Tesla CEO Elon Musk has opened a can of worms with a four-word post on X. On January 13, he posted, “That would be nice.” The message popped up while Tesla shareholders, fans, critics, and haters discussed the company on the social media platform. Two days later, Musk added more details and context to the discussion.
Background and Context is Important
Unlike mainstream media outlets suggesting Musk went on an unprompted compensation rant, the CEO was merely further explaining himself to shareholders. On the 13th, an X user expressed concerns about Musk's apparent lack of Tesla engagement. Amy (_SFTahoe) highlighted that Musk hasn’t had a new incentive plan since completing his 2018 compensation milestones in 2022. Amy argued for significant goals and rewards for Musk, underscoring that mere share ownership isn't enough motivation and that Musk deserves a plan that matches his contributions and ambitions in AI, automation, and space exploration. That is when Musk chimed in with the four words.
Two days later, Musk gave more details about his arrangement with Tesla. He expressed his discomfort with his current level of influence in the company. Musk stated his preference for approximately 25% voting control within Tesla, arguing that this level of influence is substantial but not overwhelming. He mentioned, "I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control. Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can’t be overturned." Vanguard controls more than 13% through its institutional and mutual fund holdings.
Holder
Shares
Date Reported
% Out
Value
Elon Musk
411,000,000
NA
13%
91,000,000,000 (est)
Vanguard Group Inc
225,940,011
Sep 29, 2023
7.11%
49,456,008,869
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
84,006,460
Sep 29, 2023
2.64%
18,388,173,978
Vanguard 500 Index Fund
66,358,271
Sep 29, 2023
2.09%
14,525,161,898
Vanguard Growth Index Fund
23,413,536
Sep 29, 2023
0.74%
5,124,988,880
Vanguard Institutional Index Fund-Institutional Index Fund
18,528,798
Sep 29, 2023
0.58%
4,055,768,582
Share Structure and Compensation
Musk, who owns about 13% of Tesla, said he would consider building products outside Tesla unless he secures the desired voting control. He suggested a dual-class share structure as a potential solution but noted the challenges of implementing such a system post-IPO in Delaware. Musk's posts indicated no ongoing feud with the Tesla board, which he praised, and mentioned the delay in establishing a new compensation plan due to the pending Delaware compensation case.
Musk's focus on AI and robotics is a significant part of Tesla's future direction. He has touted the company's advancements in these areas, including developing the humanoid robot Optimus. Musk believes that AI and robotics are integral to Tesla's value, even more so than its automotive segment.
The Financial and Legal Context
Musk's statements come amidst financial and legal challenges. He sold a significant portion of his Tesla shares in 2022 to finance his acquisition of Twitter, which he renamed X. This sale reduced his stake in Tesla and his voting power. Additionally, Musk is involved in a lawsuit in Delaware over his previous compensation package, which is under scrutiny for its size and the influence Musk had in securing it.
I should note that the Tesla board is great. The reason for no new “compensation plan” is that we are still waiting for a decision in my Delaware compensation case. The trial for that was held in 2022, but a verdict has yet to be made.
As Tesla awaits the decision in the Delaware compensation case, Musk's desire for increased voting control remains a central topic. The outcome of this case could influence the future structure of Tesla's leadership and Musk's role in the company. With the Q4 earnings report approaching, Tesla's strategic direction in AI and robotics and Musk's influence will be scrutiny.
Moving Forward
Musk's efforts to balance his various roles at Tesla, SpaceX, and X continue to be a point of discussion. His leadership style, often characterized by ambitious goals and unconventional approaches, has both been praised and criticized in the public and financial spheres.
Despite focusing on voting control and compensation, Musk's ambition for Tesla goes beyond financial incentives. His vision for Tesla involves significant advancements in AI and robotics, aiming to position the company at the forefront of technological innovation. This perspective aligns with Musk's broader goals of advancing human progress through technology.
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Tesla’s autonomy stack has been one of the primary focuses of Tesla’s earnings calls for quite some time. It is also crucial to achieving Tesla’s larger ambitions, such as its robotaxi network and humanoid robots like Optimus.
Now, with FSD Unsupervised being prepared for the robotaxi launch in June, there’s a lot of new information being shared by Tesla on what to expect.
