Tesla's Full Self-Driving Beta has a three strike system before it suspends the driver from using Autopilot.
Tesla is resetting driver strikes
The driver receives a strike whenever the system deems that the driver isn't paying attention. This could be anything from being distracted and not looking at the road, looking too long at the display or looking at your phone while in drive.
After a driver has received three strikes, they can no longer use FSD on city streets. Unfortunately, this isn't just for the duration of the drive, but until Tesla reset the driver's strikes.
Everyone expected Tesla to reset strikes with each iteration of the beta, but so far that hasn't been the case. This has been frustrating for several testers, especially when Tesla's system is far from perfect.
With the release of FSD Beta 10.8.1, Tesla is now resetting all testers' strikes to zero, regardless of how many they had or when they were received.
With beta 10.8.1, Tesla is also increasing the amount of strikes to five, before FSD becomes disabled.
It's unclear whether there are any improvements to how Tesla hands out strikes or detects improper use of FSD, but increasing the limit to five will surely help a lot of testers.
Tesla should consider clearing a strike after it reaches a certain age. For example, strikes could drop off after 30 days, so as long as you don't receive five strikes within a 30 day period, you'd be able to continue using FSD.
Beta 10.8.1 has only been released to a select group of beta testers, but it's likely it will continue going out to additional testers in the coming days.
This beta was released with version 2021.44.30.5 and is based off of 2021.44.30, which contains Tesla's Holiday Update and fixes for vehicles with a heat pump.
As part of Tesla’s App Update 4.42.5, which is now available on both the Android and iOS App Stores, Tesla has rolled out an improved AI Assistant.
If you’re not familiar with Tesla Assist, it’s the company’s AI-powered assistant, which can be found in the Service section of the Tesla app. The assistant was first introduced with app update 4.35.5, and it has slowly improved to help answer the most common Tesla-related questions.
At first, Tesla Assist could answer general support questions like “What is Sentry Mode?” or “Why is my range lower than expected?” It acted as a helpful starting point for answering questions, but the responses weren’t personalized for you or your vehicle. However, with this latest update, that is changing.
Personalized Support
The latest version of Tesla Assist introduces personalized responses. You can specify which vehicle or product your question relates to and ask specific questions about your vehicle. For now, the responses are limited to a few categories, like tire pressure, however, we expect the assistant to have access to more vehicle information in the future.
For now, you can ask questions such as, “What alerts were recently triggered on my vehicle?” or “Is my tire pressure low?”. We’ve also been successful in asking whether a particular accessory, such as a key fob, would work with our vehicle.
Tesla provides these answers based on information in their owner’s manuals, tutorials, and your vehicle’s details and data.
Just like before, Tesla continues to provide links to related articles, such as the Owner’s Manual or the Service Manual, depending on the context.
Future Releases
While the assistant can’t access every detail just yet — how many miles are on my vehicle — it’s already capable of pulling a lot of service-related information. It appears Tesla may be looking to expand this to other areas, with some responses stating, “Based on your vehicle’s data…”
It’s not clear what’s powering this assistant, but it could be some version of Grok, which will soon be available inside of Tesla vehicles.
The AI-based assistant can be found in the Service section of the Tesla app or by going into the main menu and tapping the question mark in the upper-right corner. Let us know if you’ve seen any other interesting responses from Tesla Assist.
Tesla has revealed the location of its third Megafactory, following Mega Lathrop and Mega Shanghai. The new facility will be in Brookshire, Texas, covering 1.6 million square feet—twice the combined size of Mega Lathrop and Mega Shanghai.
Tesla has had a lease deal at the Empire West industrial park since at least late 2021, where a third-party company has been managing the shipment of vehicle parts from Giga Texas and Fremont factories service centers across North America.
Mega… Factory?
The name says it all. Tesla’s Gigafactories focus on vehicle production—like Giga Texas, Giga Berlin, and Giga Shanghai—while Megafactories are dedicated to Tesla’s energy products.
Tesla Energy is expanding rapidly, with executives suggesting it could soon become one of the company’s largest revenue streams as demand continues to outpace supply.
Mega Brookshire will manufacture Megapacks and Powerwalls, Tesla’s primary stationary energy products. Both use LFP batteries, meaning their production won’t impact Tesla’s vehicle output, as most of the company’s cars rely on NMC batteries.
Looking at the Numbers
Tesla plans to invest approximately $194 million in upgrades and equipment across the two buildings, with the facility projected to generate between $8 billion and $10 billion in annual revenue.
Of that investment, $44 million will go toward facility improvements, such as parking, electrical upgrades, accessibility, and structural updates. The remaining $150 million will be allocated to Tesla-sourced manufacturing equipment for product production.
Tesla will also be employing approximately 1,500 people in the local community, which will be a considerable economic boost for the local residents.
Mega Brookshire Phase 2
The Megafactory plans also include funding for a distribution facility, with Tesla set to invest $31 million in its purchase and an additional $2 million for equipment and facility upgrades. Given its proximity to Giga Texas, it’s likely that Mega Brookshire’s distribution terminal will support the Tesla Semi.
This marks Tesla’s first factory announcement since Mega Shanghai. While there were initial plans for Giga Mexico, where Tesla initially planned to build their next-gen vehicle, those plans have seemingly been shelved as Giga Texas and Fremont continue to expand.
Although an official timeline for Mega Brookshire’s launch hasn’t been shared, Mega Shanghai is set to begin production soon after breaking ground in May 2024. Based on that timeline, Mega Brookshire could be operational by mid-to-late 2026.
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