According to Elon Tesla may release FSD Beta 10.12 with several key improvements this week.
The last major beta, version 10.11 started
going out in early March, but most testers didn't receive it until v10.11.2, which
was released in April.
We hope this beta will go out a little quicker than the previous one, but it's certainly shaping up to be an
exciting release.
Updated Vehicle Models
FSD Beta 10.12 will contain new, more
detailed vehicle models, at least for its sedan model, but it may include updated models for all the
various vehicle types.
The current sedan visualization is fairly abstract. It doesn't have wheels or many details. The visualization is
modeled after Tesla's key fob for the Model S.
FSD Beta can recognize far more things than it can display on the screen. However, the visualizations are an
important way of how the vehicle communicates with us on what it sees and understands. So with Beta 10.12 Tesla
is including a more detailed sedan model that has wheels and doors.
Although FSD Beta has been able to detect open doors for a while now, the model will now visually show us if any
nearby cars have open doors by highlighting the door in yellow.
Improvements to Unprotected Left Turns
Unprotected left turns have been a key focus over several betas and we're apparently going to see further
improvements in 10.12.
Crossing over multiple lanes when turning left can be intimidating, even for some human drivers. Tesla has
been making continuous improvements to make unprotected left turns more efficient and human-like.
For example, the car will now sometimes start inching slowly, anticipating the last vehicle to pass so that it
can complete the turn promptly and be out of the way of any further traffic.
According to Elon, FSD Beta 10.12 will specifically improve "tricky" unprotected left turns.
Chuck Cook on YouTube does a fantastic job covering some of these left turns. Below you can see how the latest
FSD Beta does taking a left turn onto a primary street with a divider.
Heavy Traffic
In Beta 10.12, we're also expecting to see improvements in heavy traffic. I haven't seen too many issues with the
beta in traffic, except that sometimes the car has a tough time differentiating between a parked vehicle and a
vehicle that's just waiting.
I've encountered situations where the beta tries to go around a car that is stopped due to a traffic light or
traffic and the beta waits for just a few seconds before trying to go around the vehicle.
Hopefully, this is one of the areas that Elon is talking about when he refers to improvements in heavy traffic.
Single Stack
Elon also mentions that Tesla is making good progress on single stack. Single stack refers to a single set of
technologies that will be used for both highway and street driving.
FSD beta is great, but once you get on the highway, you're right back in the old production version.
FSD Beta is far from perfect, but driving on city streets is a completed task and the beta actually does quite
well trying to figure things out.
When we start looking at Autopilot on the highway and some of the issues it still has, like bouncing between lane
markings or a sudden attempt to center itself in a lane that has become wider, those issues are practically
non-existent in city driving.
So while single stack won't be included in beta 10.12, it's good to know that Tesla continues to make progress.
When Tesla is finally able to complete their single stack software we should see huge improvements in highway
Autopilot use.
Release Date
The last FSD beta started going out more than a month ago, so a lot of users are definitely itching for an
update. Elon said earlier this week that beta 10.12 is "probably" going to wide release this week.
The beta could be in QA testing now, but it unlikely that it has been passed on to employees yet as release notes
usually get leaked when that happens.
Hopefully, some of us will be greeted by that sweet notification this weekend, prompting us to install the latest
beta.
Update: Elon tweeted today, Friday, May 6th that there have been "many upgrades to core code, so taking longer to debug issues. Probably Wed/Thurs release." So it looks like we're still a week out from a public release of beta 10.12.
Based On New Build
Lately, FSD betas have been a little behind the times. The latest beta is 2022.4.5.21,
which is roughly two major versions behind. That means that FSD Beta testers still don't have seat heaters in
the launcher, Dog Mode in the Tesla app, browser improvements, vehicle preconditioning improvements and more.
Most non-FSD Teslas are now on a 2022.12 release and 2022.16 is expected shortly.
