Tesla has released the much-anticipated new Autopark feature that is expected to be based on the new neural networks that power FSD Beta v12.
Teslas have had Autopark capability for several years, although it has several shortcomings, besides not being available to any recent vehicles that do not include ultrasonic sensors (USS).
This refined version of Autopark is available as part of update 2024.2.11, although the update appears to be limited to employees at this time.
This new iteration of Autopark is expected to be a big improvement over the previous version. According to Musk, it contains “major improvements” over the previous version.
Video
Update: The first video of the new Autopark feature is now available thanks to X user Space Cat, who drives a Model Y with Enhanced Autopilot and without ultrasonic sensors. In the video below you can see the new parking visuals and how easily the vehicle detects parking spots, something the current Autopark feature struggles with.
The driver can pick from any of the highlighted spots. It’s impressive how the vehicle shifts to drive or reverse depending on what’s needed. This appears to be similar behavior to what we’ll see in FSD, according to Tesla’s Autopilot director.
Tesla made the process to initial Autopark easy with this release. The vehicle automatically displays available parking spots and defaults to one nearby. All the driver has to do is stop the vehicle and tap ‘Start’ on the screen to start Autopark. There’s no need to tap a button to have the vehicle detect parking spots or even to select a particular spot, unless you have a preference.
Musk has been talking about the new ‘Tap to Park’ feature for several months. In December 2023, Musk said "We are working on a feature where the car identifies probable viable parking spaces. You tap on one, exit the vehicle and it parks there."
The release notes in this version don't mention the ability to exit the vehicle before the vehicle starts parking, although it sounds like that's Tesla's goal for this feature. This first iteration could be Tesla's MVP (Minimal Viable Product) that they'd like to ship and they'll slowly add on features as the feature is refined.
There are several hints beyond Musk's comment that Tesla will eventually support tapping a parking spot on the screen and allow the driver to exit the vehicle while the car parks itself.
A look under the hood at Tesla's recent app update showed that Tesla is building Autopark features into the app, hinting that you may even be able to initiate Autopark directly from your phone in the future.
This is very similar to what you can already do with Summon on vehicles with USS. From your device, you can wake up the vehicle and have it drive a short distance to you. It's not far-fetched to think that Tesla has sights on being able to do this in reverse.
Available to Vehicles Without USS
Tesla has been delivering vehicles without USS, Autopark, and Smart Summon for over a year now. This updated feature is expected to have improved vision to make up for the lack of USS. A similar situation occurred with Park Assist, where vehicles without USS could no longer show distances to objects when parking.
Tesla then introduced High-Fidelity Park Assist in the holiday update and surprised everyone with what they were able to accomplish. Instead of just displaying distances to objects, Tesla created 3D models of surrounding objects and colored them based on the vehicle's proximity.
High-Fidelity Park Assist is still limited to vehicles without USS, but we know Tesla is working on adding the feature to vehicles that include ultrasonic sensors as well. It's not clear whether the new Autopark may also only be rolled out to vehicles without USS, or if it'll be available to all vehicles at the same time.
Autopark is part of Tesla’s Enhance Autopilot (EAP) suite, so only users with EAP or FSD are expected to receive the feature when it rolls out.
Improved Visuals and Selection
The image Tesla released shows an improvement in Autopark visuals. The current iteration of Autopark only shows one parking spot at once, and it's difficult to even have that come up on the screen.
This new version appears to be a drastic improvement, not only outlining a parking spot on the display but also displaying various parking spots at once - including parallel spaces.
According to the release notes, the parking spots will appear any time you're driving slowly through a parking lot, although the exact speed isn't specified.
Improved Autopark
Musk previously talked about a vast improvement in the new Autopark, which he called Tap to Park. This new Autopark is expected to be based on the same neural networks that power FSD Beta v12, which has been a drastic improvement over FSD Beta v11.4.9. We should see a much improved Autopark experience when this feature becomes available to Tesla owners.
Although the previous version of Autopark worked, it was difficult to have it detect a parking spot and display it on the screen. It often also parked very slowly, making it less almost useless if there were other vehicles around. However, the result was usually quite good, with the vehicle parking safely and well between the parking lines. We expect the two shortcomings of the current Autopark to be drastically improved in this latest revision.
Public Roll Out / Release Date
Just a few days ago, Musk revealed that Tesla would release a new version of Summon (Actually Smart Summon) and a new Autopark feature with "major improvements" next month (April).
It's surprising to see this feature added to update 2024.2.11 when Tesla is already rolling out 2024.8.4. This leads us to believe that this update may be currently in a testing phase with employees and is not yet ready to go to a public release.
When Tesla is ready to ship this feature to owners, we'll likely see it introduced in a revision to 2024.8, or even the next major update, which could be 2024.12.
Either way, it looks like we'll be getting it fairly soon, and if the new Autopark has anywhere near the improvements in Tesla's FSD Beta v12.3, then we're in for a real treat.
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Tesla has finally released their 2024 Impact Report, and it's filled with impressive new data on the company’s environmental and safety progress. However, the biggest news is the clear and concrete roadmap it provides for the next generation of Tesla products.
For the first time, the report provides specific timelines for Tesla to begin volume production of the purpose-built Cybercab and the ramp-up of the Semi factory. This year’s report shifts from documenting past achievements to defining Tesla’s next phase, with a focus on autonomy and industrial transport.
Upcoming Vehicles
The most significant new items in the report are timelines for Tesla’s anticipated future vehicles.
