How Tesla releases software updates and when you will get an update

September 23, 2021

By Nuno Cristovao

You may wonder how Tesla releases updates and why there are so many versions. We covered what Tesla software version numbers mean and here we'll talk about Tesla's workflow when developing new features and how they decide what goes into each software update.

Master and Develop

There isn't a single codebase. There are two main branches of code and new features and releases are based off of these two branches. The 'master' branch holds Tesla's production code while 'develop' has all of Tesla's latest approved code.

Feature Development

When an engineer or team creates a new feature, they'll start a new branch with the latest develop code. All of their work is isolated in this branch until work is complete.

There are many features being developed concurrently. They'll usually be completely independent and have no knowledge of other features that are currently in development. Once development is completed for a specific feature, it will then be tested and merged into the main develop branch. Other features in active development now become aware of this new feature and it will be merged into their code as well.

New Update

When Tesla is ready to release a new update, they will usually grab the latest code from the develop branch and build a release. QA will test this release code and if any issues are found, fixes will be made directly to this release.

Once the code is deemed ready for production, it will be merged into master and rolled out to a small percentage of the Tesla fleet.

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Tesla Expected to Fix Cybertruck Charging and Regen Issue in Update 2025.2

December 26, 2024

By Karan Singh

BrianASilver3 / Tesla

Cybertruck owners in northern areas - especially those in Canada, have noticed slower charging rates on some vehicles. These owners are experiencing low charging amperage even when using a 48-amp Wall Connectors.

The 4680 cell - the Cybercell, seems to be sensitive to temperature changes and, as such, loses the ability to charge or discharge rapidly. Tesla accommodates this by warming the battery in advance of driving or while driving. However, there seems to be a software issue preventing the battery pack from warming up properly.

In addition, other users have noted that they don’t have regen braking due to the battery not warming up properly, even after driving. If you drive other Tesla vehicles while they’re cold-soaked, they will eventually warm up to offer you full regen and full performance. The Cybertruck, interestingly, will offer you full performance at cold-soaked temperatures as low as -20C (-4F), but will have regen unavailable in temperatures as warm as -5C (41F).

Software Fix Confirmed

Brian Silver over on X reached out to Tesla Service with his findings, who confirmed that this is a known software issue that has now been validated. Tesla Service responded by saying that they’re hopeful a fix can be built into the 2025.2 software update. This is the first time we’re hearing about Tesla’s next major software update, which is expected to be released around the second or third week of 2025.

Tesla has also confirmed that this is not a physical issue with the heating system, so no repair is required for this one - it’ll be another OTA fix, just like many others.

We’re glad to see this one getting fixed so quickly. The issue appears to have started with the 2024 Holiday Update, or it could just be a coincidence since Cybertrucks begin to settle into Canada this year, where winters are much harsher and colder on average.

Workaround

We’re hoping to see this fix go out soon, as the current procedure to get around this is annoying. It requires you to set the navigation to a nearby Supercharger so that your vehicle will precondition the battery. You can stop the navigation to the Supercharger after 5-10 minutes, at which point the battery pack will be more than warm enough to charge at the full amperage of your home charger.

This workaround also resolves the issue of limited regenerative braking by warming up the battery pack sufficiently.

Tesla Introduces Multi-Vehicle Coordinated Light Shows [VIDEO]

December 26, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

As part of Tesla’s Holiday Update, Tesla has introduced an awesome new feature - multi-vehicle synchronized Light Shows.

Now, you’re probably going to say: Wait! We’ve seen those kinds of light shows already.

And you’re not wrong - thanks to the hard work of people using the Light Show tool, you could synchronize light shows and run different shows on different vehicles. But this was a lot of manual, time-consuming work. Tesla now officially supports creating a light show involving up to eight vehicles.

Coordinated Shows

These new coordinated shows can be set up in the new xLights interface, making it far easier for Light Show designers to assemble everything. They’ll be able to edit and view multiple vehicles at the same time, synchronize them all together - and build variants with up to eight vehicles.

The output is still eight different Light Shows - which will still need to be put on USB flash drives and distributed to the correct vehicles in the correct order, but designers can now build a unified and coordinated light show. It could be possible to coordinate more than eight vehicles in a single Light Show - and we’re sure we’ll find out in the coming weeks what is possible with the updated xLights software.

Tesla showed off a great example below, putting together a jaw-dropping 8-vehicle Light Show using the new “Ready for Assault” show that arrived with the 2024 Holiday Update. Tesla has also gone ahead and contributed example Light Shows on Github to get Light Show designers familiar with the new process.

Stand in the middle to enter boss fight pic.twitter.com/IHvuzsQgG9
— Cybertruck (@cybertruck) December 23, 2024

Everything New in Light Shows

Tesla’s light show feature received a massive update with this year’s holiday update, but we’re only finding out about some of the features now. Here’s a quick rundown of everything new in Tesla’s Light Show feature:

Support the Off-road Lightbar for the Cybertruck
Start, Stop, or Schedule a Light Show from the Tesla app
Create longer Light Shows
Two new songs, including Cyber Symphony and Ready for Assault
Ability to control Ambient Lighting in 2024 Model 3 or Cybertruck
Display color effects on the vehicle’s center screen
Create Light Shows that involve up to eight vehicles

Cybertruck Lightbar Support

Another interesting addition is the recent support for the Cybertruck’s off-road lightbar. The off-road lightbar can be addressed in three zones - the forward main bar and left and right ditch beams. With the holiday update, Tesla also added the ability to program the vehicle’s ambient lighting, display color effects, and create longer light shows than ever before.

Tying everything together in this update is the ability to start, schedule, or stop a light show directly from the Tesla app.