Tesla has historically kept the rich telemetry data generated by its vehicles under strict guard. While owners could view video footage, the underlying truth of an incident – braking pressure, steering angle, and FSD/Autopilot status – was often buried in the proprietary logs only accessible to Tesla’s engineering teams.
With the 2025 Holiday Update, Tesla has introduced basic telemetry visible in the in-vehicle Dashcam UI, but it actually goes beyond what you see onscreen.
Tesla has also released an official Dashcam Tools repository on GitHub that provides more telemetry information from Dashcam clips.
Tesla has effectively handed owners the keys to their own “black box,” providing a standardized, open-source method to decode and visualize the forensic data embedded within their dashcam footage.
The centerpiece of this release is a web-based drag-and-drop file viewer. Tesla’s holiday update encoded telemetry data directly into the video file, but this isn’t just abstract data. It’s frame-by-frame metadata of how much the accelerator was pressed, whether FSD was active at that very frame, and much more.
When using the tool, Tesla will display your video, along with the synchronized data associated with the footage to the right.
On the right side of the screen, it displays:
SEI version
Gear State
Frame Sequence Number
Vehicle Speed (m/s)
Accelerator Pedal Position (value between 0 and 1, depending how much the accelerator is pressed)
Steering Wheel Angle
Blinker On Left/Right
Brake Applied
Autopilot State (OFF, AUTOSTEER, FSD, TACC)
Latitude (4 digits)
Longitude (4 digits)
Heading
Linear Acceleration Mps2 X, Y, and Z
For owners involved in insurance claims or legal disputes, this is a game-changer. It transforms a standard video clip into verifiable data. Instead of relying on visual estimation to argue that a driver was braking or that a turn signal was active, the tool extracts the hard numbers directly from the file. The repository also includes a metadata extractor for those who need to export the raw telemetry for further analysis.
This new capability relies on a fundamental change in how Tesla encodes video, introduced in the 2025.44.25 update (the Holiday Update).
The release notes confirm that vehicles now embed SEI (Supplemental Enhancement Information) data directly into the video stream. This method marries the telemetry to the visual frames, ensuring perfect synchronization.
Only vehicles equipped with HW3 or HW4 have the processing overhead to encode the additional data. Tesla also notes that if the vehicle is parked and the recording is from Sentry Mode, the SEI data may not be present, as the vehicle sleeps non-essential sensors to conserve energy.
Crucially, Tesla has architected this tool with privacy as a priority. Despite the tool being web-based, it is designed to run locally within your browser.
When you drag and drop a clip into the viewer, the data is not uploaded to a Tesla server or a third-party cloud. The processing happens entirely inside your browser, on your own computer. This ensures that sensitive footage never leaves the owner’s possession during analysis.
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For years, the industry whisper has been that Apple is the place to be if you want an unlimited R&D budget. But a recent high-profile exit suggests that the center of gravity for physical AI has shifted to Palo Alto.
Yilun Chen, a former Machine Learning Engineer and Research Scientist at Apple, has publicly announced his move to Tesla’s Optimus team. Yilun Chen has also previously worked at Lyft and Uber, focusing on autonomous vehicles.
In his announcement, Chen didn’t just confirm his new role; he offered a rare outsider's view of Tesla’s robotics progress, stating he was totally blown away by the scale and sophistication of the Optimus lab.
Chen’s background makes him a vital acquisition for Tesla. At Apple, he transitioned from engineering to research, focusing on prototyping and incubation. While he didn’t speak to his projects, he noted that many of them aren’t public yet. His expertise aligns perfectly with the rumored home robotics initiatives Apple has reportedly explored following the cancellation of Project Titan (the Apple Car) earlier in 2025.
His rationale for the move is telling. He sees humanoid robotics as the next step, the ultimate dream of the current generation. With leaps in LLMs and physical AI, Chen believes that dream is finally within reach.
For engineers who want to solve the hardest problems in physics and AI, the dream is no longer the next iPhone or Vision Pro — it’s a general-purpose robot. And right now, Tesla is one of the few companies offering the right combination of software, hardware, and AI talent to build it, he said.
Perhaps the most significant part of Chen’s update is his reaction to Tesla’s facilities. It is rare to get an unfiltered look at the secretive Tesla labs from a credible outsider, especially one coming from Apple, often considered a gold standard for hardware.
Chen mentioned that he was totally blown away by the scale and sophistication of the Optimus labs on a visit ahead of starting work. This is pretty significant, as it hints at just how much time, money, and effort are going into Optimus behind the scenes at Tesla’s labs in Palo Alto. Chen also had some words to say about the culture at Tesla, saying that it’s hardcore building and crazy ideas with super-fast iterations. 
That’s a complete about-face from the typical slow-paced big tech, where meetings and siloed discussions run the show.
For Tesla, acquiring a key researcher from Apple’s incubation group is a sign that the Optimus program is on track. It is moving on quickly from being a research experiment to shifting towards product execution. When the engineers who specialize in bringing the secret prototypes to life at Apple leave to join Tesla, it tells us a few things:
The age of humanoid robotics is coming soon, and top engineers around the world are headed to companies leading the pack. An excellent sign for Optimus and Tesla.
As the final weeks of 2025 approach, Tesla has launched aggressive incentives in the United States designed to maximize Q4 delivery numbers. The new promotions target both financing and leasing customers.
Here is a breakdown of the new incentives currently live on Tesla’s configurator
For buyers looking to finance, Tesla is aggressively targeting Model Y volume.
The Model Y Standard (how Standard compares to Premium) is now available with 0% APR for loan terms of up to 72 months. 0% financing offers a massive discount to the total cost of ownership by thousands of dollars compared to standard interest rates.
The Model Y Premium, Model 3 Premium, and Model 3 Performance are now available with 2.99% APR, greatly undercutting the going market rates. If you are in the market for a premium Tesla, now is a fantastic opportunity.
Tesla has also drastically lowered the barrier to entry for leasing, specifically removing the down payment requirements for its entire Model S3XY lineup.
At $0 down, vehicles are available at the following monthly rates:
Model Y: $449/mo
Model 3: $342/mo
Model X: $1,928/mo
Model S: $1,771/mo
To encourage customers to take delivery of vehicles currently on the lot, rather than custom ordering, Tesla is offering one free upgrade on eligible Model 3 and Model Y inventory vehicles. This applies to paint color, wheel upgrades, or white interiors, allowing buyers to get a customized vehicle for the base price.
Crucially, the new financial incentives are not mutually exclusive with other standing incentives. They can be stacked with Tesla’s existing discount programs for maximum savings.
This means you can use the referral program with the updated benefits, including FSD incentives, alongside the Everyday Heroes program in the United States and Canada.
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