Tesla gives owners a free 30-day trial of Enhanced Autopilot for the holidays
Tesla owners are starting to receive messages on their cars offering a free 30-day trial of Enhanced Autopilot, with the message “Happy Holidays!” from Tesla.
The messages started showing up on social media, posted by owners in Australia and New Zealand. Notably, this started happening when it was early enough for people to be awake in those countries, but while it was late night or very early morning in the US and EU.
So we don’t know yet if this is a global giveaway or only in the oceania region, but we suspect we’ll find out soon enough as the rest of the world wakes up and goes for a drive. We see no reason that it would be restricted to AU/NZ, so perhaps it just needs to propagate to the rest of the world as the day moves on.
The message reads “Happy Holidays! A complimentary trial of Enhanced Autopilot has been enabled for you to enjoy for 30 days.” It then describes to drivers how to enable various Autopilot features, which must be done while the vehicle is parked before the first time each individual driver profile attempts to use the system.
All Teslas come equipped with Autopilot, Tesla’s brand name for its driver-assist technology. Basic Autopilot includes traffic-aware cruise control, which follows the car in front of you, and autosteer, which keeps the car in its lane on highways.
Enhanced Autopilot is an additional package that adds more capabilities. Tesla has offered it as a separate package on and off over the years, and brought it back in June with its current price point of $6,000 (or $5,100AUD/$5,700NZD, in the countries we’ve seen this giveaway in so far).
Enhanced Autopilot includes these features, over and above Basic Autopilot:
- Auto Lane Change: Assists in moving to an adjacent lane on the motorway when indicator is engaged by driver
- Navigate on Autopilot (Beta): Actively augments Auto Lane Change by providing guidance to the driver to transit motorway’s on-ramp to off-ramp, including suggesting lane changes and navigating interchanges
- Autopark: Helps parallel or perpendicular park your car, with a single touch
- Summon: Moves your car in and out of a tight space using the mobile app
- Smart Summon: Your car will navigate more complex environments and parking spaces, manoeuvring around objects as necessary to come find you in a car park within your direct vicinity.
Then, beyond Enhanced Autopilot is Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving Capability,” which includes the above functions and also will start and stop the car for traffic lights and stop signs, and allows entry into Tesla’s “FSD Beta,” which comes with Autosteer on city streets.
All of these features still require active participation from a driver, and are considered “Level 2” autonomous driving systems, where the driver is primarily responsible for monitoring the driving environment. Thus they are not “full self-driving” yet, though Tesla has repeatedly claimed that cars with FSD will eventually be able to drive themselves without driver intervention.
Tesla does have a way for owners to “try out” FSD by purchasing an FSD subscription for $199/mo (assuming you have HW3.0, otherwise Tesla will charge you $1,000 for hardware you already bought, but you might be able to get that money back in small claims court). There is no similar subscription for Enhanced Autopilot, only the one-time purchase option.
But this trial comes at a somewhat awkward time. Currently, new Tesla owners are receiving cars without ultrasonic sensors, after Tesla abruptly removed them from new vehicles in October, saying they were redundant to Tesla’s all-vision sensing system.
As a result, Autopark, Summon and Smart Summon are all disabled on these new vehicles until Tesla upgrades their software to use vision sensors instead of the previous ultrasonics. This means that new cars won’t get to use three out of the five Enhanced Autopilot features during this trial period, unless Tesla pushes a vision update within the next 30 days.
Electrek’s Take
Since there is no other way to “try out” Enhanced Autopilot for most customers, this seems like an excellent way to show people what the system can – or can’t – do. Many owners are curious about whether the additional features would be worthwhile, but not a lot of people can toss several thousand dollars at something they don’t know will be worth it for them.
This will let those owners have a chance to try out the system for a pretty significant period of time – not just a couple days, but a whole month.
It doesn’t cost Tesla anything to activate this, and it might drive a few conversions if owners are happy with the system’s capabilities.
Personally, I don’t think EAP is worth the thousands of dollars being charged for it, at least not for me:
- Navigate on Autopilot is nice, but the main benefit it does is tell you which lanes to be in for highway interchanges, and possibly make those lane changes for you with auto lane change (though you still have to confirm the changes with the turn signal stalk).
