Tesla FSD Beta Update Will Fix Speed Limit Issue and Other NHTSA Concerns

Tesla will issue a software update to address issues the NHTSA has found

Not a Tesla App

The NHTSA has found several issues with Tesla's FSD Beta software that they found concerning. Tesla has agreed to voluntarily fix the issues outlined through a future FSD Beta update.

The recall notice posted to the NHTSA’s website says that Tesla’s FSD Beta software “allows a vehicle to exceed speed limits or travel through intersections in an unlawful or unpredictable manner [which] increases the risk of a crash.”

Tesla was notified of the issues identified by the NHTSA. The agency is primarily concerned about the “operational characteristics” of FSD Beta. During these scenarios, the NHTSA is concerned that FSD Beta “could potentially infringe upon local traffic laws or customs, which could increase the risk of a collision if the driver does not intervene.”

The Issues The NHTSA Found

The NHTSA outlined the four issues below that they would like Tesla to address. Some of these have been long-standing issues and owners may be happy to hear they're being addressed.

Traveling or turning through certain intersections during a stale yellow traffic light;

The perceived duration of the vehicle’s static position at certain intersections with a stop sign, particularly when the intersection is clear of any other road users;

Adjusting vehicle speed while traveling through certain variable speed zones, based on detected speed limit signage and/or the vehicle’s speed offset setting that is adjusted by the driver; and

Negotiating a lane change out of certain turn-only lanes to continue traveling straight.

Meetings with Tesla

Tesla met with the NHTSA a number of times over the last two weeks to discuss solutions. Despite disagreeing with the NHTSA’s analysis, they’ve issued a voluntary recall and will provide a software update to remedy the issues identified.

According to Protect My Car, “a voluntary recall happens when the manufacturer is made aware of an issue that poses a safety risk.” The manufacturer will typically issue them to remove their liability. “These recalls never expire and the free car repair will be made no matter how old the vehicle is, how many miles it has, or how many owners have had the vehicle,” per Protect My Car.

NHTSA Investigates Tesla

The NHTSA has been investigating Tesla over its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Beta software. Last summer, the regulatory agency requested more information from Tesla about their “phantom braking” complaints. Shortly after, they upgraded the investigation to an “Engineering Analysis” after a few reports of vehicles with Autopilot engaged crashed into stopped emergency vehicles.

“The investigation will assess the technologies and methods used to monitor, assist, and enforce the driver’s engagement with the dynamic driving task during Autopilot operation,” the NHTSA said at the time.

Although not directly aimed at Tesla, the NHTSA also recently launched an investigation as to whether hybrid-electric and electric vehicles from 1997 to present should have external speakers installed for pedestrian safety. In July 2022, the NHTSA received a petition that urged them to require all hybrid-electric and electric vehicles to have external noisemakers installed.

“The petitioner asserts that hybrid and electric vehicles to which the standard does not apply should be found to contain a safety defect. In support of the petition, the petitioner includes findings contained in a bill introduced in the House of Representatives in 2009, the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, H.R. 734, 111th CONG. (2009).”

Tesla Smoking While Supercharging? A Look at What's Actually Happening

Hot_Engineering3140 on Reddit

Winter is here, and temperatures are dropping, so one of the most common Tesla questions is about to resurface.

If you’ve landed here after frantically searching about “smoke” coming from your Tesla while Supercharging, take a deep breath—it’s completely normal.

Tesla Smoking While Charging

If you’re Supercharging in freezing weather—even with preconditioning—you might notice steam rising from your Tesla. But rest assured, your car isn’t smoking.

Your Tesla’s heat pump is hard at work warming both the cabin and battery to keep you comfortable and ensure optimal charging temperatures. Over time, condensation and ice build-up in the heat exchanger coils.

Why Does It Happen?

When you reach a Supercharger with your vehicle, the heat pump is still running hot, but without the cold air from driving to keep the heat exchanger coils cool, the ice and condensation quickly start to evaporate—creating what looks like smoke.

Since this typically happens near the front of the vehicle, where a car would traditionally have an engine, new vehicle owners can be startled by the discovery. However, rest assured that it’s just water vapor and it’s completely normal in cold weather.

In fact, this behavior can be experienced in any EV with a heat pump in cold climates. So, if you saw steam coming out of your vehicle and panicked, don’t worry—you’re not alone.

Now that you know what’s happening, go ahead and Supercharge with confidence.

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Tesla Improves YouTube App With Smoother Playback

Not a Tesla App

Tesla made a lot of improvements in the 2024 Holiday Update, including more than 15 undocumented improvements that were included in the release. One of these was a stealthy performance improvement to the YouTube app.

Several people have mentioned they’ve seen improved performance on YouTube since this year’s Holiday Update - and there’s an interesting reason why.

YouTube Improvements

The improved YouTube performance in Tesla vehicles comes from an unexpected source—Tesla actually rolled back support for YouTube’s newer AV1 video encoding. Instead, vehicles now default to the older VP9 encoding standard.

While AV1 is highly efficient in terms of bandwidth, it requires considerably more processing power to decode and display videos. VP9, on the other hand, is less computationally demanding but uses more bandwidth to achieve the same video quality. This trade-off means smoother playback and better overall performance, even if it comes at the cost of slightly higher data usage.

Intel Inside

The VP9 video codec that the YouTube app is now using is much easier to decode, making it less taxing on the vehicle’s processor. This change is particularly beneficial for Tesla vehicles with Intel processors, which previously struggled to stream video at just 720p. When using AV1, these vehicles often experienced stuttering, sometimes forcing the YouTube app to automatically downgrade playback to 480p.

With this update, Intel-based Teslas should now be able to stream at 1080p smoothly. Streaming at 1440p is also possible, although occasional stutters still occur as the system keeps up with the decoding process.

Intel-based vehicles are the big winners with this change, but this appears to affect AMD Ryzen-based infotainment units as well, providing even smoother playback.

Chromium Web App

Tesla’s Theater apps aren’t native applications; instead, they run as chromeless web apps, leveraging the open-source browser built into Teslas known as Chromium (the open-source version of Chrome). Although this works quite well, there is a severe limitation - Chromium hardware acceleration isn’t supported on Linux, the operating system Tesla uses for their OS.

As a result, Tesla vehicles rely on software decoding instead of hardware decoding, which would otherwise handle video playback far more efficiently. A potential solution could be for Tesla to transition away from Chromium-based web apps in favor of a Mozilla Firefox-based browser, as Firefox does support hardware acceleration on Linux. This switch could also open the door to better streaming performance and the possibility of expanding Tesla’s in-car entertainment options.

However, Tesla’s choice of Chromium likely stems from Digital Rights Management (DRM) requirements for streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix, which rely on DRM-enabled playback. Firefox on Linux has had inconsistent support for DRM due to codec availability and variations in operating system versions.

We’re hopeful that Tesla will either adopt Firefox or develop a fully native application to improve video streaming, rather than continuing with the current web-based Tesla Theater. This shift could also pave the way for additional in-car applications built on Tesla’s native Linux environment—perhaps even reviving the long-rumored Tesla App Store.

Regardless, this update is a welcome improvement, particularly for YouTube, which remains one of the most widely used Theater Mode apps due to its accessibility, free content, and mix of short and long-form videos. It remains to be seen whether similar improvements are made for Netflix, Disney+, or other streaming platforms.

If you’ve noticed improved performance in Theater Mode, now you know why.

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