Musk: FSD v15 Focuses on Nighttime Pet Avoidance Before 24/7 Robotaxi

Tesla’s most challenging nighttime Full Self-Driving task isn’t traffic or lane markings—it’s spotting pets that blend into the roadway. Elon Musk says preventing pet collisions in low light is the top issue the company is addressing before operating robotaxis 24/7.

Musk shared on X that the goal is "making sure that we don’t run over pets when they’re hard to see at night." He added the specific case Tesla is targeting: "grey kittens on grey tarmac in the dark."

Why Edge Cases Matter for FSD

Although uncommon, this type of scenario is critical for autonomy. Tesla is building FSD and its Robotaxi software to handle rare, low-contrast situations where cameras and the neural network must cooperate with minimal visual separation—such as a gray kitten on dark asphalt. The aim is to approach near-100% reliability by training on difficult edge cases.

Musk has also pushed back on adding extra hardware like thermal cameras, saying standard cameras can see "very well in the dark when AI is doing the photon count analysis."

How This Ties Into FSD v15 and Robotaxi

Tesla VP of AI Ashok Elluswamy recently said Robotaxis will get FSD v15 this month, unlocking 24/7 commercial operations. While the company has increased Robotaxi hours since launch, the latest expansion was just one hour. It remains uncertain whether round-the-clock service will still begin this month if nighttime performance is still being refined, and Musk did not indicate whether this work aligns with the v15 timeline.

FSD v15 is a 10x parameter upgrade, taking the neural network to about 10 billion parameters from roughly one billion today. It will debut on Robotaxi vehicles before eventually reaching consumer cars. Some Robotaxi vehicles were already testing early v15 builds in the wild, with Elluswamy pointing to October for a fleet-wide rollout.

The release also matters for growth. Once v15 is in place, Tesla plans to expand the Robotaxi network more aggressively, entering new markets and enlarging service areas in existing ones.

If the system can consistently detect a gray kitten on gray tarmac, 24/7 commercial service becomes much easier to justify. Robotaxi operating hours over the next few weeks should reveal how close it is.