FSD Supervised
The version currently available to customers, FSD Supervised, has been available since its rebranding with the launch of FSD V12 last year. However, it has been a while since we saw an update - in fact, over 100 days since the last public FSD update.
Tesla has been gathering and processing data at an unprecedented rate. In the shareholder’s deck, Tesla revealed that there had been over 7.7 million miles driven per day this past quarter in North America and China. Tesla’s recently deployed Dojo units are likely running at full tilt doing automated data labelling.
The launch in China earlier this year was the first launch of FSD outside of North America. Most interestingly, Tesla conducted that launch without any region-specific training data besides videos found online. Tesla needed to find a workaround, as Chinese data cannot be uploaded outside the country's physical boundaries due to local regulations.
FSD for Europe remains in the wings - Tesla is awaiting regulatory approval and appears hopeful that it will be able to begin deploying FSD Supervised in Europe before the end of 2025. That may be an optimistic goal, especially considering Tesla is facing additional regulatory delays. With UNECE regulators not addressing autonomy in the next several meetings, Tesla will rely on per-country exemptions, starting in the Netherlands.
FSD to Feature Region-Specific Parameters
While FSD continues to expand, Tesla has acknowledged that certain conditions, like snow, are posing difficulties. They intend to increase the comfort and safety level of driving in inclement or locale-specific conditions in the future by adding parameters that are explicitly trained on those types of conditions and regions.
Tesla’s team specifically mentioned that these new parameters aren’t a legal necessity to get FSD Unsupervised or Supervised approved but will instead increase reliability and comfort for users. They also addressed concerns about sun glare, sand, dust, and fog impacting road conditions.
With sun glare in particular, as Tesla uses a photon-count analysis before processing the digital signal, its cameras are not as blinded as they may appear on-screen. FSD performs its analysis before the data is turned into an image, meaning that it can still perceive things even when a human may not be able to from the camera feed.
FSD Price Changes
Tesla’s executive team also raised an interesting point, but one we’ve heard before in 2023. As FSD’s capabilities evolve and increase, they believe that pricing will also be subject to change. The value of FSD, once it is fully Unsupervised, will rise greatly, and the current subscription option is far too inexpensive, according to Tesla.
It appears that Tesla is considering different pricing options for FSD Unsupervised in the future, but for now, the $99 monthly subscription remains in place. It’s possible we may see different prices for FSD Supervised versus FSD Unsupervised.
Ongoing Challenges
Tesla’s current challenges with working on FSD can be described as the march of nines. This is the exponentially increasing work needed as you need to take the system closer and closer to 100%.
Validation primarily remains a challenge due to the difficulty of encountering and then solving edge cases. The internal QA fleet in Austin can operate for multiple days without a single intervention, making it challenging to measure the progression and regression.
Tesla noted that, on average, an intervention is currently required every 10,000 miles. That is equivalent to the average North American driving for an entire year. Therefore, a substantial amount of data is necessary to continue improving the current issues. With 7.7 million miles driven by FSD every day, Tesla has, on average, 770 events to review each day.
Tesla is also continuing to deploy and expand its AI training centers. Cortex, Tesla’s latest, is already online at Giga Texas and crunching through immense amounts of data to train FSD.
FSD Unsupervised
The ultimate goal, of course, is FSD Unsupervised. A fully autonomous experience that can take you from Point A to Point B without needing any human supervision or intervention at all.
Tesla has already deployed FSD Unsupervised to take its Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertrucks from the production line to the outbound lot at both Giga Texas and Fremont, saving considerable man-hours. These vehicles are also autonomously interacting with traffic on their way over to the outbound lot - and it’s an expression of Tesla’s confidence in the system.
Fleet Capabilities
Tesla also mentioned that the vast majority of its fleet on the roads today will be capable of FSD Unsupervised. In particular, Elon mentioned the Model S, 3, X, and Y. Interestingly, this is the fourth event (We, Robot, Q4 Earnings 2024, All-Hands, and Q1 Earnings 2025) without mention of the Cybertruck being capable, likely meaning that FSD development for the Cybertruck is further behind as we’ve seen.
Hardware 3 Retrofit
There was no mention of the limitations of Hardware 3 or Tesla’s exact plans for a future retrofit at this time. While Tesla has already promised to replace HW3 with a future iteration of an AI computer, as we haven’t seen any FSD updates recently, so it’s hard to say whether any future FSD updates will arrive for HW3 besides bug fixes.
