Tesla pushes a half-complete FSD update to avoid missing another deadline
In an effort to make their November software update deadline, Tesla released FSD v13.2, which lacks some of the key features they previously promised
It looks like Tesla had some issues with their most recent update roadmap. Back in October, the company announced that its upcoming FSD (Full Self-Driving) v13 update would roll out with some much-needed improvements and features.
At the end of that month, they rolled back their promise and said that the v13 update would instead come in November. Within hours of November waving hello to December, the FSD v13 update finally went live...sort of.
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The v13 update was released without some of the features it initially promised
While the v13 update did technically go live, many of the features that were supposed to be included in it were listed as "upcoming improvements." In layman's terms, Tesla is having some issues improving their FSD system as quickly as they would like and opted instead to release a half-baked update so as not to miss another deadline.
The full release notes for FSD v13.2 are as follows:
- 36 Hz, full-resolution AI4 video inputs
- Native AI4 inputs and neural network architectures
- 4.2x data scaling
- 5x training compute scaling (enabled by the Cortext cluster)
- Reduced photon-to-control latency by 2x
- Speed Profiles on both City Streets and Highways
- Start FSD (Supervised) from Park with the touch of a button
- Integrated unpark, reverse, and park capabilities
- Improved reward predictions for collision avoidance
- Improved camera cleaning
- Redesigned controller for smoother, more accurate tracking
- Dynamic routing around road closures, which displays them along an affected route when they are detected by the fleet
While a lot of those sound like technological jargon, the "integrated unpark, reverse, and park capabilities" is one of the most noteworthy features here. Having your Tesla able to park and reverse on its own is a big step toward the autonomous driving future, which Elon Musk seems to think is just around the corner.
How well those features actually work in real life remains to be seen.
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Upcoming update features will bring the full promised capabilities of the v13 update
The upcoming features that are scheduled to release at some point in the future, should make FSD even better:
- 3x model size scaling
- 3x model context length scaling
- Audio inputs for better handling of emergency vehicles
- Improved reward predictions for navigation
- Improvements to false braking and slower driving in parking lots
- Support for destination options including pulling over, parking in a spot, driveway, or garage
- Efficient representation of maps and navigation inputs
- Improved handling of camera occlusions
Bulletpoint #6 should further improve the convenience of FSD and work hand-in-hand with the parking feature introduced in v13.2.
Final thoughts
It has also been speculated that Tesla might stop releasing patch notes to avoid missing a deadline again. According to Electrek.co, the last update from Tesla came on October 31.
Much like with video games, I don't think Tesla should be promising release dates for updates to such an important autonomous system. If there was ever a list of features that should not be rushed into public hands, full self-driving should top that list.
