Tesla recently launched another round of FSD Trials for both new and current customers. Like before, the trial is for 30 days. However, Tesla is now sending out emails to users that the trial is being extended — letting users get FSD for about an extra week.
FSD is built into every Tesla vehicle, but it comes with a hefty up-front price tag or a more economical subscription of $99 USD/CAD per month. Since not every customer has tried out the latest version of FSD, Tesla is sending out more trials, hoping it will stick with some customers. A longer trial could do just that, as users start relying on it for everyday drives instead of just trying it out.
The timing of the trial and extension is also interesting. Thanksgiving takes place in the United States on November 28th, which means many of these trials will still be active during the holiday. Having this trial active during the Thanksgiving holiday could expose many non-Tesla owners to FSD.
Update: This article has been updated to accurately reflect the 30-day trial. Users who are receiving the trial now are getting a 30-day trial. For users who received the free trial earlier, Tesla has extended it by 30 days from the day of the email, which ends up being about an extra week.
FSD V12.5.4.1
When a user receives the FSD trial, Tesla updates their cars to 2024.32.10, which includes FSD V12.5.4.1, alongside hands-free driver monitoring with sunglasses, as well as Actually Smart Summon. Essentially, this is a big moment for Tesla to show off the latest FSD features to as many customers as possible.
At the recent Q3 2024 Earnings Call, Tesla also confirmed that the FSD rate has been up since the We, Robot event. This is likely due to more people seeing the robotaxi and the fact that there were no incidents while moving thousands of people. This, plus the recent success of FSD V12.5, which has a lower intervention rate than earlier versions, is opening more people up to the idea of autonomy.
Trial Extension
Tesla is announcing the trial extension to some users through email or a message in the Tesla app, so keep an eye out for both. The email and message are going out to users in North America who subscribe to FSD or don’t have FSD at all. It does not include customers who have bought FSD since those owners already have it for the life of the vehicle.
Tesla appears to be phasing in the FSD trial, as not all users have received it yet, but we expect most users to receive it in the next few weeks.
Enable the Trial
Once you receive the email, check your vehicle to see whether it asks you to activate FSD. Keep in mind that it may take up to a day for FSD to show up in your vehicle. Once it does, FSD will be activated on your current software version, which is likely FSD 12.3.6, but update 2024.32.10 should be available to you shortly after.
Although Tesla has moved away from the FSD Beta wording and it’s now officially called FSD (Supervised), always remember that this feature requires you to be constantly aware of your surroundings and to monitor the vehicle closely. While FSD will navigate, change lanes, and even take turns, it's imperative to stay attentive and cautious—the system is designed to assist, not replace, the driver.
What If I Already Subscribe
In the previous FSD trial earlier this year, Tesla also gave a free trial to Tesla owners who already subscribe to FSD. This essentially gives you a month of FSD for free. We have confirmed that this trial is functioning the same way, and users who are already paying for FSD are receiving a free month.
If you receive the free FSD trial message in the app, you should see the payment date for FSD skip a month so that you only get charged the next FSD payment after your free month ends.
How to Get the FSD Trial
You don’t need to do anything to get the free FSD trial. Tesla isn’t sending it to everyone at once, but most owners who live in the U.S. or Canada should receive the free 30-day trial soon.
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Tesla software update 2024.44.3 has started rolling out to customers in larger waves recently and it brings several new features - including Actually Smart Summon to Europe and the Middle East, as well as improvements to Autopark. But that’s not all, it also adds a new Blind Spot Monitoring feature to the new Model 3, and potentially the Cybertruck, but that’s still to be determined.
We previously covered the Blind Spot Warning While Parked as part of our preview notes for update 2024.44, but now that it's going out to customers, it's time to see it in action.
If the vehicle’s door open button is pressed, and a vehicle or object is near or incoming, the vehicle’s Blind Spot Warning Light (2024 Model 3 and Cybertruck) will illuminate, an audible tone will ring and the door won’t open. A message will also be displayed on the center displaying, letting driver’s know why the door didn’t open.
Pressing the button a second time will allow you to override the warning and open the door normally, providing a way to get out in case you just parked close to a nearby vehicle or obstacle.
