Tesla will add accident and road closure icons to its maps
Fortune
Tesla's navigation system is set to receive some additional capabilities, including some Waze-like features such as displaying accidents on the road. The information, courtesy of our favorite Tesla hacker, Green, details some of his findings when digging into some of the code for software update 2024.2.6. Tesla is not only expanding its map coverage and introducing a new dialect in select regions but also adding accident, and road closure information, as well as a new routing option.
Real-Time Updates: Accident and Road Closure Icons
According to code found in Tesla’s latest update, Tesla will add "accident" and "closed road" icons to its maps. These icons are expected to give drivers near real-time updates on road conditions, allowing them to make informed decisions and avoid delays. This feature, in addition to the previously added icons such as stop signs, traffic lights, and red light speed cameras helps Tesla maps compete with mobile apps that have this information such as Google Maps and Waze.
While Green found references to these new icons in the 2024.2 update, these features are not yet active but are expected to be added in the near future.
Accident and road closure information needs to be timely to be useful so it’s unlikely that Tesla is gathering this data themselves and instead leveraging an existing data provider that already supplies this information to other services. Waze relies on crowd-sourced data, and while possible, it's unlikely that Tesla will rely on driver input to display this information.
Much like stop signs and traffic lights icons, when Tesla introduces these new features they’re expected to require a subscription to Tesla’s Premium Connectivity. While drivers can get some premium connectivity features by using their phone’s hotspot feature, accident and road closure data will likely not be one of them. Similar to traffic data, Tesla will need to pay data providers for this information, which is part of what the premium connectivity fee helps pay for.
More Navigation Options: From Fastest Route to No Tolls
Tesla is also expected to introduce a new route option to its navigation system. Thanks to alternate routes, when adding a destination to the nav system, drivers can now pick from “shortest” and “fastest” routes. However, it appears Tesla is going to expand these options by offering a “no tolls” option in certain situations. Drivers can already force the navigation system to use toll-free roads, but it requires going into settings by tapping Controls > Navigation and choosing avoid tolls. This new option will allow owners to directly compare a toll-free option to the fastest and shortest route options.
While some owners have been looking to have a way to avoid highways, it does not appear that this will be introduced at the same time.
Expanded Maps and Languages: Latin America in Focus
Tesla breaks up its maps into various regions around the world to make them smaller in size. A map region includes detailed maps, routing and language options. With the recent expansion into Chile and Colombia, Tesla will soon introduce a new map region for Latin America. This addition will support Latin American Spanish, offering a local experience for users in the region. The new Latin American Spanish language will likely remain specific to this region and will not be available in other regions such as North America.
Requirements and Availability
While some of these features will require a subscription to Tesla's Premium Connectivity service, priced at $10/month in the US, they will also require drivers to enable Online Routing to view the additional data.
Accident and road closure data and toll options are also expected to be available in limited regions, likely dependent on where Tesla can gather the data.
Interestingly, map and navigation enhancements were on our Holiday Update Wish List, including several items Tesla owners hoped would be part of the big December update. We are more than happy to keep receiving gifts even after the holiday season.
Tesla’s been on a roll with Supercharger improvements lately, from the 325kW charging update for the Cybertruck, to 500kW with V4 Superchargers coming next year. While those improvements have been limited to the Cybertruck, Tesla didn’t put all their focus on their new flagship vehicle, but looked at their more affordable vehicles as well.
LFP Battery Heating
Tesla’s Superchargers can now heat LFP Batteries - those that are in the Model 3 and Model Y Rear Wheel Drive variants. This applies to Long Range and Standard Range models, which saw a limited run. This is another update included as part of the 2024 Tesla Holiday Update - which really arrived with a lot of unannounced new features and capabilities.
The change is pretty interesting - Superchargers of the V3 and V4 variety can now pre-heat batteries for Model 3 and Model Y vehicles equipped with LFP battery packs. That means those vehicles are able to get back on the road faster when it's extremely cold. Of course, Tesla still advises you to precondition before you arrive, saving drivers time and money.