We believe Tesla is planning to solve FSD first and then work backward from there. At this point, they’ll know the compute power required for FSD Unsupervised and could make a retrofit that fits into a hardware 3 vehicle with the power and space constraints it imposes.
Unsupervised for Customers
Tesla’s goal is to launch FSD Unsupervised for customers ideally by the end of 2025. The executive team specifically mentioned that their key restrictions are twofold here.
One is that they need to be sure that FSD Unsupervised is meaningfully safer (10x, as per Q4 2024) than a human driver. Tesla has a focus on safety and intends to be extremely careful with the rollout of Unsupervised to ensure there are no incidents or accidents.
The second is that regulatory approvals will continue to be a limitation. However, as more cities and states begin to approve FSD Unsupervised in their locales, Tesla will be able to roll it out faster and faster. The intent is to have FSD Unsupervised available throughout the United States by the second half of 2026, according to Tesla.
Tesla also confirmed their intent to have a Model Y deliver itself from Giga Texas or Fremont to a customer by the end of 2025. This will likely be a local customer, and we did a deep-dive into the potential advantages and disadvantages of this delivery method.
While it may be a slow period for FSD updates right now, there are a lot of changes happening this year with the launch of FSD Unsupervised, the robotaxi network and the expansion to Europe.
Tesla’s 2025 Spring Update has arrived and is now going out in larger waves. Although this update isn’t as large as last year’s Spring Update, there are several exciting features in this year’s Spring Update.
In this article, we’ll take our first look into some of the newest features.
Custom Trunk Height per Location
The trunk height for Model Ys, Model 3s with automatic trunks, and the 2021+ Model S and Model X will now be customizable by location. While you could previously apply a maximum general height, you can now also apply a height at a given location.
This is especially helpful if you don’t want the vehicle to open the trunk all the way in your garage, but would like it to open all the way elsewhere.
To set it, you can manually adjust the liftgate to your preferred height when at the location and then press and hold the trunk close button until you hear a chime. Alternatively, you can open the liftgate with the on-screen controls and then press the pause button and have it remember this height.
If you have a Cybertruck, the process is similar to save the frunk height.
B-Pillar Sentry & Dashcam
The new B-Pillar options are displayed at the bottom of the dashcam viewer.
Not a Tesla App
For newer hardware 4 vehicles, Sentry Mode and Dashcam will now also record video from the B-pillar cameras on your vehicle. This brings the total number of cameras recorded to six, up from just four. This also means that the vehicle is now covered practically in 360 degrees. The only cameras not recorded are the alternative front camera, the front bumper camera (on the new Model Y and Cybertruck for now), and the interior camera.
While most of the other cameras wouldn’t provide much improvements in terms of security, adding the interior camera would be a really nice addition. However, we imagine there are privacy reasons why Tesla isn’t adding this one.
You can check out the new angles in the improved Dashcam viewer under “Left Pillar” and “Right Pillar”, which are located at the far right.
For AI3 vehicles and the Cybertruck, this feature isn’t available, however, we expect it to be added to the Cybertruck soon.
The Dashcam and Sentry Mode Viewer have received an improved interface to go along with the new B-pillar camera recording. However, like the new cameras, this feature is only currently available on HW4 vehicles. While the B-pillar camera records are unlikely to arrive on HW3 vehicles due to technical constraints, we may see this improved Dashcam Viewer arrive on other vehicles in the future.
The new viewer now displays all the cameras along the bottom, rather than having one at each corner.
Tesla has also added a jump back or forward 15-second button; however, the recent improvement to adjust the playback speed from 0.5x, 1x, and 2x appears to have been removed.
There’s also a new button at the top right corner of the video, which lets you easily jump to the next video clip.
Reverse Camera
The new angle is a little bit wider than the original.
Not a Tesla App
For HW4 vehicles, Tesla has also improved the visible angle of the rearview camera. Tesla’s cameras actually capture angles slightly wider than the ones displayed in the vehicle UI and the Tesla app - so it’s nice to see them increasing the viewing area.
These same vehicles have now also been updated to have the fender cameras displayed at the top of the Camera app instead of the bottom.
Adaptive Headlights for North America
Overnight, your Tesla gets better with a OTA update.
Tesla Adaptive Headlights in action on a Legacy Tesla Model Y.