The object detection for this new feature includes cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and other objects - like things including traffic cones, bollards, strollers, and other large obstacles that FSD and vision-based Autopark detect during normal operation. Of note - this only works for the front two doors. Thanks to X user Max, who did some testing for us, It does not work for the rear passenger doors.
Optional Feature
The feature is optional - it’ll be enabled by default for safety, but if you need to enable or disable it, you can do so under Controls > Safety. For now, the feature is only available on the 2024 Model 3, but we expect it to roll out to the Cybertruck at least. However, there’s no reason why it can’t be added to other vehicles as well, minus the small red dot. We expect Tesla to eventually add this feature to all Tesla vehicles, but it’s currently not a part of update 2024.44.
Enhauto’s S3XY Buttons & Commander
If that’s not enough safety and vision for you, Enhauto, the makers of the popular S3XY Buttons and Commander recently put out a new software update for the 2024 Model 3, which makes some fantastic use of the ambient lighting.
With Enhauto’s solution, users are able to tie their ambient lights to Autopilot use, turn signals or even if a vehicle is their blind spot. Check out the video below for this awesome implementation, where the ambient lights turn red when another vehicle approaches.
Maybe Tesla will integrate something like this into a future update? We’ve been hoping for more customizability with their ambient lighting - it's an easy safety win and a demonstration of Tesla’s do-more-with-less attitude.
I look forward to @enhauto updates more than Tesla...
Ambient light effects....
I set default color to white. Blinks green on turn signals Turns blue on FSD activation Yellow if someone in blind spot Blinks red if turn signal on and blind spot activity detected.
The feature is now possible thanks to what Wes Morrill, Cybertruck’s lead engineering, points out is a huge rewrite of Tesla’s Trip Planner, which not only makes it much more accurate but will now allow users to choose their arrival charge percentage.
More Accurate Trip Planner
When you navigate to a destination, your Tesla will automatically calculate when, where, and how much you need to charge. While the process seems straightforward, Tesla deserves a lot of credit for creating a simple user experience because a lot goes into accurately determining this information.
Tesla has to calculate many moving pieces in order to accurately predict when and where you should stop. First, it needs to consider your driving efficiency and wind direction, terrain elevation, traffic, vehicle speed, and ambient temperature. It also needs to predict the best Superchargers to stop at, taking into account congestion and charger speed.
This morning, in response to Dan Burkland, Wes shared that Tesla had significantly rewritten the backend portion of Trip Planner. These improvements, made by several engineers, were designed to improve Trip Planner’s accuracy and open the door to future features.
It sounds like these changes are mostly server-side, so thanks to their OTA connection, more accurate predictions should be available to all vehicles—no vehicle update is required.
Arrival State of Charge
Along with Tesla’s improvements to Trip Planner, Wes also stated that these improvements allow for a popular feature request — the ability to select your desired charge level at arrival.
Up until now, Tesla’s Trip Planner tried to get you to your destination as quickly as possible, which usually meant arriving with a low state of charge.
While this was fine if you have a charger at your destination, it’s not great if you don’t, or it could be even worse if there are no chargers nearby.
Max de Zegher said on X that he has heard the requests for a selectable arrival state of charge. Wes later clarified this by saying that these improvements to Tesla’s Trip Planner now allow for additional features to be added, such as “desired arrival charge.”
Actually trip planner got a huge rewrite on the back end. I had a great conversation with one of the engineers working on this over a morning run a few weeks back, it's pretty neat. The rewrite also unlocks additional features, like desired arrival charge.
Given that Max de Zegher’s comments came last night and Wes Morrill commented this morning, this feature request likely won’t arrive with the upcoming Holiday Update. Tesla actually hinted at such a feature being added in their last app update, so it does seem like they’ve already planned for it.
Although ‘Arrival State of Charge’ was on our wishlist for the Holiday Update, it looks like it may arrive soon after the holidays.
![First Look at Tesla’s New 'Blind Spot While Parked' Feature [VIDEO]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/img/containers/article_images/model-3-2024/blind-spot-indicator-monitor.jpg/4cdcb11af7b1c7cf021ba96588fd4f1a/blind-spot-indicator-monitor.jpg)
![Video Reveals the Cybertruck's Unique User Interface [Video]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/images/news/2023/cybertruck-ui-1_300w.jpg)
