Tesla Optimus Shows Off New Hand Unlike Any Other Humanoid Robot

Image: Tesla

Tesla shows off improved Optimus parts, a new FSD version, reports high deliveries, and more in today's news roundup from Jowua. Welcome to the Tesla News Corner.

Giga Shanghai Delivers Near 79,000 Cars in November

In an effort to achieve strong sales numbers, Tesla is ramping up its efforts at the end of the year. Despite the overall decline in demand, the company was able to sell 78,856 made-in-China vehicles in November. This represents a 15.49% increase from October when 68,280 units were registered. However, this is still down 4.34% from November 2023 (82,432 vehicles were sold). The data include both domestic and export sales.

French Police Add Model 3s to Fleet

Tesla's EVs are increasingly becoming the choice for police. While they have more often been the choice of American police departments, this time the news comes from France. The town of Mandelieu-La Napoule has become the first in the country to receive four new Model 3s.

The town's mayor, Sébastien Leroy, said the police force expects to see an 85% reduction in costs compared to their traditional gas-powered police cars. This includes operating and maintenance costs. Leroy said Tesla was the only company to bid on the tender, while domestic EV makers declined to respond.

Tesla Begins Limited Rollout of New FSD Version

The company has rolled out Full Self-Driving (FSD) v13.2 to a select group of testers, whose initial reports suggest an impressive jump in performance. Experienced testers say the update brings a new feature called “park-to-park.” It allows for end-to-end hands-free driving. This means that owners can press the “Start FSD (Supervised)” button to begin a ride while the car is parked and enjoy the ride until the vehicle reaches its destination and parks itself. In addition, testers said that FSD works well in a variety of road situations, unprotected left turns, U-turns on busy streets, and more.

Tesla Shows Off Upgraded Optimus Hand

Tesla has demonstrated an upgraded actuator for its bipedal robot Optimus. The company posted a video on X of the robot deftly catching tennis balls. Its movements were smooth and precise, just like a human’s. The new hand boasts 22 degrees of freedom (DoF), compared to the 11 DoF in the previous version. In turn, this provides a level of dexterity unique to humanoid robots.