Last night Tesla showed off its new Model S Plaid. We'll be talking about the car itself below, but you can also read about all the new software features here.
As amazing as the software looks, the car looks just as amazing, if not moreso.
The car will be able to go from 0-60 in 1.99 seconds and do a quarter mile in 9.23 seconds, making it the first production car to break the two second barrier.
It has 1,020 HP at its peak and is capable of traveling 200 MPH. However rumors are that it will require upgraded wheels and tires.
The Model S will contain a new battery pack and feature four modules instead of sixteen, but it will utilize the same batteries.
The motor itself is capable of more than 20,000 RPM and needed to be especially designed to handle the power it produces. It contains a carbon sleeve to hold it together at extreme RPM.
It will have a range of 390 miles for the tri-motor version and 420 miles for the dual motor.
Supercharging rates have also been increased for the car. Elon claimed that the car could charge 187 miles in 15 minutes.
Some smaller tidbits are that USB-C ports will provide up to 36 watts of power, making it enough to charge a laptop. It will also be capable of multiple bluetooth connections, letting multiple passengers connect to the car.
The 17" center screen is reported to have a resolution of 2200x1300.
The rear screen will be able to control entertainment apps, climate control, music and seat heaters.
Elon Musk said that the audio system uses a custom codec that continually adjusts to the environment and the source of the music that will continue improving over time.
In a Space on X (Spaces are group voice chats), Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla vehicles would eventually receive Grok AI. Specifically, he confirmed that “You would be able to ask Grok things in Teslas.” There’s a lot to dig into this simple statement, especially given the recent addition of a true voice assistant in China.
Tesla Voice Assistant
Tesla’s voice commands in North America have recently received updates to have a better, clearer voice, while in China, the system received a complete overhaul. Voice commands in China have been replaced with a smart assistant capable of answering simple questions like “What is the value of Tesla stock?” or “How’s the weather today?”
Grok is the AI Large Language Model (LLM) available on X for Premium users and is capable of answering much more than just simple questions. While Elon Musk previously mentioned it in passing – that Teslas could run an LLM on their AI hardware with room to spare – not much has come down the voice assistant front. Other chat models, including ChatGPT, have already implemented voice modes, which let you converse back and forth with the AI.
We’re hoping that once x.AI’s Grok gets a voice mode as well, it will eventually make its way to Tesla vehicles in some capacity. The current iteration of Tesla’s voice commands is useful, but its command set is limited and mostly focused on vehicle accessibility.
Grok should be able to greatly improve the capabilities of the system, introducing a wider range of functionality, and reduce the strictness of how you need to ask for something. You’ll hopefully be able to ask Grok for the best restaurants around town and have FSD take you there. There’s no word whether Tesla would use a wake-word to activate the voice assistant or whether drivers would still need to tap the voice button on the steering wheel. China’s current voice assistant still requires a button press to activate.
In the audio chat, Musk goes on to say that Grok AI would not be run locally on the vehicle, and the vehicle would still need to send out a snippet of the voice request before returning with an answer. This is the same way Tesla’s voice commands work today and how the majority of voice assistants function. However, there are certain voice assistants that can process and run your command completely locally without having to out to the internet.
There’s no ETA on when Tesla will add a true voice assistant, but ever since it was released in China earlier this year, we’ve been expecting it to be added to other regions. It would be a fantastic Christmas gift, though…
Tesla has just released software update 2024.32.30 to its early access customers this morning, with quite a few changes. What’s most exciting is that there isn’t a “Coming Soon” section in there, as this update includes all of those features.
This may mean that FSD v12.5.6 may be the big update that concludes FSD V12, as FSD V13 is already on the Tesla FSD Roadmap for October. But before we look too far forward, let’s take a look at what the early access folks received this morning.
Of course, this build includes Vision-Based Attention Monitoring, including sunglasses support, and end-to-end highway monitoring. It also includes " earlier and more natural lane change decisions,” “Updated Driver Profiles,” and “Auto Set Speed has been updated to Max Speed.”
