Elon Musk provided intriguing details about Tesla’s highly anticipated next-generation vehicle, internally codenamed "Redwood." Musk emphasized this vehicle's impact, not just in its design but more significantly in its manufacturing process. The details came during the fourth quarter earnings call, and despite cautioning listeners that the call was not about future production, the CEO gave us a lot to talk about.
He stated, "This is a revolutionary manufacturing system significantly, far more advanced than any other automotive manufacturing system in the world by a significant margin." Musk continued, “I am confident that once it is going, it will be head and shoulders above any other manufacturing technology that exists anywhere in the world. It's next level.”
Production Timeline and Locations
Acknowledging his tendency for optimism, especially regarding timelines, Musk conveyed a realistic yet confident tone, “our current schedule shows that we will start production towards the end of 2025. So sometime in the second half. That's just what our current schedule says. But there's a lot of new technology like a tremendous amount of new revolutionary manufacturing technology here.”
The first manufacturing location for the "Redwood" will be Tesla's Gigafactory and headquarters in Austin, Texas. The new platform was originally set for Mexico. Musk explained that moving locations was strategic, “The reason I wanted to put this new revolutionary manufacturing line at Giga Texas was because we need the engineers to be living on the line. This is not sort of off the shelf, just works type of thing. And it's just a lot easier for Tesla engineering to live online if it's in Austin versus elsewhere.” Following Austin, the second production site is planned in Mexico, with a third location outside North America being considered for identification by late this year or early next.
Musk delved into the complexities of Tesla's manufacturing process for the upcoming next-generation vehicle, highlighting the challenges and innovations involved. Musk acknowledged the unpredictable nature of the manufacturing S-curve, noting, "So it's always difficult to predict what that S-curve of manufacturing looks like. So it always starts off real slow, and then it grows exponentially." He emphasized the difficulty in forecasting the intermediate stages of this curve and refrained from making specific predictions about unit volume for the upcoming year.
Tesla's Next Growth Wave
Tesla's next vehicle will be manufactured in 2025
Not a Tesla App
Musk further explained the uniqueness of the manufacturing equipment required for the next-gen vehicle, stating, "There's a lot of specialized machines that make the machine for a next-gen vehicle. So these are not machines you can just order from anyone. You have to design a machine that has never existed to build a car in a way that has never existed." This innovative approach underlines Tesla's commitment to redefining the manufacturing process. Musk emphasized the company's focus on ensuring the successful execution of its next growth wave, driven by the next-gen vehicle, energy storage, full self-driving, and other projects. This strategy is a testament to Tesla's dedication to pushing the boundaries of technology and manufacturing in the automotive industry.
Tesla's CFO, Vaibhav Taneja, added context to the company's growth trajectory. He indicated that Tesla is currently between two major growth waves: the first driven by the global expansion of Models 3 and Y, and the next anticipated to be initiated by the next-gen vehicle. Taneja highlighted that in 2024, volume growth will be lower as the team focuses on the launch of this new platform.
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Tesla software update 2024.44.3 has started rolling out to customers in larger waves recently and it brings several new features - including Actually Smart Summon to Europe and the Middle East, as well as improvements to Autopark. But that’s not all, it also adds a new Blind Spot Monitoring feature to the new Model 3, and potentially the Cybertruck, but that’s still to be determined.
We previously covered the Blind Spot Warning While Parked as part of our preview notes for update 2024.44, but now that it's going out to customers, it's time to see it in action.
If the vehicle’s door open button is pressed, and a vehicle or object is near or incoming, the vehicle’s Blind Spot Warning Light (2024 Model 3 and Cybertruck) will illuminate, an audible tone will ring and the door won’t open. A message will also be displayed on the center displaying, letting driver’s know why the door didn’t open.
Pressing the button a second time will allow you to override the warning and open the door normally, providing a way to get out in case you just parked close to a nearby vehicle or obstacle.
