Cybertruck Spotted With LiDAR; FSD V12.5 Stack Merge Confirmed by Musk

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A Release Candidate/Engineering Cybertruck has been spotted in San Jose with some interesting rooftop hardware – LiDAR! This is good news for all the fans who are awaiting FSD and Autopilot, and all their features – to come to the Cybertruck.

FSD V12.5

Additionally, today on X, Elon Musk confirmed that the Cybertruck will be receiving FSD with v12.5, the next major update for FSD. While FSD v12.4.3’s rollout has been stalled recently, we have seen ADAS testing vehicles from Tesla testing on Chuck’s turn – a sure sign that v12.5 is most likely around the corner.

The big fact here is that v12.5 will be getting a stack merge for the highway and city streets stack. This is great news, as the city streets stack is running on v12.X right now, while the highway stack is still running on v11. There is a transition when you switch between stacks while FSD is running, and Autospeed gets disabled.

Elon mentioned that these vehicles on Chuck’s turn are indeed running v12.5, and not v12.4.4 or another v12.4 build. As we’ve seen in the past, once Chuck’s UPL is getting tested, a new FSD version is only a few weeks or months before release to early testers and employees.

We’re looking forward to FSD v12.5 and its various features that are supposed to arrive. We’re also hoping some features that didn’t quite make it into V12.4, including Park Seek and Banish Autopark, will also be in the upcoming update.

LiDAR?

Tesla uses LiDAR to gather ground-truth data, and then feed it into FSD. This allows Tesla to validate FSD’s depth perception and distance measurements, helping to ensure the accuracy of FSD. We talk about why Tesla uses LiDAR in greater detail in this recent article.

Tesla has finally begun to gather ground-truth data to validate the Cybertruck, which means we’re well on our way to seeing both the Cybertruck get FSD, as well as seeing V12.5 roll out soon.

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Tesla Introduces Hands-Free Frunk Opening in Update 2024.32.3

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In Tesla’s upcoming update, 2024.32.3, Tesla has added hands-free support for opening the vehicle’s frunk. This follows the Spring Update (2024.14), which added Hands-Free Trunk support for certain vehicles.

When hands-free trunk support was added earlier this year, it was supported on vehicles that include an ultra wideband chip, which includes the refresh Model S, new Model X, and the 2024 Model 3. Due to the hardware requirement, these will be the same vehicles that support the new Hands-Free Frunk feature. Legacy vehicles without UWB will unfortunately not support either feature due to the hardware requirement. UWB enables far more accurate tracking of the phone key, allowing Tesla to pinpoint its exact location relative to the vehicle.

The Cybertruck interestingly also includes an ultra wideband chip, however, it didn’t include the automatic opening of the gate earlier this year. However, we expect the Cybertruck to also receive the hands-free frunk opening in this 2024.32.3 update or relatively soon afterward.

Update: The Cybertruck is receiving hands-free frunk support in the 2024.32 update as well.

Hands-Free Frunk

The Hands-Free Frunk works similarly to the trunk feature – with an iPhone 11+ and a recent version of the app, you’ll be able to stand in front of your vehicle, and the Frunk will unlatch after sounding a chime. On some vehicles, the frunk will immediately open after being unlatched, however, you’ll need to manually close it.

This new feature isn’t enabled by default – you’ll need to go to Settings > Locks > Hands-Free Frunk to enable it.

At this time, Tesla doesn’t support UWB on Android devices, though both the Hands-Free Trunk and Hands-Free Frunk support will come to Android users in a future app update, according to Tesla.

Exclude Home

With the addition of the hands-free frunk opening, Tesla has also added a new option. You can now choose to disable the automatic opening when your vehicle is located at home to prevent you from accidentally opening. This will apply to the automatic frunk and trunk. In addition, in the Model X, you’ll also be able to disable the self-presenting doors at home. This is a great addition as many people have kept the hands-free feature disabled due to it awkwardly opening in the garage.

In the 2024.32.3 update, Tesla also mentions that they’ve improved the detection of the phone key, which should make the feature more reliable and faster when approaching the vehicle from the front or rear.

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Tesla’s Referral Program Launches in Europe

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Following its recent launch in the United States and Canada, Tesla has launched their referral program in several European countries as well.

The program is available in Germany, Norway, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and possibly others. The program is almost the same as the one available today in North America, with rewards for each referral and a discount for those referred. The cap in Europe is also ten per year.

This program comes right on the heels of a 0% financing offer for the Model Y in Sweden and France. While referrals aren't currently available in Sweden, the 0% financing still is.

European Referrals

The European Referral program accounts for country and local currency, where applicable.

The referral reward program is comparable to the one available in North America. After exchange rates, there is only an approximately 10% difference between the available rewards in the US and EU.

Other Countries

We expect this program to start rolling out to other European countries over the next few days or weeks, as Tesla continues to expand its referral program.

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