Early Sunday morning Tesla released the latest FSD Beta, v10.3. This release, 2021.36.5.2 includes numerous improvements outlined in Tesla's technical release notes, but it also introduces another notable feature, Autopilot driving styles.
Tesla introduces Autopilot driving styles
@chazman/Twitter
In 10.3, Tesla added Full Self-Driving Profiles, or driving styles. There are three options to pick from, Chill, Average and Assertive.
You can think of them as similar options to Chill mode which reduces fast acceleration and the speed-based lane changes such as mild, average and Mad Max.
Choosing a driving style will change how Autopilot drives and interacts with elements in its environment. For example, adjusting your FSD profile will adjust your car's following distance, acceleration, lane changes and more.
In Chill mode, your car will leave a larger following distance and be more 'mellow'. It'll remain in its lane more often if the car in front of you slows down rather than going around them. It will also perform complete stops and have more graduar acceleration.
Tesla's Chill FSD Profile
@chazman/Twitter
Average mode will have a medium following distance and Tesla says that the car may perform rolling stops. Tesla doesn't mean stop signs, but optional stops, such as pulling out of a driveway or parking lot. If the coast is clear, your car may simply slow down instead of coming to a complete stop. You can also expect faster acceleration when compared to Chill mode.
The last driving profile is 'Assertive'. In this profile the following distance will be shorter and your car will try to maintain its speed as much as possible by moving into open lanes more often. Tesla says that the car will not exit passing lanes. So when driving on the highway your car will travel and remain in the left most lane.
Traveling in the passing lane is relatively normal in the US, but in many countries it's actually a ticketable offense. Tesla currently has an option in Autopilot settings that allows the car to travel in the passing lane instead of using it only for passing. It's likely that the option to travel in the passing lane will be adjusted when FSD sees a rollout outside of the US.
It's likely that these profiles affect many other areas of driving, such as when to let other cars into your lane or how it reacts to yellow lights.
These FSD Profiles are a great, and much needed addition. Not only do individuals have different preferences when “someone else” is driving, but some of these driving styles are crucial when driving in certain areas of the country. You wouldn't want to go into a major city and leave a large following distance or accelerate too slowly or cars would constantly cut in front of you.
Similar situation if you live out in the country. Driving fast and not letting other drivers into your lane may be frowned upon by other drivers.
Several months ago, Tesla infamously started turning off power to its 12V sockets in its vehicles when someone wasn’t in the vehicle. This affected all vehicles, including the ever-popular Model Y. The reason provided for the removal was inappropriate modification of vehicles to use high-power devices, which could potentially cause dangerous situations.
This left many accessories, such as vehicle fridges, inoperable since they relied on power staying with Sentry Mode.
In its current state, your vehicle disables the rear 110V outlet, as well as the 12V cigarette lighter-style socket inside the center console, when no one is detected inside the vehicle. The only current workaround is using Camp Mode, but this has disadvantages such as the climate system staying on and walk-away locks being turned off.
This change also impacted USB power provided over any of the vehicle’s USB ports. This made it difficult for users to run sub-trunk fridges or other accessories that would continuously draw power, as Camp Mode consumes quite a bit of energy to maintain the vehicle’s internal temperature.
New Accessory Power Feature
Now, in a surprise move, Tesla is restoring access to the 12V sockets when the vehicle is powered off if users enable a new option called “Accessory Power.”
Tesla states that power is available whenever the vehicle detects a user is available or when the Keep Accessory Power On is enabled.
Turning on this new option will enable power across the entire vehicle, including the 12V socket, 120v (max 16A) rear plug, and the vehicle’s USB ports. This will let users charge devices or use vehicle accessories, even when they’re not present.
This is actually an improvement over the original way to keep these plugs powered, which was to leave Sentry Mode on, which uses a significant portion of energy itself.
The new Accessory Power option will be able to be turned on in your vehicle under Controls > Charging > Keep Accessory Power On.