The object detection for this new feature includes cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and other objects - like things including traffic cones, bollards, strollers, and other large obstacles that FSD and vision-based Autopark detect during normal operation. Of note - this only works for the front two doors. Thanks to X user Max, who did some testing for us, It does not work for the rear passenger doors.
Optional Feature
The feature is optional - it’ll be enabled by default for safety, but if you need to enable or disable it, you can do so under Controls > Safety. For now, the feature is only available on the 2024 Model 3, but we expect it to roll out to the Cybertruck at least. However, there’s no reason why it can’t be added to other vehicles as well, minus the small red dot. We expect Tesla to eventually add this feature to all Tesla vehicles, but it’s currently not a part of update 2024.44.
Enhauto’s S3XY Buttons & Commander
If that’s not enough safety and vision for you, Enhauto, the makers of the popular S3XY Buttons and Commander recently put out a new software update for the 2024 Model 3, which makes some fantastic use of the ambient lighting.
With Enhauto’s solution, users are able to tie their ambient lights to Autopilot use, turn signals or even if a vehicle is their blind spot. Check out the video below for this awesome implementation, where the ambient lights turn red when another vehicle approaches.
Maybe Tesla will integrate something like this into a future update? We’ve been hoping for more customizability with their ambient lighting - it's an easy safety win and a demonstration of Tesla’s do-more-with-less attitude.
I look forward to @enhauto updates more than Tesla...
Ambient light effects....
I set default color to white. Blinks green on turn signals Turns blue on FSD activation Yellow if someone in blind spot Blinks red if turn signal on and blind spot activity detected.
The feature is now possible thanks to what Wes Morrill, Cybertruck’s lead engineering, points out is a huge rewrite of Tesla’s Trip Planner, which not only makes it much more accurate but will now allow users to choose their arrival charge percentage.
More Accurate Trip Planner
When you navigate to a destination, your Tesla will automatically calculate when, where, and how much you need to charge. While the process seems straightforward, Tesla deserves a lot of credit for creating a simple user experience because a lot goes into accurately determining this information.
Tesla has to calculate many moving pieces in order to accurately predict when and where you should stop. First, it needs to consider your driving efficiency and wind direction, terrain elevation, traffic, vehicle speed, and ambient temperature. It also needs to predict the best Superchargers to stop at, taking into account congestion and charger speed.
This morning, in response to Dan Burkland, Wes shared that Tesla had significantly rewritten the backend portion of Trip Planner. These improvements, made by several engineers, were designed to improve Trip Planner’s accuracy and open the door to future features.
It sounds like these changes are mostly server-side, so thanks to their OTA connection, more accurate predictions should be available to all vehicles—no vehicle update is required.
Arrival State of Charge
Along with Tesla’s improvements to Trip Planner, Wes also stated that these improvements allow for a popular feature request — the ability to select your desired charge level at arrival.
Up until now, Tesla’s Trip Planner tried to get you to your destination as quickly as possible, which usually meant arriving with a low state of charge.
While this was fine if you have a charger at your destination, it’s not great if you don’t, or it could be even worse if there are no chargers nearby.
Max de Zegher said on X that he has heard the requests for a selectable arrival state of charge. Wes later clarified this by saying that these improvements to Tesla’s Trip Planner now allow for additional features to be added, such as “desired arrival charge.”
Actually trip planner got a huge rewrite on the back end. I had a great conversation with one of the engineers working on this over a morning run a few weeks back, it's pretty neat. The rewrite also unlocks additional features, like desired arrival charge.
Given that Max de Zegher’s comments came last night and Wes Morrill commented this morning, this feature request likely won’t arrive with the upcoming Holiday Update. Tesla actually hinted at such a feature being added in their last app update, so it does seem like they’ve already planned for it.
Although ‘Arrival State of Charge’ was on our wishlist for the Holiday Update, it looks like it may arrive soon after the holidays.
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