Turquoise Lights Could Indicate an Autonomous Driving Vehicle
Not a Tesla App
Mercedes-Benz's introduction of turquoise Automated Driving Marker Lights for its DRIVE PILOT system, following the SAE J3134 Recommended Practice, marks another step in the evolution of automated driving technology. This move raises the question: Should Tesla and all automakers developing autonomous driving features follow Mercedes' lead? Considering the US's lack of a national regulatory framework and the implications for the future of autonomous driving, this topic will get more significant as technology evolves.
Establishing a Common Language for Automated Vehicles
Mercedes-Benz’s initiative underscores the importance of a standardized visual communication method for automated vehicles. Such standardization would help inform all drivers and pedestrians when vehicles operate autonomously, improving road safety and predictability. If Tesla adopted this system, it could contribute significantly to establishing a universal language for automated cars, fostering a safer and more efficient integration into the existing traffic ecosystem.
There is still a long road ahead to fully autonomous driving, mainly because the technology is dealing with human behavior, which, at times, can be unpredictable. But this kind of signal could alert other FSD vehicles to travel together, lessening the risk of human error during those long road trips.
Mercedes' turquoise light
Not a Tesla App
Risk of Misinterpretation
However, a significant concern for Tesla in adopting such a strategy is the potential for increased negative attention from EV critics. The move, known as 'rolling coal,' where diesel truck drivers intentionally emit large amounts of exhaust fumes near EVs, highlights tensions between traditional vehicle enthusiasts and the EV community. Introducing conspicuous turquoise lights might exacerbate this issue, making Tesla vehicles more of a target for such antagonistic behavior.
While using ADS marker lights offers clear benefits, concerns have been raised about their potential to attract intentional interference from other road users. There is also the risk of misinterpretation of these signals, which could lead to safety hazards. Tesla would need to consider these aspects carefully, ensuring that any implementation of such technology is accompanied by widespread public education and awareness campaigns to mitigate these risks.
There could also be an added risk of being a target on the road. If a pedestrian or vehicle knows that a vehicle is autonomous, they may take additional risks in passing or crossing in front of the vehicle, thinking that the vehicle will yield or stop for them.
Navigating the Regulatory Maze and Costs
Implementing turquoise lights as an indicator for full self-driving mode involves navigating complex legal and regulatory landscapes. Currently, there is no nationwide framework in the US for such technology. Mercedes only has approval for the new light in California and Nevada. Standardization requires extensive discussions and adaptations to the national road traffic and regulatory frameworks. Tesla would need to engage in these conversations actively and adapt to evolving standards, which could be resource-intensive.
However, Tesla is a leader in this sector and has experience changing opinions and getting support from competitors. Most automakers have announced plans to adopt Tesla’s NACS charging system, making the company’s charging technology the winner in North America. Others will notice and likely follow if Tesla considers a new light for its FSD.
Additionally, integrating these lights into Tesla's existing vehicle designs might require significant engineering adjustments, adding to the cost and complexity of their vehicles. Who would pay for the retrofit of the current fleet or would it only apply to new vehicles?
Enhancing Accessibility and Safety for Persons with Disabilities
One of the critical considerations for automated driving systems is their potential to provide mobility solutions for individuals who cannot obtain a driver's license due to various impairments. Clear visual signals like turquoise lights could make these technologies more accessible and understandable to all road users, including those with disabilities. By adopting such features, Tesla would be taking a step forward in creating inclusive and universally accessible transportation solutions.
The decision for Tesla to adopt turquoise lights similar to Mercedes-Benz for indicating full self-driving mode is multifaceted, involving considerations of safety, inclusivity, regulatory compliance, and public perception. As the landscape of automated driving continues to evolve, industry leaders like Tesla must navigate these challenges thoughtfully, contributing to a future where autonomous vehicles are seamlessly integrated into our daily lives, enhancing accessibility and safety for all road users.
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Last night on X, Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla will be expanding the service area for its Robotaxi Network pilot in Austin, Texas, this coming weekend. This is the first official confirmation we’ve had of a date for expansion, following news that Tesla is hiring more Vehicle Operators and plans to expand the Robotaxi supervisor ratio in the coming months.
This is a sign of Tesla’s confidence in the Robotaxi pilot program and its current FSD builds.
Expanding to a larger service area in Austin this weekend
The announcement confirms the sights we’ve been seeing of Tesla’s engineering validation vehicles focusing on areas outside the initial geofence. This public test shows that Tesla was likely finalizing FSD builds and gathering the necessary safety data to push the boundaries for the service, and this upcoming weekend’s expansion will be the first direct result of that work.
Given the increase in service zone size, this expansion will also likely include the addition of more vehicles to the initial Robotaxi fleet of approximately 20 vehicles. We expect the new number to be anywhere from 30-50 vehicles serving both the original and new areas, combined, based on Tesla’s previously expected rollout schedule.
What to Expect
While the exact new boundaries haven’t been released, it is almost certain that the expansion will include the South Congress Bridge and the downtown core areas of Austin. Expanding into a dense urban zone will include more complex intersections, heavy pedestrian traffic, and a unique road layout. That is a major vote of confidence for Robotaxi FSD’s capabilities.
