Tesla’s largest wave of new FSD version goes out, still no HW3

Tesla’s largest wave of the newest Full Self-Driving (FSD) version has started going out, though it’s still only deploying to owners with HW4 vehicles.

Over the weekend, Tesla’s FSD Supervised v12.5.1.1 was seen going out to an even larger number of cars than the previous v12.5.1, as spotted by Not a Tesla App. Tesla began rolling out FSD v12.5.1 last week, though both point versions are still only going out to vehicles with the latest HW4 FSD computer.

For the initial release of FSD v12.5, Tesla is only focusing on Model Y units with HW4, as outlined by Musk a few weeks ago. Musk last Monday estimated that FSD v12.5 rollout to HW3-equipped cars would happen in about 10 days, which would effectively mean it would start deploying on Thursday this week, if accurate.

He also explained why Tesla would need to wait to roll the highly anticipated version out to HW3 vehicles.

“It takes considerable software effort to optimize the code enough to run on HW3,” Musk said. “It also needs to be validated separately.”

Additionally, Musk has said that v12.5 has five times as many parameters as v12.4, which will be able to be run on HW3 vehicles with some extra work on the code.

In addition to HW3 vehicles needing to wait to get the FSD version, Cybertruck owners are also waiting to get the software. In an interview last weekend, Musk said that he expected FSD v12.5 to go out to Cybertrucks in two to four weeks.

Along with the Cybertruck getting FSD for the first time, v12.5 is expected to include a number of improvements, including the combination of the highway and city software stacks, the ability for drivers to wear sunglasses during hands-free driving, and the long-awaited addition of Tesla’s Actual Smart Summon.

In a recent statement on X, Tesla Autopilot Director Ashok Elluswamy highlighted the team’s focus on both smoothness and safety during the development of FSD v12.5, noting that he managed to avoid spilling open coffee for a huge portion of a recent trip.

“One of my personal tests is to not spill an open cup of coffee while on FSD,” Elluswamy wrote on X last week. “12.5 was the first version where I was able to do that for 30 min long drives.”