While it's unlikely that the beta 10.12 will be based on a brand new upcoming build like 2022.16, it's almost
certainly going to be based on 2022.12, which
will please a lot of testers.
It appears that Tesla is as cautious as ever with beta releases. Lately, it has taken several revisions of a beta
before Tesla releases it to everyone.
Tesla says they're now at 100k beta testers in the US and Canada, so they're right to be cautious, but it's not
easy waiting.
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Tesla appears to be preparing to expand its Robotaxi geofence in Austin, Texas, with numerous engineering vehicles taking to the road. One of the most interesting sights, between the short and tall LiDAR rigs, was a Cybertruck validation vehicle, which we don’t often see.
Tesla’s expansion is moving the Robotaxi Network into downtown Austin, a dense urban environment that is currently outside the geofence. It appears Tesla is content with the latest builds of Robotaxi FSD and is ready to take on urban traffic.
The inclusion of a Cybertruck in the validation fleet is noteworthy, as the rest of the vehicles are Model Ys. This suggests that Tesla may be addressing two challenges simultaneously: expanding its service area while also addressing the FSD gap between the Cybertruck and other HW4 Tesla vehicles.
Tesla Validating Downtown Austin before expanding the Robotaxi geo-fence area. pic.twitter.com/ylFATtjcDi
Recent sightings have shown a fleet of Tesla vehicles, equipped with rooftop validation sensor rigs, running routes throughout downtown Austin and across the South Congress Bridge. While these rigs include LiDAR, it’s not a sign that Tesla is abandoning its vision-only approach.
Instead, Tesla uses the high-fidelity data from the LiDAR as a ground truth measurement to validate and improve the performance of its cameras. In short, it essentially uses the LiDAR measurements as the actual distances and then compares the distances determined in vision-only to the LiDAR measurements. This allows Tesla to tweak and improve its vision system without needing LiDAR.
This data collection in a new, complex environment right outside the Robotaxi geofence is an indicator that plans to expand the geofence. Tesla has previously indicated that they intend to roll out more vehicles and expand the geofence slowly. Given that their operational envelope includes the entire Austin Metro Area, we can expect more locations to open up gradually.
Once they expand the operational radius to include downtown Austin, they will likely also have to considerably increase the number of Robotaxis active in the fleet at any given time. Early-access riders are already saying that the wait time for a Robotaxi is too long, with them sometimes having to wait 15 minutes to be picked up.
With a larger service area, we expect Tesla to also increase the number of vehicles and the number of invited riders to try out the service.
After all, Tesla’s goal is to expand the Robotaxi Network to multiple cities within the United States by the end of 2025. Tesla has already been running an employees-only program in California, and we’ve seen validation vehicles as far away as Boston and New Jersey, on the other side of the country.
Cyber FSD Lagging Behind
One of the most significant details from these recent sightings is the presence of a Cybertruck. Cybertruck’s FSD builds have famously lagged behind the builds available on the rest of Tesla’s HW4 fleet. Key features that were expected never fully materialized for the Cybertruck, and the list of missing features is quite extensive.
Start FSD from Park
Improved Controller
Reverse on FSD
Actually Smart Summon
It may not look like a lot, but if you drive a Cybertruck on FSD and then hop in any of the rest of Tesla’s HW4 vehicles, you’ll notice a distinct difference. This is especially evident on highways, where the Cybertruck tends to drift out of the lane, often crossing over the lane markings.
Tesla was testing parts of Downtown Austin, TX with this Cybertruck which had a massive roof rack, and sensors.
We previously released an exclusive mentioning that a well-positioned internal source confirmed with us that a new FSD build for the Cybertruck was upcoming, but we never ended up receiving that particular build, only a point release to V13.2.9. The AI team’s focus had clearly shifted to getting the latest Robotaxi builds running and validated, and while a flagship, the Cybertruck fleet was small and new, and really a secondary task.