The expansion will also help Tesla to close the service area gap with Waymo, its primary autonomous competitor in the city. This quick expansion is a sign of just how scalable Tesla’s vision-only approach is, versus Waymo’s arduous and drawn-out mapping processes.
We also expect that with this first service zone expansion, Tesla will continue to invite more people to its Robotaxi Network in the coming weeks. Tesla has already sent out various rounds of events, as they’ll need users to continue using the system. If you’re waiting for an invite, it may be time to start getting excited about the next rollout.
We’ve been hearing about Grok, xAI’s AI assistant, coming to Teslas for almost two years now, but this is finally coming to fruition soon. XAI unveiled Grok 4 last night, but the entire stream didn’t mention Teslas. However, Musk later posted on X that Grok will arrive in Tesla vehicles “by next week.”
Between leaks and the Grok mobile app, there’s a lot we already know about Grok, but there are a few missing pieces that will be cleared when it finally arrives.
Next Week, or Next Next Week?
Musk said that Grok would arrive by next week, meaning it could arrive before then. However, based on how Musk typically states Tesla timelines, there are a few things to consider that give us a better idea of what to expect.
First, whenever Musk posts a Tesla timeline on X, he typically means when it’ll be released to employees and not a public release. Expect this to be the same thing.
Tesla releases software updates to employees first for a final round of testing before starting a gradual release to the public. Sometimes issues are found, especially with FSD updates, and the update needs some fixes before being released publicly. So expect employees to get it by next week, and not necessarily normal Tesla owners.
The second part to this is that Tesla always rolls out their updates gradually, so when it does finally arrive, it’ll only be available on a small percentage of vehicles. Tesla will gradually monitor issues and logs, continuing the rollout as long as no major issues are found.
Which Software Update?
The entire Grok UI was already included in software update 2025.20, but it’s not exposed to users. Typically, a new feature like Grok requires a vehicle update to be added; however, this version may be different, as it’s locked behind a server-side configuration.
Tesla likely has the ability to enable it for all supported vehicles with a simple switch. However, we feel more confident in it being rolled out in Tesla’s next major update, which is likely to be 2025.24 or 2025.26. Rolling it out in a new update aligns with how Tesla has historically introduced features.
If they turned it on for everyone at the same time, they could be exposing everyone to potential new issues, rather than only a smaller segment of users. While Grok is now well-tested through X and the Grok app, there are several elements that are new in Teslas, likely including the ability to control various vehicle functions, such as opening the glove box or other capabilities that voice commands are currently capable of. The Grok interface in the vehicle is also entirely new and may have some bugs associated with it that will need to be addressed, especially if they impact other features.
What we can likely expect is that Tesla will make some tweaks or bug fixes to Grok with the next major update that weren’t included in update 2025.20 and they’ll begin rolling it out to employees and then customers.
Supported Vehicles
Speaking of supported vehicles, thanks to the behind-the-scenes look at Grok, we have a good idea of the vehicles that will be supported. Tesla uses the same code for most of its vehicles, but then it’s compiled for each type of hardware. However, only the needed code is compiled for each vehicle, meaning that some pieces are left out entirely. Unfortunately, Grok code is not included in Intel software builds, meaning that only AMD Ryzen-based vehicles will receive Grok, at least initially.
We’ve seen Tesla go back and add support for Intel vehicles after it initially released a feature for AMD vehicles. We saw this with the weather radar overlay and several other features in the past. However, Tesla has been developing code with web technologies lately. While this makes development easier, it just doesn’t perform as well on the slower Intel hardware, causing it to be left out. We saw this with the new Dashcam Viewer, which is entirely coded in HTML, CSS, and JS. The new viewer was available on HW3 and HW4 vehicles, but only those that included the Ryzen infotainment processor.
Grok is coming to Tesla vehicles very soon. Next week at the latest.
There’s a lot we’re expecting in Grok for Teslas. Some people will absolutely love it because it’ll completely transform their drives from a singular experience to feeling like they have a knowledgeable person sitting right next to them. Given the recent controversies surrounding Grok, some people will strongly oppose it. Hopefully, Tesla makes it easy for those users to turn off Grok.
The voice command system, which is activated through the steering wheel, is expected to be replaced with Grok. This will mean that you’ll be able to talk to your vehicle much more naturally, rather than having to remember specific syntax and commands, which should be a major improvement.
We’re personally looking forward to just being able to ask questions that pop into our heads while driving, such as What’s the date of Tesla’s next event, or How many miles away is Mars? Knowledge will be available at the touch of a finger and more accessible than ever.
Grok is also expected to support continuous conversations, meaning that you’ll be able to hold a conversation with it and go back and forth about a certain topic. While there are hints of a wake word in the code, for now, it seems like you’ll press the steering wheel button once to activate it, and then again to turn it off.
For those excited about AI and Grok, this will be one of the biggest additions to Tesla’s software in years, possibly only rivaled by the Dashcam / Sentry Mode feature and FSD Beta.
It shouldn’t be long now before we all have a chance to try it out for ourselves.
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