Tesla Shows Off Tesla Semi Improvements: Sleeper Cab, New Suspension, European Market Changes

@TheEVuniverse

Tesla’s Semi Program Lead, Dan Priestley, took the stage at the IAA Transportation Exhibit in Hannover, Germany, today to speak about Tesla’s Semi and its place in the European market.

The IAA Transportation exhibit features lots of discussions on the European commercial vehicle industry. Tesla was one of the exhibitors on the main stage, focusing specifically on the Tesla Semi.

It was a short keynote — only 15 minutes long (video below) — but there was a lot of information packed into those 15 minutes, so let’s review it.

Tesla Semi Coming to Europe with Improvements

Dan Priestley confirmed that the Tesla Semi will be coming to Europe as Tesla begins to scale production. Tesla has already reached out to customers and is planning applications that diesel addresses today—at a lower and safer operating cost.

One of the big keys here is that the Tesla Semi has been approved for use on European roads – the required changes to make it road-legal in the EU have been made and fitted to the cab. The vast majority of these changes were fairly minor but were still needed.

However, Tesla doesn’t intend to enter the European market immediately – they intend to address the American trucking market first, and then enter the European market shortly thereafter. We recently reported that Tesla posted a new job listing for bringing the Semi to Europe.

New Independent Front Suspension

As part of the changes for the European version of the Semi – which Tesla is calling the European Development Platform – Tesla has implemented an independent front suspension. Because of the new independent front suspension, Tesla has also had the opportunity to increase the regen for the vehicle.

Semi at IAA + 🇪🇺 details from @danWpriestley 👀 pic.twitter.com/pBjMe6grOj

— Tesla Europe & Middle East (@teslaeurope) September 17, 2024

Sleeper Cab

And it’s not just a drivetrain item—it turns out that the many improvements to the Semi have also included a new metal frame to hold the body together, which also provides enough space for a sleeper cab version. A sleeper cab for the Semi has been one of the big items holding it back from long-range trucking, and this improvement is a huge step forward on that front. The larger Semi will also include large storage compartments underneath.

Charging and Efficiency

Tesla has also focused on improving vehicle efficiency and charge curves—and they’ve done just that. Tesla’s pilot test fleet has logged 7.5 million kilometers—4.65 million miles —and these distances have seen Tesla continuously honing the Semi’s software and hardware.

One of the Semis has 400,000 km—or 248,000 mi—on its dash already in 1.5 years, and it has been hauling at a constant full gross vehicle weight rating. That means this particular Semi has been hauling its maximum weight rating everywhere—which is about 80,000 pounds.

And Tesla has more to show – with more plans for vehicle efficiency increases around the corner. They also intend to adjust the way that their customers will charge the Semi – no dedicated charging time will be required.

Instead, the Tesla Semi will charge while loading and unloading and during mandatory driver break times. On average, it takes approximately 2 to 3 hours to load or unload a semi-truck, which provides plenty of time to charge on Tesla’s Megawatt Charging System (MCS).

Video

Below is the full discussion of Dan Priestley talking about the Tesla Semi at the exhibit in Germany.

Here is today's full presentation from @Tesla's head of Semi engineering, Dan Priestley, and a PepsiCo representative, where they talk about PepsiCo’s Tesla Semi case study. pic.twitter.com/kvro9hk5OY

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) September 18, 2024

Expansion of Semi Program

Tesla intends to expand the current Semi program in the United States. For now, it's been limited to PepsiCo and its subsidiaries, including Frito-Lay. We’ve seen Pepsi and Frito-Lay trucks on the highways in California and other states, but Tesla intends to begin deliveries to other customers toward the end of this year.

Tesla has confirmed that it intends to begin high-volume production of the Semi, and with the new factory underway in Texas, it’s likely to accomplish that soon.

We’re super excited to see what’s next for the Semi—it’ll be a real game changer for transportation in North America and Europe and a big step towards reducing carbon emissions.

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

Not a Tesla App

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

Not a Tesla App

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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