Tesla starting release of FSD V12 to employees, confirms Musk

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Tesla has started rolling out Full Self Driving (FSD) V12 to employees. The update was confirmed by CEO Elon Musk in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. 

Citing a source reportedly familiar with the matter, EV publication and software tracker Not A Tesla App claimed that FSD V12 had begun an internal rollout with update 2023.38.10. But while FSD V12 really did reportedly drop its “Beta” moniker, the initial rollout for the highly anticipated update was reportedly done on a more limited scale than previous updates. 

Musk responded to reports of FSD V12’s initial rollout to Tesla employees simply, writing “yes” as a response to a post about the matter. Musk’s post was the first official confirmation that FSD V12 is being distributed to groups of Tesla owners, even if they are only employees for now. 

There is much anticipation surrounding the release of FSD V12. The update reportedly eliminates over 300,0000 lines of code that were previously governing FSD functions that controlled the vehicle. This suggests that FSD will now rely more on neural networks, and the system will be less dependent on hard-coded programming. 

The expected changes implemented on FSD V12 could be a step towards the development of an autonomous driving system that functions and perceives the world in a way that’s similar to a human. Musk demonstrated FSD V12 himself in a livestream on X, which showed a Tesla Model S driving around Palo Alto. Musk’s demonstration was quite impressive, as FSD V12 only needed one intervention. The rest of the drive was very smooth. 

With FSD V12 now being released to Tesla employees, the wait may not be long before the highly-anticipated version of the advanced driver-assist system gets released to regular Tesla owners as well. FSD, after all, is considered one of Tesla’s most notable selling points. It is also considered a key safety system for Tesla’s electric cars. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Tesla starting release of FSD V12 to employees, confirms Musk





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Tesla CEO Elon Musk expected to visit Israel next week: report

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is reportedly set to visit Israel next week. Musk is expected to visit surrounding settlements that have been affected by the ongoing war, among other areas. Musk is also expected to meet with several key Israeli officials, such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

As noted in a report from Israeli publication N12, Musk would be visiting the Gaza Strip to see the effects of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas firsthand. Musk will reportedly visit towns that were attacked by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Apart from the Israeli Prime Minister, Musk is expected to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog during his visit as well. 

Musk’s reported visit to Israel comes amidst the CEO’s efforts to provide humanitarian aid in the war. In a recent post on X, Musk noted that all of the social media platform’s revenue from advertising and subscriptions associated with the war in Gaza would be used to help hospitals in Israel and humanitarian organizations in Gaza. 

Musk did not provide a specific plan for X’s aid to those affected by the Gaza war, though he did name the International Red Cross and Red Crescent as potential beneficiaries for the social media platform’s financial help, as noted in a report from The Times of Israel. The Tesla CEO also noted that “better ideas are welcome” for the distribution of aid in Israel and Palestine. 

While Musk’s announcement could be seen as a positive gesture from X, the social media platform was recently accused of promoting extremist content. In a report, media watchdog Media Matters For America claimed that advertisements from major brands such as Apple and IBM were appearing alongside controversial content, such as antisemitic and white nationalist posts. 

In a lawsuit, Musk’s legal team claimed that Media Matters essentially gamed X’s system to force ads to show next to controversial content. Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton also noted that his office was opening an investigation into Media Matters For America. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk expected to visit Israel next week: report





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Electric vehicle fire risks debunked anew in new report

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Electric vehicles (EVs) have reached a point where it is almost undeniable that they will only grow in popularity in the years to come. But inasmuch as EV adoption is accelerating, some myths about electric cars and their alleged dangers simply refuse to die. 

One of these is the idea that electric cars are very prone to fires. When a fire blazed through a car park in Luton Airport last month, speculations were abounding that an electric car was to blame. Even when the Bedfordshire fire service noted that the fire seemed to have started in a diesel car, the anti-EV narrative was still prominent. 

As noted in a recent report from The Guardian, claims about electric vehicle fires tend to fall into two broad categories: one is the idea that EV fires are very common, and another alleges that when electric car fires happen, they are far more damaging. 

Fortunately, there are now millions of electric vehicles on the road today, so data about EVs is already present. And as per currently available data, evidence suggests that there is no reason to believe that electric cars are more likely to catch fire compared to their combustion-powered counterparts. In fact, the opposite seems to be true. 

Colin Walker, the head of transport at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, noted that combustion-powered car fires are just so common that incidents are not reported anymore. “All the data shows that EVs are just much, much less likely to set on fire than their petrol equivalent. The many, many fires that you have for petrol or diesel cars just aren’t reported,” Walker said. 

This was quite true in Norway, the country with the world’s highest proportion of electric vehicle sales. As per the directorate for social security and emergency preparedness, there are about four to five times more fires from petrol and diesel-powered cars than electric vehicles. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency also noted that there were 3.8 fires per 100,000 electric or hybrid cars in 2022, while there were 68 fires per 100,000 cars when all fuel types are taken into account. 

Australia’s EV FireSafe’s findings were similar, with the entity finding that there was a 0.0012% chance of a passenger electric EV catching fire. For internal combustion cars, it was a 0.1% chance. Tesla, the world’s largest maker of electric vehicles has also stated that the number of fires on US roads involving its vehicles was 11 times lower per mile compared to the industry average. 

Overall, while EV fires can be very tricky when they do occur, the overall risk of being caught in one is significantly lower than for petrol or diesel cars, as per current data. Although the number of EV fires could rise as more electric cars hit the roads, their number would have to multiply several times to at least match the fire risk posed by conventional combustion-powered vehicles today.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Electric vehicle fire risks debunked anew in new report





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