Max de Zegher, Tesla’s Director of Charging, also commented on the new feature. Essentially, Tesla is inducing an AC (alternating) ripple current through the battery to warm it up. Keep in mind that Superchargers are DC charging. That means it is possible to get a cold-soaked LFP vehicle on the road 4x faster than before, assuming that it didn’t precondition at all and that it is in the worst-case scenario (below 0ºF).
In essence, Tesla is using some engineering magic to turn the circuits inside the LFP battery into an electric heater - and powering that heater through the Supercharger. An AC ripple current is a small oscillation in the DC charging current that generates heat through electrical resistance, warming up the battery. Those ripples are a byproduct of converting AC to DC and back - so Tesla is using the onboard charger to induce those ripples to warm up the battery. Definitely an innovative technique that’s really only possible with the versatility of the NACS connector.
We’re hoping Tesla can implement this across their full lineup of vehicles, but we’ll have to wait and see how it is trialed across LFP vehicles first and if it is even possible on vehicles with 2170 or 4680 battery packs.
Tesla launched two FSD updates simultaneously on Saturday night, and what’s most interesting is that they arrived on the same software version. We’ll dig into that a little later, but for now, there’s good news for everyone. For Hardware 3 owners, FSD V12.6.1 is launching to all vehicles, including the Model 3 and Model Y. For AI4 owners, FSD V13.2.4 is launching, starting with the Cybertruck.
FSD V13.2.4
A new V13 build is now rolling out to the Cybertruck and is expected to arrive for the rest of the AI4 fleet soon. However, this build seems to be focused on bug fixes. There are no changes to the release notes for the Cybertruck with this release, and it’s unlikely to feature any changes when it arrives on other vehicles.
FSD V12.6.1 builds upon V12.6, which is the latest FSD version for HW3 vehicles. While FSD V12.6 was only released for the redesigned Model S and Model X with HW3, FSD V12.6.1 is adding support for the Model 3 and Model Y.
While this is only a bug-fix release for users coming from FSD V12.6, it includes massive improvements for anyone coming from an older FSD version. Two of the biggest changes are the new end-to-end highway stack that now utilizes FSD V12 for highway driving and a redesigned controller that allows FSD to drive “V13” smooth.
It also adds speed profiles, earlier lane changes, and more. You can read our in-depth look at all the changes in FSD V12.6.
Same Update, Multiple FSD Builds
What’s interesting about this software version is that it “includes" two FSD updates, V12.6.1 for HW3 and V13.2.4 for HW4 vehicles. While this is interesting, it’s less special when you understand what’s happening under the hood.
The vehicle’s firmware and Autopilot firmware are actually completely separate. While a vehicle downloading a firmware update may look like a singular process, it’s actually performing several functions during this period. First, it downloads the vehicle’s firmware. Upon unpacking the update, it’s instructed which Autopilot/FSD firmware should be downloaded.
While the FSD firmware is separate, the vehicle can’t download any FSD update. The FSD version is hard-coded in the vehicle’s firmware that was just downloaded. This helps Tesla keep the infotainment and Autopilot firmware tightly coupled, leading to fewer issues.
What we’re seeing here is that HW3 vehicles are being told to download one FSD version, while HW4 vehicles are being told to download a different version.
While this is the first time Tesla has had two FSD versions tied to the same vehicle software version, the process hasn’t actually changed, and what we’re seeing won’t lead to faster FSD updates or the ability to download FSD separately. What we’re seeing is the direct result of the divergence of HW3 and HW4.
While HW3/4 remained basically on the same FSD version until recently, it is now necessary to deploy different versions for the two platforms. We expect this to be the norm going forward, where HW3 will be on a much different version of FSD than HW4. While each update may not include two different FSD versions going forward, we may see it occasionally, depending on which features Autopilot is dependent on.
Thanks to Greentheonly for helping us understand what happened with this release and for the insight into Tesla’s processes.
