as we continue to follow the developments surrounding the Highland project.
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Tesla’s FSD V13.2.2 continues its rollout to the HW4 fleet, now complete with holiday goodness that makes it available to all HW4 vehicles. While FSD V13 is capable of some incredible feats, such as three-point turns, there are some additional capabilities Tesla hasn’t talked about yet.
Emergency Vehicle Handling
First up, better handling for emergency vehicles. While Tesla works on gathering audio data to make emergency vehicle detection even better, Tesla improved how it handles emergency vehicles with FSD V13.
FSD previously had issues handling emergency vehicles - sometimes pulling over and stopping on V12, other times requiring driver intervention to do the job. This led to lots of user interventions when an emergency vehicle was detected. Ensuring you’re out of the way of an ambulance can save precious seconds - which is enough to save lives.
V13 now does a much better job of pulling overly safely to the side for emergency vehicles. Check out the video below of FSD pulling the vehicle over to the side of the road.
Another issue that FSD had trouble handling previously was school buses. Previously, FSD would ignore the stop sign and flashing lights and attempt to drive around the bus.
School buses often required driver intervention, but it seems Tesla has dedicated time to training FSD V13 to handle them properly now. Check out this post of FSD now successfully stopping and waiting for a school bus.
FSD v13 stopped for a school bus! Waited till the stop sign folded in and then proceeded forward! pic.twitter.com/ReU4enxnNB
Reduced speed zones, including school zones, have had mediocre handling by FSD in previous versions. Now, some initial speed zone handling has arrived in V13.2. However, while it does handle some speed zones with blinking signs, it doesn’t necessarily handle all speed zones. For now, while Supervising, drivers will need to make sure their vehicles don’t exceed the speed limit, especially in school zones. In the meantime, look at this speed video of the vehicle handling a speed zone with FSD V13.
Slightly better video of FSD V13 responding appropriately to flashing yellow lights indicating it’s temporarily a 20mph zone. It didn’t exceed 25 despite being set to a much higher max speed
As part of V13, Tesla included some interesting features addressing hardware - namely camera cleaning, The initial changelog was slightly vague: “Improved Camera Cleaning” and nothing else.
It turns out this actually refers to the camera heating elements around the vehicle, including those around the B-Pillar. According to FSD engineer Yun-Ta Tsai, this is far more complex than just heating the camera up.
The system integration team does a lot of energy and thermal optimization across the entire vehicle, to optimize autonomy.
This is just one example. The heating is actually more complex than just heating it up.
Yes, real world AI cares about these things, a lot!
The Cybertruck features an automatic tonneau that lets you lock in valuables. It rolls back and forth along a track and is somewhat water-resistant. Tesla never said that the tonneau would be waterproof, but many owners have encountered a lot of water flowing into their tonneau covers.
The place where the glass roof meets the plastic strip - the aero flap- seems to be the location where most of the water gets in, and this has been noted by many as a constant source of leaks - while the rest of the bed stays mostly dry.
Tesla has attempted to fix this by adding additional slats to the tonneau, which ensures that there are slats left over underneath the aero cover, thereby providing some additional water resistance. However, it looks like they’re doing more now to prevent these leaks.
New Rubber Seals
Tesla intends to issue a service code - the term they use for service bulletins to fix common problems - for this particular issue. This service code will include the removal of the old aero flap and the installation of a new aero flap that has additional rubber seals - similar to the ones used on windows. Thanks to theMONK11 on Reddit for catching this and providing the photo.
The service code hasn’t gone live yet, so it looks like Tesla is only testing this new part for owners who have complained about excessive water intrusion. We’ll likely see this new flap, with the additional rubber seals, become a standard part on newly built trucks to resolve this issue.
For everyone else, you’ll need to put in a service ticket with Tesla, but we would recommend waiting a few weeks before doing so. That will give them time to finalize the process and have the new part sent around to service centers across North America. Given that this isn’t a critical issue to the functionality of the vehicle, Tesla likely will not issue a recall for this - so it’ll be up to owners to create a service ticket and have the new applique installed.
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