A rendering of the Model 3 Highland (right) based on leaks
@CYBRTRK420
All eyes on Tesla have been focused on the bright, shiny, stainless steel object, the Cybertruck. Still, the company is nearing the release of another industry-shaking move, the Model 3 refresh - Highland. As the anticipation builds, we have collated the most recent updates from various trusted sources to bring you the latest on what could be a game-changer for the electric vehicle market.
Appearance:
A tweet from Tesla China Analyst, @teslashanghai, praises the Highland project, noting that the new Model 3's design looks "very attractive," even more so than the Model S. The refreshed version boasts sleek new headlights that have caught the eye of enthusiasts. In another tweet, Chris Zheng quoted a Tesla Chinese employee who confirmed that the actual car looked "very close, with almost no difference" to the expected design.
Production
The Highland project has moved beyond the trial production phase, with production ramp-up and stress testing slated to begin on August 25th. By early September, Tesla aims to reach a daily production capacity of approximately 1,200 units, as shared by @teslashanghai.
Hardware
Contrary to some expectations, a new rumor says Highland will feature HW 3.5, not 4.0, which seems counterintuitive. Tesla now delivers the new Model S, Model X and some Model Ys with hardware 4.0. Given that hardware 3 can't easily be swapped for hardware 4.0 due to physical characteristics, this rumor appears unlikely unless Tesla was under extreme supply constraints.
Pricing
One of the exciting aspects of Project Highland is its potential to reduce manufacturing costs, thanks to single-piece casting, reduced wiring harnesses, and new materials. However, the expected pricing will be approximately 27,000 USD, as estimated by Tesla China Analyst. They aren't clear in their post, but this is assumed to be their estimate of manufacturing costs instead of the price of the vehicle. Even so, this is thousands of dollars cheaper than the current Model 3 manufacturing costs.
The Highland would be welcomed with open arms by the market. Tesla China Analyst went as far as to predict an "explosive increase in orders," given the vehicle's impressive overall package.
Availability
Are these Model 3 Highland vehicles covered up in Shanghai?
@CYBRTRK420
New rumors point to Project Highland being available soon. Sources state that the Model 3 Highland will be displayed in Chinese Tesla stores at the end of August. Mysteriously covered cars parked at Giga-Shanghai might be the new Model 3s, although confirmation is still pending. However, there are several signs that Tesla is about to open the doors for the new Model 3, as detailed in an earlier story.
With the Tesla Model 3 Highland, Tesla continues its innovation and disruptive design tradition. The reported changes, from appearance to hardware, signal a continued push towards affordability without compromising quality. The Tesla Model 3 Highland represents not just a car but a statement, a vision, and possibly, the new standard in electric mobility.
Yesterday, Tesla released FSD v12.5.4 with update 2024.27.25. The update includes improvements to Tesla’s vision-based attention monitoring and Actually Smart Summon. This update initially rolled out to early-access testers yesterday, but since then, it has rolled out to more users, with the latest wave coming just moments ago.
This update includes more than just FSD bug fixes, so let’s take a look at what’s changed.
Actually Smart Summon Improvements
Actually Smart Summon is now officially known as Actually Smart Summon (Supervised), as per Tesla’s latest video on X (see it below). When Tesla released Actually Smart Summon, it added support for Tesla Vision, live camera feeds, and additional options.
Range Increase: Now, Tesla has brought even more improvements to the table. To start, Actually Smart Summon has had its range increased by about 50 feet – for a total range of 279 feet, or 85 meters. This also comes alongside a few new features, including completion and abort sounds.
Sounds: You can now choose to have the vehicle play a sound when Summon completes successfully. You can select from several – including Applause, “Ta Da,” “Ba-dum Tiss,” and Random. For now, unlike with your vehicle lock sounds, you can’t customize it just yet. To play summon sounds, your vehicle will need a functional Pedestrian Warning Speaker, or PWS. The abort sound only has one option right now – Emissions. Tesla’s engineers love their fart jokes.
Actually Smart Summon 🍑 enables your car to come to you from anywhere in the parking lot
Sadly, Actually Smart Summon is also missing a couple of features—HomeLink compatibility isn’t available for Summon, and Tesla says it's coming soon. The Side Clearance option, which previously let you choose between Standard and Tight clearances, is also gone.
For now, you’re also required to use Continuous Press to summon your vehicle. Usage without Continuous Press is coming soon though.
