The good thing about electric vehicle giant Tesla (TSLA) is that it is not especially shy about upgrades. And with so many unusual options already in play, an upgrade can make a good thing even better. This upgrade targets the exterior side repeater cameras, which could make for some exciting changes in the near-term. But investors were not exactly pleased on this one, and sent Tesla shares down modestly in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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The exterior side repeater cameras are part of the technology package that makes Full Self-Driving a thing, reports note. Thus, an upgrade here might make for improvements in this unique and valuable feature. The upgraded cameras are being brought in to get ready for the AI5 suite, which will start showing up on 2026’s vehicles. But the AI5 system will not go into wide use until 2027.
The key point seems to be a sensor upgrade, as firmware code specifically references a sensor with a model number of IMX00N. That would be reasonable, if most Teslas were not currently using a sensor with a model number of IMX963. The exact differences between these two models are unclear, but reports suggest the shift is likely to produce improvements of some sort.
First One’s On the House
Meanwhile, Tesla is also looking to fire up some interest for that Full Self-Driving system, via the greatest expedient of all: free samples. If your Tesla has the necessary Full Self-Driving hardware, but you are not especially interested in paying a subscription fee, you can get in on a free trial for the next while.
The trial is set to run around 40 days, reports note, with the trial ending January 8. That includes both Christmas and New Year’s, which represents a great potential to see how it holds up during a very busy travel season. Between holiday shopping and the New Year’s festivities, having a driver in your corner could be welcome, though you do have to supervise the process yourself.
Is Tesla a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 13 Buys, 11 Holds, and 10 Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 22.4% rally in its share price over the past year, the average TSLA price target of $383.04 per share implies 9.58% downside risk.
