Yesterday, Tesla released FSD v12.5.4 with update 2024.27.25. The update includes improvements to Tesla’s vision-based attention monitoring and Actually Smart Summon. This update initially rolled out to early-access testers yesterday, but since then, it has rolled out to more users, with the latest wave coming just moments ago.
This update includes more than just FSD bug fixes, so let’s take a look at what’s changed.
Actually Smart Summon Improvements
Actually Smart Summon is now officially known as Actually Smart Summon (Supervised), as per Tesla’s latest video on X (see it below). When Tesla released Actually Smart Summon, it added support for Tesla Vision, live camera feeds, and additional options.
Range Increase: Now, Tesla has brought even more improvements to the table. To start, Actually Smart Summon has had its range increased by about 50 feet – for a total range of 279 feet, or 85 meters. This also comes alongside a few new features, including completion and abort sounds.
Sounds: You can now choose to have the vehicle play a sound when Summon completes successfully. You can select from several – including Applause, “Ta Da,” “Ba-dum Tiss,” and Random. For now, unlike with your vehicle lock sounds, you can’t customize it just yet. To play summon sounds, your vehicle will need a functional Pedestrian Warning Speaker, or PWS. The abort sound only has one option right now – Emissions. Tesla’s engineers love their fart jokes.
Actually Smart Summon 🍑 enables your car to come to you from anywhere in the parking lot
Sadly, Actually Smart Summon is also missing a couple of features—HomeLink compatibility isn’t available for Summon, and Tesla says it's coming soon. The Side Clearance option, which previously let you choose between Standard and Tight clearances, is also gone.
For now, you’re also required to use Continuous Press to summon your vehicle. Usage without Continuous Press is coming soon though.
Actually Smart Summon Requirements
This new version of Actually Smart Summon also comes with some interesting requirements. Just like with previous versions, the doors, tailgate, and frunk must be closed before the vehicle is moved. However, the vehicle must also have a TPMS PSI of 34 or higher (on a Model 3 – this is likely the optimal PSI for your vehicle’s standard tires).
You’ll also need a Tesla app update – v4.37.0 is now the required version, which is currently available for iOS, but not available yet in the Google Play store..
The tire pressure requirement could be a big change, especially as many people who use aftermarket winter tire sets don’t run TPMS units. If you don’t have TPMS sensors in your tires, you may not be able to use Actually Smart Summon at all.
The second major update with 2024.27.25 is for Vision-Based Attention Monitoring. Vision monitoring allows FSD to function without users constantly having their hands on the wheel. Instead, it monitors the driver’s eyes to see if they’re paying attention.
Previously, this was limited to users not wearing sunglasses, although Tesla said the functionality to support sunglasses use would be coming soon. With this update, users can wear sunglasses and enjoy no-nag Full Self Driving.
This is a major update, as one of the biggest consternations with FSD V12.5 was that while vision monitoring was fantastic, it wasn’t always available to the driver if they wanted to wear sunglasses.
An undocumented change for vision monitoring is that if it detects a device—such as a cellphone—in your hand, it will say “Attention Monitoring unavailable—Detected device in hand.” This popped up when the user, @WifeDirtyTesla, leaned her head on her hand while her elbow was on the center console. It may have appeared that she was holding a phone up to her head.
That’s definitely an interesting little undocumented change, and we’re glad to see that Tesla is working to improve user safety for FSD (Supervised).
The new
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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.
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.
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.