The Cybertruck’s larger size, steer-by-wire, rear-wheel steering, and different camera placements likely present a bigger set of challenges for FSD. Deploying it now as a validation vehicle in a complex environment like downtown Austin suggests that Tesla is finally gathering the specific data needed to bring the Cybertruck’s capabilities up to par. This focused effort is likely the necessary step to refine FSD’s handling of the Cybertruck before they begin rolling out new public builds.
When?
Once Tesla’s validation is complete, we can probably expect the Robotaxi Network to expand its borders for the first time in the coming days or weeks. However, we’ll likely see more signs of the expansion, such as Robotaxi vehicles driving themselves around the area, before the expansion actually happens.
Hopefully, the Cybertruck will also learn from its older siblings and receive the rest of its much-needed FSD features, alongside an FSD update for the entire fleet.
Tesla is rolling out a fairly big update for its iOS and early-access-only Robotaxi app, delivering a suite of improvements that address user feedback from the initial launch last month. The update improves the user experience with increased flexibility, more information, and overall design polish.
The most prominent feature in this update is that Tesla now allows you to adjust your pickup location. Once a Robotaxi arrives at your pickup location, you have 15 minutes to start the ride. The app will now display the remaining time your Robotaxi will wait for you, counting down from 15:00. The wait time is also shown in the iOS Live Activity if your phone is on the lock screen.
How Adjustable Pickups Work
We previously speculated that Tesla had predetermined pickup locations, as the pickup location wasn’t always where the user was. Now, with the ability to adjust the pickup location, we can clearly see that Tesla has specific locations where users can be picked up.
Rather than allowing users to drop a pin anywhere on the map, the new feature works by having the user drag the map to their desired area. The app then presents a list of nearby, predetermined locations to choose from. Once a user selects a spot from this curated list, they hit “Confirm.” The pickup site can also be changed while the vehicle is en route.
This specific implementation raises an interesting question: Why limit users to predetermined spots? The answer likely lies in how Tesla utilizes fleet data to improve its service.
Here is the new Tesla Robotaxi pickup location adjustment feature.
While the app is still only available on iOS through Apple’s TestFlight program, invited users can download and update the app.
Tesla included these release notes in update 25.7.0 of the Robotaxi app:
You can now adjust pickup location
Display the remaining wait time at pickup in the app and Live Activity
Design improvements
Bug fixes and stability improvements
Nic Cruz Patane
Why Predetermined Pick Up Spots?
The use of predetermined pickup points is less of a limitation and more of a feature. These curated locations are almost certainly spots that Tesla’s fleet data has identified as optimal and safe for an autonomous vehicle to perform a pickup or drop-off.
This suggests that Tesla is methodically “mapping” its service area not just for calibration and validation of FSD builds but also to help perform the first and last 50-foot interactions that are critical to a safe and smooth ride-hailing experience.
An optimal pickup point likely has several key characteristics identified by the fleet, including:
A safe and clear pull-away area away from traffic
Good visibility for cameras, free of obstructions
Easy entry and exit paths for an autonomous vehicle
This change to pick-up locations reveals how Tesla’s Robotaxi Network is more than just Unsupervised FSD. There are a lot of moving parts, many of which Tesla recently implemented, and others that likely still need to be implemented, such as automated charging.
Frequent Updates
This latest update delivers a much-needed feature for adjusting pickup locations, but it also gives us a view into exactly what Tesla is doing with all the data it is collecting with its validation vehicles rolling around Austin, alongside its Robotaxi fleet.
Tesla is quickly iterating on its app and presumably the vehicle’s software to build a reliable and predictable network, using data to perfect every aspect of the experience, from the moment you hail the ride to the moment you step out of the car.
![Tesla Updates Robotaxi App: Adds Adjustable Pick Up Locations, Shows Wait Time and More [VIDEO]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/img/containers/article_images/tesla-app/robotaxi-app/25-7-0/robotaxi-app-25.7.0.webp/4ac9ed40be870cfcf6e851fce21c43b9/robotaxi-app-25.7.0.jpg)