Similar to Sentry Mode and other features, accessory power is only enabled while the vehicle’s battery remains above 20%, at which point, it’ll be turned off. However, Tesla does warn that keeping the new option on will cause the vehicle to consume additional energy, even if devices are not plugged into any of the outlets, so this should be an option that should be used selectively, when needed.
We reported back in October that Tesla was looking for alternatives to keep accessories powered on without users present, so we’re super happy to hear this news, as it really shows that Tesla listens to its customers. It’s exciting to see Tesla restore a feature that had a lot of user support behind it, and we’re sure users will be thrilled to be able to use their fridges and accessories again.
Release Date
It looks like this feature should have been in the 2025.8 update, but to our knowledge, it hasn’t been enabled in any vehicles yet. Our best guess is that it’ll be enabled in a future 2025.8 update, or in the upcoming Spring Update, which will likely add other exciting features — at least if it’s anything like Tesla’s 2024 Spring Update.
If you’re a major user of accessory power, tell us what your primary use case is. Is it charging a laptop while you’re away from your vehicle, or is it running a sub-trunk fridge during your road trips?
We’d love to see some additional input on how Tesla can continue to improve this feature, so let us know in our forums or social media.
Three months after launching the Refreshed Model Y in North America, Tesla has finally ended the Launch Edition of the new vehicle. In addition, Tesla has also launched a new paint color for North America.
April has been the month of a lot of positive news, and it is great to see Tesla going beyond the Launch Edition of the Model Y and making it available to more customers immediately.
Launch Edition
The Launch Edition of the Model Y included the following extra features, bundled into the package cost.
Any paint choice (up to $1,500 USD value)
20” Helix 2.0 wheels ($2,000 USD)
Tow package ($1,000 USD)
Any interior color ($1,000 USD)
FSD ($8,000)
Acceleration Boost ($2,000)
The Launch Edition Model Y also included some other subtle changes like Launch Edition badging and trim, which you can read about here. Everything but the badging and Launch Edition trim can be bought for other Model Y trim levels.
Updated Pricing
The pricing has changed quite a bit from the Launch Edition, and it turns out the Launch Edition was also a pretty good deal if you were planning to buy most or all the extra features, which could save you almost $5,000 US. This is in sharp contrast to the Foundation-Series Cybertrucks, where there was very little to no difference in terms of price between a Foundation-Series truck and the AWD version with all the paid extras. Of course, not everyone may be interested in all features of the Launch Edition, so waiting for the AWD Model Y will save most people some cash.
Here’s a chart with the launch pricing and the updated pricing. Of note, the Refreshed Model Y Long Range AWD is $1,000 USD ($1,000 CAD as well) more expensive than the first-gen Model Y.
Model Y LR AWD
Price (USD)
Price (CAD)
Launch Edition
$59,990
$84,990
AWD Model Y
$48,990
$69,990
AWD Model Y With Paid Options
$64,490
$90,790
Interestingly, at least for now, Tesla is still including the Mobile Connector with the Model Y. We’re not sure how long that will last, but that’s a pretty nice little boost since Tesla stopped including the Mobile Connector with vehicles back in 2022.
New Paint Color
Last, but not least, Tesla has brought a brand new paint color into the fold. Last month, we heard Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s Chief Vehicle Designer, discuss paint colors - and the possibility of a new paint color on the horizon.
This has materialized with the launch of the brand new Diamond Black color option, which is replacing the old standard Black that Tesla used to offer. Diamond Black is a premium paint option and will cost $1,500 USD.
Diamond Black is a multicoat black paint with embedded sparkles and flakes, giving it a very fresh and unique look. We’re excited to see it in person, as it looks like a big step up from the solid black paint that Tesla was previously using. Several years ago, black was the standard color included in most new Teslas, so it’s also fairly common.
Paints like the new Diamond Black tend to glimmer and slightly shift colors based on the angle, so this one will be an eyecatcher, just like Quicksilver.
For now, Diamond Black is only available in the United States - it isn’t available in Canada or Mexico just yet. Since both countries receive vehicles from Giga Texas and Fremont, we expect this color to be made available in the coming days.
_300w.png)