Earlier and More Natural Lane Change Decisions
Since its inception, Tesla’s FSD has struggled to make natural lane change decisions, especially in advance of a coming turn or exit. Tesla has been working on improving when and how it makes these decisions, and this update should be the big one.
Early access testers have already mentioned that FSD V12.5.6 appears to make decisions a lot sooner than before, which is definitely a good thing. Previously, FSD would make decisions to get from the right lane into the left turning lane in under a few hundred yards (or meters) from the actual place you’re turning. This update should make everything much, much smoother.
Updated Driver Profiles
Tesla has replaced the three older FSD Modes with updated Driver Profiles instead (not to be mixed up with a Driver Profile that saves user preferences). Chill makes a come back here, but Average has been replaced with Standard, and Assertive has been replaced with Hurry. Hurry mode was previously announced by Elon in a post on X, and it has finally shown up a few short months later.
Tesla is a lot more clear on what each of these modes means, and how it’ll change the way FSD drives.
Chill
Chill says that it will drive in slower lanes with minimal lane changes. This one is going to be especially important because it seems like the minimal lane changes button is gone too. So if you want minimal lane changes for your drive – you’ll be on the Chill profile.
We expect Chill to stick to the right lane whenever possible – as that’s the “slow” lane in North America – and that should carry over to both the highway, as well as multi-lane roadways.
Standard
Standard is the new Average – it offers to drive at normal speed, adjusting with traffic. We’re not sure exactly what that means just yet, especially since Autospeed is gone (more on that below!), but it will likely work within the Max Speed to dynamically adjust based on how fast traffic around you is traveling.
If anything, Standard will be slightly more assertive and faster than Chill, but likely won’t be looking to park itself in the right lane or left lane – rather picking the more neutral center lane, especially on the highway.
Hurry
Hurry is the new mode, replacing Assertive. Hurry says that it will drive faster, with more frequent lane changes. It seems the intention of the Hurry Profile will be to get you to your destination just that much quicker.
Hurry will be fairly aggressive with its lane changes and its ability to drive faster. This means it will likely be looking for and taking opportunities to get ahead or through the flow of traffic where available. On the highway, this profile will likely bring you to the left lane, where you’ll be keeping up or passing traffic.
The Hurry Profile, in particular, will also be displayed when it’s in use, right next to the green attention-monitoring dot. It seems Standard and Chill currently do not display up there.
The FSD Profile Selection Screen
WholeMarsBlog on X
Auto Set Speed Has Been Replaced
On FSD V12.5.6, Autospeed is gone. It has been replaced with an updated version of its predecessor – Max Speed Offset. You can now set a Max Speed Offset for all FSD profiles, including negative offsets, to drive below the speed limit.
The maximum offset available right now is 40% - so if the limit is 50mph, your FSD speed limit will be 70mph. The minimum offset is also -40% - so at 50 mph, that’s 30mph.
This is definitely a new approach, as Tesla was previously working on letting its neural nets dynamically adjust the speed based on road and weather conditions, traffic around you, and road types (country vs low-density urban vs high-density urban).
We think Max Speed Offset will work very similar to Auto Set Speed, but with a clearer indication of the vehicle’s max speed. Previously on Auto, it wasn’t clear how fast the vehicle could go, just that the car was trying to determine the correct speed for the situation. Max Speed Offset is still expected to slow down for varying traffic and weather conditions.
Just like before, quick controls are available on the right scroll wheel.
WholeMarsBlog on X
When’s It Coming?
Okay, the big question everyone is waiting for. It's just hit early access testers on Model Y and Model 3 vehicles—with HW4. Assuming the build tests well, the earliest it will see customers will be sometime next week, likely with HW4 3/Y and Cybertrucks first, then the S/X, and then Hardware 3 in the coming weeks. However, this is just a guess based on previous releases. We hope HW3 vehicles get included much sooner.
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