Tesla Starts Advertising on X, YouTube and Facebook [VIDEO]

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Tesla, a company known for not using conventional marketing strategies, appears to have launched its first full social media campaign. X users reported seeing ads on different platforms worldwide, including X, which is, of course, owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. However, advertisements have been popping up on YouTube and Facebook.

BREAKING: Tesla has started paid advertising on X in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/oAY7ZVYUak

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) February 6, 2024

As Tesla ventures into social media advertising, the company is simultaneously preparing for a year that CEO Elon Musk anticipates might see lower growth rates. During the most recent earnings call, Musk provided insights into Tesla's strategic direction for 2024, emphasizing the company's position between two major growth waves. Despite this forecast, Tesla is actively implementing strategies to maintain its momentum and ensure long-term success.

A Strategic Shift in Tesla's Strategy

Although not the first instance of Tesla delving into advertising, the company's recent move to include social media platforms marks a significant expansion of its marketing efforts. Previously, Tesla tested the waters with targeted Google ads, primarily in the UK and the US, focusing on search engine visibility. These initial steps were indicative of Tesla's cautious approach to advertising, aiming to gauge its effectiveness without committing substantial resources.

What I saw in YouTube.. pic.twitter.com/XQGeL6hWzn

— UziObi (@ObiUzi97708) February 6, 2024

The recent earnings call shed light on Tesla's advertising and educational campaigns' preliminary results and return on investment. Tesla did have a digital campaign underway at the end of 2023 that was highly targeted and aimed at driving awareness about the brand and its products.

These campaigns, particularly one in Texas, reached approximately 10 million unique viewers and generated close to 0.5 million visits to Tesla's website, many of whom were first-time visitors. This data suggests that digital advertising can significantly enhance Tesla's visibility and address misconceptions about EVs, including concerns about safety and affordability.

This expansion aligns with Musk's comments during the earnings call about the need to increase awareness in regions where Tesla's market share is low. Using a mix of social media platforms, Tesla can tailor its messaging to different audiences, ensuring its campaigns resonate with diverse consumers.

The Impact of Digital Advertising on EV Awareness

The strategic focus on digital advertising comes at a crucial time for Tesla and the EV industry. As competition intensifies and market dynamics evolve, Tesla must recognize the importance of addressing affordability, enhancing awareness, and correcting misconceptions about electric vehicles. The company's digital campaigns highlight EVs' benefits, such as their environmental impact, advanced technology, safety features, and increasingly competitive pricing.

Tesla are advertising on YouTube in the UK 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/edQ3KE7ghI

— Young in Cheshire (@youngincheshire) February 6, 2024

By leveraging social media platforms' reach and targeting capabilities, Tesla can effectively communicate these messages to a global audience, potentially accelerating the shift toward sustainable transportation. This approach also allows Tesla to gather valuable consumer behavior and preferences data, informing future marketing and product development strategies.

New Buyers While Keeping the Loyal Customers Happy

The advertising campaign comes just one day after the company announced a significant offering to entice current owners to upgrade. Notably, Tesla now allows the transfer of Full Self-Driving (FSD) packages and supercharging benefits to new vehicles purchased by existing customers. The new cars must be delivered by the end of March.

While Tesla prepares for a year of potentially lower growth in 2024, its strategic moves highlight its proactive approach to overcoming challenges. By focusing on innovation, enhancing customer value propositions, and leveraging social media platforms for advertising, Tesla is taking comprehensive steps to ensure its resilience and long-term success.

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Tesla LFP Batteries Can Now Be Warmed up While Supercharging Using Innovative Feature

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Tesla’s been on a roll with Supercharger improvements lately, from the 325kW charging update for the Cybertruck, to 500kW with V4 Superchargers coming next year. While those improvements have been limited to the Cybertruck, Tesla didn’t put all their focus on their new flagship vehicle, but looked at their more affordable vehicles as well.

LFP Battery Heating

Tesla’s Superchargers can now heat LFP Batteries - those that are in the Model 3 and Model Y Rear Wheel Drive variants. This applies to Long Range and Standard Range models, which saw a limited run. This is another update included as part of the 2024 Tesla Holiday Update - which really arrived with a lot of unannounced new features and capabilities.

