In Tesla’s investor video posted yesterday on X, there was a quick peek of what is expected to be the Robotaxi’s interior. The image only flashes on the screen for a split second, but thanks to an eagle-eyed reader, we may now have our first glimpse at the Robotaxi’s interior.
It looks like it has a two-seat interior, with no steering wheel, and a large center console. The doors look similar to the picture of the Robotaxi concept that was revealed in Elon Musk’s biography in 2023. It also matches up almost exactly with the prototype Franz von Holzhausen was seen working on in a video that aired on CBS last year.
The sharp angles of the interior also match up nicely with its official name, the Cybercab.
CBS airs video with von Holzhausen working on a concept car
Not a Tesla App
Robotaxi App
Tesla recently revealed their Robotaxi app, showing a very simplistic interface that lets you summon a taxi, see its progress, and lets you set the music and climate in the vehicle. In the video on X, Tesla showed off a brief clip of the Robotaxi app in action. Although nothing new is revealed in the short clip, it’s the first time the app has been seen on video.
Here is a quick sneak peek of Tesla's upcoming ride-hailing app released in their shareholder video today. pic.twitter.com/oM7MKNaOvz
The Robotaxi will be officially unveiled on August 8th, which is just under three months ago. While Tesla previously mentioned that the Robotaxi would take a backseat to the release of its next-gen $25K USD model, we could see Tesla announce firmer timelines, Robotaxi-specific features, and full previews of the interior and exterior in August.
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Tesla China has outlined some features in Tesla’s latest update in the region, which is version 2024.26.9. In the list of features, Tesla mentions many of the features we’re already aware of, including Automatic Emergency Braking Improvements, YouTube Music and more, but they also reveal one additional feature that’s exclusive to China. The new feature allows the new blind spot indicator to light up if there’s something in the way when you’re opening your door. The blind spot indicator is exclusive to the new Model 3 and Cybertruck, which features little red LEDs in the front speaker grills next to the mirror.
Blind Spot Door Warnings
With update 2024.26.9, Tesla says that if any vehicle door handle button is pressed on vehicles with a Blind Spot Warning Light (currently just the 2024 Refreshed Model 3 Highland and the Cybertruck), the blind spot warning indicator in the vehicle’s front speakers will illuminate.
This object detection includes cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and “other objects”. We’re not quite sure what fits into the “other objects” category, but likely things that FSD picks up on normally – including traffic cones, bollards, and other large obstacles.
According to Tesla’s description, there appears to only be a visual warning for the driver and front passenger, with nothing displayed on screen or an audible tone. We’re sure Tesla will continue to expand and refine this feature like they’ve done with various features in the past, but for now, it's only available in China. Blind Spot Door Warnings need to be enabled under Controls > Safety before this feature will function.
We’d love to see Tesla use the ambient light strip in the vehicle to warn passengers and drivers when their door is obstructed – it would be a fantastic use of a luxury feature for utilitarian safety – rather than just the single red LED inside the door speaker. Additionally, an audio warning would be excellent for those who may not see the red dot.
Tesla appears to be making progress on FSD in China, with the latest update available in the region now displaying the FSD button in the vehicle. Tesla makes no note of the change in the release notes, nor does it appear to be available in any other regions that are expected to receive access to FSD in the future.
FSD in the UI
In the Autopilot options in China, users could previously select Traffic-Aware Cruise Control or Auto Steer (Beta), however, as of 2024.26.9, the Full Self Driving (Supervised) button is now visible – but greyed out. Tapping on the option doesn’t do anything just yet, but the addition of the button could be a hint that Tesla is planning to enable the feature soon.
Underneath the Autopilot selection, Tesla also has a phrase that says, “Full Self-Driving (Supervised) needs to use an updated version of navigation maps. Connect to Wi-Fi to download” (Thanks, Luis Zhu). It’s possible the option is greyed out because the software needs updated maps to work. There are no reports yet of what happens when the navigation map is downloaded.
We previously reported that FSD was on hold in China, even after Tesla received approval to start testing FSD in China. This flip-flopping is interesting but could be due to regulatory issues between China and Tesla regarding data collection and where the data is stored. Now that the button is in the UI – Tesla is clearly confident that it either has received approval or will in short order.
It certainly appears that Tesla is going to be opening up FSD in the region fairly soon. It’ll be interesting to see if Tesla uses the same Safety Score feature they used in the U.S. when choosing drivers to beta test the program.
Elon Musk previously mentioned that FSD (Supervised) would be rolling out to global markets, including Europe and China, as Tesla received approvals from governments in those nations.
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