Adaptive headlights have finally been enabled for vehicles with matrix headlights in North America with this Spring Update. You can check them out in action below. If you’re unsure whether your vehicle includes matrix headlights, our guide can help.
Model S / X Turn Signal Cameras
These optionally placed repeater turn signal camera images are a huge improvement!
@niccruzpatane on X
The Model S and Model X have received some much-requested love from Tesla. The blind spot camera feature, which displays the fender cameras on screen when the turn signal is active, is being moved to the instrument cluster.
Until now, the feature has shown the cameras on the infotainment display, much like the Model 3 and Model Y. If you prefer to keep them on the main display, you can adjust it under Controls > Display > Automatic Blind Spot Camera.
New Navigation Options
With the 2025 Spring Update, you can now customize your route to have fewer stops, the best amenities, or just a fastest overall route.
Tesla added three new routing options to the Spring Update, which now lets you choose between faster and more frequent charging stops or longer and less frequent stops. The long-awaited avoid highways option is finally included in this update as well.
Fastest: This offers the quickest path to the destination, disregarding any attempts at efficiency or stopping more frequently to perform short charges.
Best Amenities & Fewer Stops:This routing mode minimizes your charge stops in exchange for making them longer, but also allows you to stop near highly rated restaurants, shops, and restrooms for a more relaxing trip.
Avoid Highways: Thishighly requested feature allows you to keep your navigation routing away from highways unless absolutely necessary to reach your destination. Hurray for the country roads and relaxed driving.
Phone Icon Update
The new contact image is displayed above the phone number and name (censored by user)
@max_bracco on X
Tesla has updated the in-vehicle Phone app to display contact pictures from your phone, along with the name and phone number.
The new contact photos will also appear in the dialog window that opens when you receive an incoming call.
Search Filters for Music
The list of sources is selectable to help fine-tune your search.
Not a Tesla App
When searching for music, the results are now filtered by the music service, rather than displaying all results in a single view.
When you prefer a search, the results will be limited to the currently selected music source. Results for other services will be displayed in separate tabs organized by service. This is a really nice addition, but we’d also love to see an “All” results tab, similar to the previous experience, that lets you view results across various services.
Keep Accessory Power On
Not a Tesla App
Tesla is finally giving users the ability to charge devices with 12V sockets and USB ports when there’s no one in the vehicle. While 12V sockets and USB ports are turned off when the vehicle goes to sleep, many users work around this by enabling Sentry Mode to keep the ports powered.
The good news is that this new feature is even more efficient than before because owners no longer need to keep Sentry Mode on just to keep these ports powered.
To enable power for the USB ports and 12V sockets, navigate to Controls > Charging and scroll down to Keep Accessory Power On. Keep in mind, similar to Sentry Mode, this feature uses additional energy, even if devices aren’t being charged — so use it selectively.
Music Improvements
Tesla has made several other music-related improvements in this update besides the updated search results screen.
Amazon Music: You no longer need a premium subscription to Amazon Music to use the streaming service in the car. Your free account will work just fine.
Apple Music: Apple Music’s shuffle function has been improved so that it now shuffles the entire playlist of music, instead of just the first 100 results in the playlist.
YouTube Music: The next song in a playlist will now be displayed in the Up Next section. You view this section by tapping on the album artwork in the music player.
Other Improvements
Not a Tesla App
Tesla has made several other improvements. One nice addition, currently limited to the Cybertruck, is that the vehicle's visualization will now display the actual distance a door is open.
Tesla also improved the hotspot feature. If you typically use the hotspot on your phone to connect to the vehicle, this feature will now be automatically enabled each time the vehicle is put into drive.
While Tesla has already shown third-party chargers in Europe, Tesla is now giving users the ability to view them in other regions for the first time. The feature is off by default, but you can go to Controls > Navigation and enable third-party chargers. Tesla explains that your vehicle will not automatically navigate to these chargers, but they will show up in the list of available chargers.
When viewing a Supercharger, Tesla now provides a list of all nearby amenities as well, making it easier to see places nearby.
Not a Tesla App
While this update’s big features are the Sentry Mode and Dashcam Viewer improvements, which don’t apply to everyone, there are a lot of smaller charging and music improvements that make using and charging the vehicle better. Hopefully, we’ll see Grok come in Tesla’s next major update.
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