When Tesla ships a vehicle out from its factory, it’s usually on a fairly recent update – but with a three-digit last set of numbers. These factory firmwares look something like this in general: 2024.26.100, or 2024.26.200.
If you see a vehicle with a 3-digit firmware update – that means it’s fresh from the factory. It’s generally not anything unique, and nothing to be concerned – or excited – about. However, there have been a couple of instances where Tesla has included a new feature in factory firmware, such as the time they started measuring distances without ultrasonic sensors.
Why Does Tesla Do This?
Sometimes, factory firmware is the most stable version of a specific software build – and one that is generally up to date or one major update behind. This is done for a couple of reasons; one is new Tesla owners receive a stable software version without major issues.
Next, sometimes Tesla does incremental hardware updates to its vehicles on the production lines. These incremental hardware updates also require software support – generally reflected in these factory firmware. After all, Tesla won’t put support for an incremental hardware update in an older firmware version.
When Do You Receive an Update?
Factory firmware generally lags behind a few weeks to other Tesla software updates. In general, when a vehicle is on factory firmware, it’ll be about a month before it receives its first true software update.
So don’t worry! If you’ve got a vehicle on factory firmware, you’ll likely receive a software update a little later than everyone else. But once you do get your first one, you’ll be on the main software track and ready to receive consistent software updates through the normal process.