- Autopark works really well, even in weird parking spots, and may be useful for people who are bad at or afraid of parallel parking.
- Summon is mostly a neat gimmick, but can be useful if you need to adjust your car in a parking spot and don’t want to get up and go to the car to do it. I’ve used it for this several times, which has been convenient in a pinch, in the right circumstances, and does impress people.
- And smart summon… well, I’ve never used it, because it has never worked in a situation where I’ve wanted to use it, but everything I’ve heard doesn’t make it sound all that smart (even CEO Elon Musk acknowledges that it hasn’t ever been very smart).
They’re interesting capabilities for a car to have, but I’d rather keep the thousands of dollars, myself. That said, the same may not be true for every other owner – and now everyone will have a chance to find out if it seems worth it to them or not.
Let us know in the comments below if you’ve gotten this message this morning, and where you are in the world. We’re curious if this is a worldwide giveaway, or only limited to AU/NZ.
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Tesla has reportedly received 50,000 orders for the new Model Y with an updated design in about 24 hours, according to a new report in China.
Last week, Tesla unveiled the mid-cycle refresh of the Model Y in China and a select few markets supplied by Tesla’s factory in Shanghai.
Deliveries are expected to start in March. The new Model Y hasn’t launched in Europe or North America yet, but it is expected to in the coming months.
The update has received mixed reviews as the updated design is not as well received as the Model 3’s recent design refresh and the specs and feature upgrades are basically in line with the Model 3 refresh.
But Tesla has reportedly received a significant number of orders for the updated electric vehicles.
According to several reports from Chinese bloggers claiming to have information coming from Tesla salespeople (via Car News China), the automaker secured 50,000 Model Y orders on the first day of the design refresh unveiling.
It’s hard to assess how significant this is for Tesla. The automaker delivered about 480,000 Model Ys in China in 2024 – up about 5% year-over-year.
50,000 units would represent just over a month of orders in a single day, but the design refresh was anticipated for about a year. Therefore, there was a lot of pent-up demand for it as people waited for the update to order.
It’s also worth noting that one of the sources claimed that Tesla is guiding that new orders being placed now won’t get delivered until April or May, which was used as evidence supporting the number of orders.
However, Tesla’s Chinese Model Y configurator is still mentioning March deliveries for new orders being placed now:
That’s true for both versions of the new Model Y. Tesla has yet to launch the updated performance version the new electric SUV.
Electrek’s Take
I wouldn’t be really surprised if Tesla secured 50,000 orders for the new Model Y in China, but I would still take this report with a grain of salt. Tesla salespeople have extremely limited visibility into sales beyond their own locations, and the sources appear to be coming from them and are relayed by Chinese bloggers on social media.
That, combined with the fact that the configurator still mentions March deliveries, makes me have doubts.
With that said, 50,000 orders is also not an unbelievable number.
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The rugged new electric SUV will be here before you know it. Jeep is fast-tracking Recon EV production as it prepares for an upcoming launch. Here’s what to expect from Jeep’s new electric SUV inspired by the legendary Wrangler.
Just as Jeep’s first global electric SUV, the Wagoneer S, is arriving at US dealers, the brand is already preparing to introduce another EV.
The Recon was revealed in 2022 as part of Jeep’s new strategy to become “the leading electrified SUV brand” in North America and Europe. Although Jeep launched the Avenger in Europe in early 2023, the Wagoneer S and Recon will be the brand’s first EV models to roll out globally.
The Recon will be Jeep’s first true off-road electric SUV. It’s built from the “ground up to be 100% Jeep 4×4.”Jeep said the new EV is for “those who love to explore extreme adventures in near silence.”
Jeep maker Stellantis said the Recon is “inspired by the legendary Wrangler.” Like the iconic off-roader, it will feature options like removable windows and doors.
With an expected launch just around the corner, Jeep (Stellantis) is reportedly fast-tracking Recon EV production.
When is Jeep launching the Recon EV?
According to MoparInsiders, a source at Stellantis’ assembly plant in Mexico claims production for the new Jeep Recon EV is set for February 24, 2025.
That’s well ahead of expected. After recently introducing the Wagoneer S and Dodge Charger Daytona to the market, Stellantis aims for a smooth launch with the new Jeep Recon EV.
