Tesla's 2026.38.6 Update Is Rolling Out. Two Public Copies of the Release Notes Disagree on Which Cars Get What
By EV Bandit | Updated November 2, 2026 | 6 min read
At a glance. Tesla began an early rollout of software 2026.38.6 on October 29, 2026. Two public sites that transcribe Tesla's release notes, Drive Tesla and Not a Tesla App, agree on most features but give different hardware and model tags for several of them, and the rollout percentages floating around do not match. This is a reference page: what each source says, side by side, and how to check your own car.
Software 2026.38.6 belongs to the 2026.38 family, and the first thing to know is that nobody outside Tesla has a single clean answer on who gets what. Drive Tesla's page lists the update as an early rollout dated October 29 for Model 3, Model X (Refresh) and Model Y on AI3 and AI4 computers. Not a Tesla App's page lists a wider set: Model S, 3, X, Y, Model Y L and Cybertruck.
“This update includes important security fixes and improvements.” From the 2026.38.6 notes, as transcribed by Not a Tesla App
Neither page says Tesla published a statement on rollout size. Tesla's own notes are what appear on the car's screen, and both sites are transcribing them, so the disagreements below are about tags and scope, not about the feature names.
Side by side: what each page says
| Feature | Drive Tesla page | Not a Tesla App page |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency Drive Away | Model 3 HW2.5, U.S. only. Warns that driving away with the cable attached “will damage your vehicle and the Supercharger” | Model S, 3, X, Y and Cybertruck, hardware not specified; same warning |
| Set Arrival Energy | Model Y AI4; needs Mobile App v4.58.0 or later | Model S, 3, X, Y and Cybertruck, hardware not specified; same app requirement |
| Supercharger Site Maps | Model 3 HW2.5; select pilot Superchargers, with live occupancy | Legacy S, 3, legacy X and Y on Intel; site maps and live occupancy for select pilot sites |
| Visual Updates | Model 3 AI3 and Model Y AI3 | Model 3 and Y; AMD and HW3 |
| Halloween Mode | Ghost costume, Trick or Treat mode, scheduled light shows, photobooth | S, 3, X, Y and Cybertruck on AMD; Intel cars get the wraps and license plates only |
| Apple Music Library | Listed: Search, Apple Music, Library | We did not find a row for it |
| Wheel Selection | Listed: new wheel options for the car's appearance | We did not find a row for it |
| Dynamic Headlight Leveling | We did not find a row for it | Model 3 and Cybertruck. Quote: “Low beams will automatically adjust their aim based on driving conditions” |
| Security Improvements | Listed, no specifics | Listed, no specifics |
The Emergency Drive Away row is the sharpest example. If Drive Tesla is right, it is a Model 3 HW2.5, U.S.-only feature. If Not a Tesla App's tags are right, it spans the lineup. We covered that feature when owners first tried it in our Emergency Drive Away piece; the scope question is still open.
What Not a Tesla App says was not in the notes
Not a Tesla App's page also lists five changes it labels undocumented, meaning found in the build but absent from Tesla's text:
- FSD Streaks support on legacy Model S and Model X (Intel and HW3), per the page: “Tesla has added FSD Streaks support to the legacy Model S and Model X with this FSD update.”
- A Launch Series badge animation on the Model Y L.
- The beta label removed from Grok: “Tesla has removed the beta label from Grok.”
- A Service Mode language-switch button; the page notes touchscreen language changes trigger a restart of the user interface.
- Halloween wraps and license plates on Intel cars, which do not get the other Halloween features.
These come from one outlet. Treat them as reported, not confirmed by Tesla. For Grok on older Intel cars specifically, Not a Tesla App reported on October 31 that Intel Model 3 and Model Y builds gained Grok support files in the 2026.38 branch while Tesla has not announced Grok for those cars. We have not seen a second independent report, so we do not build on it here.
The rollout numbers do not agree
| Version | Figure | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| 2026.38.6 | 708 cars, 5.7% of the fleet, 323 installs the previous day | TeslaFi figures shown on Not a Tesla App's page when we read it on November 2 |
| 2026.38.6.1 | 112 cars, 0.9%, 29 installs the previous day | TeslaFi figures on Not a Tesla App's page |
| 2026.38.6 | About 2% on October 29; about 7% on October 31; its own status box still saying under 1% | BASENOR's running log, which says Tesla had not published official notes and that the figures conflict |
TeslaFi counts cars whose owners report to it. It is a sample, not Tesla's fleet count, so a percentage drawn from it tells you the direction of the rollout more than its size. BASENOR is a retailer's blog, and its own page says it does not reconcile the figures; we cite it as evidence of disagreement, not as a source of truth. We could not find a Tesla statement giving a number.
What this means for owners
How to check your own car
- Open Controls, then Software, on the touchscreen and read the release notes for the version your car shows.
- If a feature above is not in your notes, assume your hardware or region is not in the first wave. Tesla builds notes per car.
- For Set Arrival Energy, update the Tesla app to 4.58.0 or later first; both pages state that requirement.
- Do not trust a percentage as a prediction of your date. The sources above disagree widely.
For reporters and researchers
The primary documents are the release notes shown on a car running 2026.38.6; this page compares two public transcriptions of them. Suggested citation: EV Bandit, “Tesla’s 2026.38.6 Update: Two Trackers, Two Different Lists,” November 2, 2026. Figures are as shown on the cited pages on that date and may change.
Frequently asked questions
When did 2026.38.6 start rolling out?
Drive Tesla lists an early rollout dated October 29, 2026. Not a Tesla App gives the same release date.
Does it add Emergency Drive Away to my car?
It depends on which tags are right. Drive Tesla says Model 3 HW2.5, U.S. only; Not a Tesla App tags a wider set. Check your own notes.
Is Grok coming to my older Intel Tesla?
One outlet reports support files in the build; Tesla has not announced it. We cannot say more.
Did your car get 2026.38.6 yet, and what did the notes say? Tell us in the Tesla Model Y Owners group, 170,000 members strong.
Sources
- Drive Tesla: 2026.38.6 Tesla Release Notes (early rollout, Oct 29, 2026)
- Not a Tesla App: 2026.38.6 Official Tesla Release Notes
- Not a Tesla App: 2026.38.6.1 Official Tesla Release Notes
- Not a Tesla App: Tesla adds Grok files to Intel cars in update 2026.38 (Oct 31, 2026)
- BASENOR: Tesla 2026.38.6 rolling out (updated Nov 1, 2026)