Next, Tesla is ramping up production of the Semi, following the completion of limited production runs used for testing. This development is closely tied to the ongoing construction of the new Semi Factory, which is nearing completion. Tesla expects this to be one of its largest markets going forward and one of the most impactful. Industrial trucks doing the last 200 miles of delivery account for 16.4% of US vehicle emissions, despite making up only 1.1% of vehicles on the road.
In terms of the Affordable Model, Tesla has mentioned that they intend to launch more affordable products in 2025 and address a key segment of the market. They did not elaborate on this further and seem to have missed the previously provided self-imposed deadline for the first half of 2025.
At this point, we’re unsure whether Tesla will actually launch a distinct and more affordable model or whether it will introduce cut-down versions of the Model Y, as rumored.
Safety
The report supports Tesla’s future plans with some impressive new data points that demonstrate the impact their technology is having.
First, Autopilot (and FSD) has achieved a safety record nearly 10 times higher than the US national average in terms of miles per incident. The data shows one accident for every 6.77 million miles driven with Autopilot (or FSD) engaged, compared to the national average of one accident per 0.70 million miles.
The report also highlighted the Cybertruck’s recent 5-Star overall safety rating from the NHTSA, marking it one of the safest vehicles on the market, especially for a truck. The best part is that Cybertruck holds the lowest overall probability of injury and the lowest rollover risk of any pickup truck ever tested by the agency. Skeptics have always complained about lacking crumple zones, but the results prove otherwise, with Tesla building crumple zones as part of the gigacast.
Sustainability
In terms of sustainability, Tesla’s growing fleet helped to increase the amount of reduced and avoided emissions by 60% year over year, to 32 million metric tons of CO2e. While that’s a small number when you compare it to a full country, it is still a significant impact, especially in cities where pollutants have already decreased due to the ownership of EVs.
Tesla also mentioned that 99% of their recalls reported in 2024 were resolved using OTA updates, saving owners a trip to the Service Center or a trip by the Tesla Mobile Rangers, all in the name of sustainability and reduced costs.
Impactful Report
Tesla’s 2024 Impact Report is actually one of the most forward-looking publications to date. It puts a clear roadmap of Tesla’s future goals, while also tying them into the sustainability and safety goals achieved last year.
We can’t wait till 2025’s report - because it’ll be even better with this year’s deployment of Robotaxi. You can read all 200+ pages of the impact report here.
Tesla has officially begun internal testing of its awaited virtual queueing system for Superchargers. The news was shared by Tesla’s Director of Charging, Max de Zegher on X.
The Tesla Charging team has begun pressure testing the new feature and is planning for public pilots as their next step. While most users won’t experience heavy congestion at Superchargers, for those who do, it could be a real pain point. Virtual queues are designed to make it easier to charge at congested Superchargers by having a digital queue, rather than relying on owners to remain in line with their vehicles.
Virtual Queues
When we originally delved into Tesla’s plans to introduce a virtual queue system, it seemed obvious that the virtual queue would replace the current “Wild West” first-come, first-served system of vehicles trying to get pulled into a stall. This process will likely have two key integrations.
First up is integration directly into the vehicle software for Tesla vehicles. This means that when you’re navigating to a Supercharger that’s busy and virtual queuing is enabled, you will be automatically placed into the virtual queue upon arrival.
Then, your position in line is displayed on-screen and provides an estimated wait time, allowing you to relax, eat, or take a bathroom break without worrying about your place in line. Finally, once a stall becomes available and it’s your turn, you will receive a notification on your vehicle’s screen, as well as on the Tesla app, directing you to the open stall that will presumably only allow your vehicle to charge. We imagine that there will be a grace period for owners to pull up with their car. If that doesn’t happen within a certain period, the next car will likely be offered the charger.
The second integration is in the Tesla app for non-Tesla drivers. As Tesla continues to install Magic Docks and open Superchargers to non-Tesla EVs, more and more traffic comes to the world’s most reliable fast charging network. That means that Tesla also needs to manage expectations and queue times for non-Tesla vehicles, likely through a similar process, but done over the Tesla app instead.
The Devil’s in the Details
A simple “first-in, first-out” queue sounds great, but Max noted that it is easy to exploit things with bad actors. What prevents a driver from joining a queue remotely to reserve a spot, ignoring a notification, or trying to hop into an unreserved spot?
Well, Tesla should be able to manage these fairly easily, but they still require technical effort to implement. That means GPS geofencing for those attempting to join a queue, a short countdown timer for those late to take their spot, and a lockout for those who try to skip the queue are all needed.
What’s Next?
As Tesla has just started internal testing of this feature, it likely means that public-facing user interfaces and flows aren’t quite ready yet, but the underlying functionality is. It also means that Tesla is working to refine the little details to make the process as smooth and as easily accessible as possible.
While no pilot locations have been announced yet, it seems likely that Tesla will launch the pilot at some of the most notoriously busy Supercharger sites to gather testing data in the near future, once internal testing is complete. That means holiday travel routes or major highways, likely in California first, before rolling out elsewhere.
Virtual Queuing is a fantastic tech-first solution for the Supercharger network that helps transform that experience into a more calm and orderly process. Additionally, establishing a fair system that allows both Tesla and non-Tesla EVs to access will likely improve the overall experience. Along with the pilot program for dynamic Supercharger pricing that incentivizes people to use less-congested Superchargers, these changes should improve the Supercharger experience.
While Max mentioned it was designed for “those rare cases with a wait”, that tends to be the experience in larger cities further North, especially in New York, Michigan, or within Canada, where the few smaller Supercharger sites in big cities tend to be heavily congested. These queues will make the experience smoother for everyone involved, so we’re looking forward to seeing this come to fruition.
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