Actually Smart Summon Requirements
This new version of Actually Smart Summon also comes with some interesting requirements. Just like with previous versions, the doors, tailgate, and frunk must be closed before the vehicle is moved. However, the vehicle must also have a TPMS PSI of 34 or higher (on a Model 3 – this is likely the optimal PSI for your vehicle’s standard tires).
You’ll also need a Tesla app update – v4.37.0 is now the required version, which is currently available for iOS, but not available yet in the Google Play store..
The tire pressure requirement could be a big change, especially as many people who use aftermarket winter tire sets don’t run TPMS units. If you don’t have TPMS sensors in your tires, you may not be able to use Actually Smart Summon at all.
The second major update with 2024.27.25 is for Vision-Based Attention Monitoring. Vision monitoring allows FSD to function without users constantly having their hands on the wheel. Instead, it monitors the driver’s eyes to see if they’re paying attention.
Previously, this was limited to users not wearing sunglasses, although Tesla said the functionality to support sunglasses use would be coming soon. With this update, users can wear sunglasses and enjoy no-nag Full Self Driving.
This is a major update, as one of the biggest consternations with FSD V12.5 was that while vision monitoring was fantastic, it wasn’t always available to the driver if they wanted to wear sunglasses.
An undocumented change for vision monitoring is that if it detects a device—such as a cellphone—in your hand, it will say “Attention Monitoring unavailable—Detected device in hand.” This popped up when the user, @WifeDirtyTesla, leaned her head on her hand while her elbow was on the center console. It may have appeared that she was holding a phone up to her head.
That’s definitely an interesting little undocumented change, and we’re glad to see that Tesla is working to improve user safety for FSD (Supervised).
As with all Tesla updates, a slew of smaller features often go undocumented. If you’re anything like us, you love to know all the little changes in a release.
Below are all of the changes that were included in Tesla update 2024.26 but didn’t make it to the official release notes.
Show Next Preconditioning / Charging Event
If you have scheduled a preconditioning or charging event, Tesla will now show you the next event that will take place.
An event to precondition the cabin will appear at the climate screen's top right corner. If you have set a charging schedule, your next charge time will now show up in the charging menu under Controls > Charging.
Hide Music Services Per Profile
Not a Tesla App
When you hide a music service, the music service/app will no longer show up in the all apps menu. Music search will also not display results for services you have hidden.
With this update, Tesla now saves hidden music services per driver profile. This allows a driver to hide any services they don't use while making them accessible to other drivers.
Your audio balance that controls how much sound goes to each speaker is now saved per driver profile. This allows each driver to save their own preferred listening preferences.
You can set your audio system's balance by tapping on the audio levels icon in the music player and choosing Balance.
Service Center Tips
Not a Tesla App
If you have a Service Center appointment, your Tesla will now display tips on screen when you arrive at your appointment.
The tips will remind you that you can see your service appointment status and review your summary in the Tesla app.
Reduce Fan Speed Hint
Not a Tesla App
As Tesla points out in 'Other Updates,' they have improved the the climate menu by simplifying the screen by removing certain options when they're unavailable and reshuffling buttons around to make them easier to access for drivers and passengers.
Reduce Fan Speed Option
Not a Tesla App
When in Auto, the fan speed may now automatically lower to reduce the sound of ambient noise during a phone call.
This feature can temporarily be turned off under Controls > Bluetooth if you need to prioritize cooling or heating the cabin.
New Key Required Screen
Not a Tesla App
This update introduces a new key-required screen when you try to perform an action that requires a key and there isn't one nearby.
Improved Front Camera Clarity
Not a Tesla App
Video post-processing is now applied to the front camera for hardware 3-based vehicles.
With this update, Tesla appears to now be applying the same techniques to the vehicle's front-facing cameras.
Traffic-Aware Cruise Control Chime
Not a Tesla App
In Tesla update 2021.40, Tesla added the option to receive an audio alert when Traffic-Aware Cruise Control is enabled.
This was an option that could be turned on or off under Controls > Autopilot > Traffic-Aware Cruise Control Chime, however, with update 2024.26, this option has now been removed. With this update, TACC will always chime when the feature is engaged or disengaged.
New Ambient Lighting Options
Greggertruck/X
There are now additional options for your vehicle's ambient lighting. Under Controls > Lights, you can now control the brightness of the vehicle's accent lights. In addition, you can choose for the accent lights to only turn on when the vehicle detects dim conditions outside.
If you’ve seen any other changes in update 2024.26, be sure to let us know.
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