Ahead of its official debut, prototypes of the rugged electric SUV have been spotted in public testing several times. A Recon EV was caught in Michigan with almost no camouflage by the folks at JeepReconForum last month. Inside, a display screen showed a range of 147 miles at 66% charge.
Although that suggests a range of around 223 miles, the production model is expected to be closer to 300 miles. Like the Wagoneer S, which features over 300 miles of driving range, the Recon EV will also be based on Stellantis’ STLA Large platform.
Jeep’s off-road electric SUV will be equipped with its signature Selec-Terrain system, which includes Rock, Mud, and other modes. It will also include standard four-wheel drive for added off-road capabilities. The Recon is expected to pack between 450 to 600 hp with dual EDMs.
According to the report, the Jeep Recon EV will launch in three trims: Willys, Overland, and an even more rugged Moab model.
We caught a glimpse of the Moab trim in 2023 after images leaked out of a dealer event. Over the past few months, the Recon EV has been spotted in public with less and less camouflage.
As it gets closer to production, Jeep’s upcoming electric SUV looks more like a Ford Bronco with a rugged exterior design.
Prices and official specs will be revealed closer to launch, but the Jeep Recon EV is expected to start at around $60,000. More expensive trims, like the Moab, could cost about $80,000. Stellantis will launch the Recon this year in the US and other global markets like Europe, The Middle East, and Asia.
What do you think of Jeep’s Wrangler-inspired Recon? Would you buy one for around $60,000? Drop us a comment below and let us know.
Source: MoparInsiders
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The world’s largest EV maker is making a big statement overseas. In a historic win, BYD officially outsold Toyota in EV sales on its own home turf for the first time last year.
BYD EV sales in Japan topped Toyota in 2024
After squeezing legacy automakers out of China with its low-cost electric cars, BYD is making a strong push into overseas markets.
BYD introduced its first electric vehicle (EV) in Japan in early 2023, the Atto 3. Starting at around $30,000, this SUV competes with popular domestic cars like the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. It also rivals other EVs on the market, like the Toyota bZ4X and Nissan Ariya.
In its first full sales year, BYD has already outsold Toyota in EV sales in Japan. This accomplishment is even more impressive since Toyota has historically dominated sales in its home market.
According to the Japan Automobile Dealer Association (via CarNewsChina), BYD sold 2,223 EVs in 2024. In comparison, Toyota sold just 2,038 electric cars in its home market last year.
BYD’s EV sales were up 54% compared to 2023, while Toyota’s slipped 30% year over year (YOY). Since launching in 2023, BYD has introduced several top-selling models, including the Dolphin hatchback and Seal sedan.
Starting at just 2.99 million yen ($19,000), the Dolphin competes with top-selling domestic cars like the Toyota Prius and Nissan LEAF.
After launching the Seal last June, widely viewed as its answer to the Tesla Model 3, BYD’s electric sedan was already the top-selling imported EV in Japan by August. BYD’s Seal starts at 5.28 million yen, or around $33,500.
BYD is turning up the pressure in 2025 with plans to launch the Sealion 07 in Japan, its new smart mid-size electric SUV.
Japan’s total EV sales fell 33% to just below 60,000 in 2024, its first YOY decline in four years. Nissan led the market with a roughly 50% share despite LEAF sales slipping nearly 50% (30,749) from 2023. Although Toyota bZ4X sales were up 10%, only 1,012 models were sold in 2024. Toyota’s electric SUV starts at 5.5 million yen ($35,000).
Electrek’s Take
After losing significant market share in China, a critical market for Japanese automakers, BYD is now taking their home market by storm.
Although it’s still a small number, BYD’s growing presence in Japan is impressive. Japan has been a challenging market for foreign brands to compete in. Outside of luxury automakers like Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and BWM, domestic brands have historically dominated auto sales in Japan.
Toyota accounted for over a third of the market alone last year. After topping Nissan and Honda for the first time in global vehicle sales last year, BYD is laying the groundwork for more growth in 2025.
The Chinese EV leader is expanding with new models launching in Europe, Southeast Asia, Central and South America, and more. Will BYD eventually top Toyota in global sales? As the industry shifts to EVs, BYD is quickly gaining momentum while Toyota lags in key markets.
Source: CarNewsChina, JAMA
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