The change is pretty interesting - Superchargers of the V3 and V4 variety can now pre-heat batteries for Model 3 and Model Y vehicles equipped with LFP battery packs. That means those vehicles are able to get back on the road faster when it's extremely cold. Of course, Tesla still advises you to precondition before you arrive, saving drivers time and money.

Max de Zegher, Tesla’s Director of Charging, also commented on the new feature. Essentially, Tesla is inducing an AC (alternating) ripple current through the battery to warm it up. Keep in mind that Superchargers are DC charging. That means it is possible to get a cold-soaked LFP vehicle on the road 4x faster than before, assuming that it didn’t precondition at all and that it is in the worst-case scenario (below 0ºF).

In essence, Tesla is using some engineering magic to turn the circuits inside the LFP battery into an electric heater - and powering that heater through the Supercharger. An AC ripple current is a small oscillation in the DC charging current that generates heat through electrical resistance, warming up the battery. Those ripples are a byproduct of converting AC to DC and back - so Tesla is using the onboard charger to induce those ripples to warm up the battery. Definitely an innovative technique that’s really only possible with the versatility of the NACS connector.

We’re hoping Tesla can implement this across their full lineup of vehicles, but we’ll have to wait and see how it is trialed across LFP vehicles first and if it is even possible on vehicles with 2170 or 4680 battery packs.

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Tesla Included FSD V12.6.1 and V13.2.4 in the Same Update: What Caused This and What It Means

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Tesla launched two FSD updates simultaneously on Saturday night, and what’s most interesting is that they arrived on the same software version. We’ll dig into that a little later, but for now, there’s good news for everyone. For Hardware 3 owners, FSD V12.6.1 is launching to all vehicles, including the Model 3 and Model Y. For AI4 owners, FSD V13.2.4 is launching, starting with the Cybertruck.

FSD V13.2.4

A new V13 build is now rolling out to the Cybertruck and is expected to arrive for the rest of the AI4 fleet soon. However, this build seems to be focused on bug fixes. There are no changes to the release notes for the Cybertruck with this release, and it’s unlikely to feature any changes when it arrives on other vehicles.

While this update focuses on bug fixes, Tesla’s already working on bigger features for FSD V13.3, which we have already confirmed to include improvements to highway following and speed control.

FSD V12.6.1

FSD V12.6.1 builds upon V12.6, which is the latest FSD version for HW3 vehicles. While FSD V12.6 was only released for the redesigned Model S and Model X with HW3, FSD V12.6.1 is adding support for the Model 3 and Model Y.

While this is only a bug-fix release for users coming from FSD V12.6, it includes massive improvements for anyone coming from an older FSD version. Two of the biggest changes are the new end-to-end highway stack that now utilizes FSD V12 for highway driving and a redesigned controller that allows FSD to drive “V13” smooth.

It also adds speed profiles, earlier lane changes, and more. You can read our in-depth look at all the changes in FSD V12.6.

Same Update, Multiple FSD Builds

What’s interesting about this software version is that it “includes" two FSD updates, V12.6.1 for HW3 and V13.2.4 for HW4 vehicles. While this is interesting, it’s less special when you understand what’s happening under the hood.

The vehicle’s firmware and Autopilot firmware are actually completely separate. While a vehicle downloading a firmware update may look like a singular process, it’s actually performing several functions during this period. First, it downloads the vehicle’s firmware. Upon unpacking the update, it’s instructed which Autopilot/FSD firmware should be downloaded.

While the FSD firmware is separate, the vehicle can’t download any FSD update. The FSD version is hard-coded in the vehicle’s firmware that was just downloaded. This helps Tesla keep the infotainment and Autopilot firmware tightly coupled, leading to fewer issues.

What we’re seeing here is that HW3 vehicles are being told to download one FSD version, while HW4 vehicles are being told to download a different version.

While this is the first time Tesla has had two FSD versions tied to the same vehicle software version, the process hasn’t actually changed, and what we’re seeing won’t lead to faster FSD updates or the ability to download FSD separately. What we’re seeing is the direct result of the divergence of HW3 and HW4.

While HW3/4 remained basically on the same FSD version until recently, it is now necessary to deploy different versions for the two platforms. We expect this to be the norm going forward, where HW3 will be on a much different version of FSD than HW4. While each update may not include two different FSD versions going forward, we may see it occasionally, depending on which features Autopilot is dependent on.

Thanks to Greentheonly for helping us understand what happened with this release and for the insight into Tesla’s processes.

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