FSD Beta 11.3.1 now lets you leave audio feedback on Autopilot disengagements
Chuck Cook/YouTube
Tesla has released the highly anticipated FSD Beta v11.3.1 with Tesla's single-stack highway and city driving. Along with this update comes a new way to report Autopilot feedback to Tesla.
Tesla's new “voice drive-notes,” allows drivers to record an audio message describing the reason for Autopilot's disengagement.
No More Snapshot Button
Before FSD Beta was released to everyone in the U.S. and Canada, Tesla had a snapshot button that allowed drivers to 'flag' certain situations where Autopilot wasn't up to snuff. However, that button is now gone for everyone except very early beta testers.
With this latest beta, those early testers have both, the snapshot button and Tesla's new voice notes. However, we believe that Tesla will transition completely to their voice notes eventually as it provides a hands-free solution and offers the driver the ability to add more detail.
With the new voice notes, Tesla will likely still capture the same information they did with the snapshot button, including the vehicle’s camera feeds and telemetry data.
How Voice Notes Functions
After an Autopilot disengagement, the vehicle will display a small card asking the driver what happened and prompt the driver to share a short voice memo. The card will display:
Autopilot Disengaged. What Happened?
Press voice button to send Tesla an anonymous message describing your experience.
You can then push the right scroll wheel (the same one used to activate voice commands) and provide feedback about the disengagement without removing your hands from the steering wheel.
Recording Limits
Tesla appears to be limiting voice notes to 10 seconds. Once you press the voice button, the screen will display:
Recording...
10 seconds remaining until automatic upload. Press to end recording.
You can let the feature record for all 10 seconds, at which point it'll automatically stop and upload the audio clip to Tesla, or you can stop it early by pressing the scroll wheel again.
You'll also be able to cancel the voice dictation by pressing the 'Cancel' button on the screen.
Once the voice note is sent successfully, Tesla will display a confirmation on the screen.
Recording sent. Thank you. Your feedback will help us improve Autopilot.
Drive Notes in Action
Dan Burkland shows us how FSD Beta's new voice notes feature works.
Misuse of Voice Notes
There's no doubt that this system will be misused by a small percentage of drivers by providing some... interesting recordings. It's not clear how Tesla plans to address this issue, but Tesla could potentially block certain vehicles from sending in voice notes if the system is misused.
Anonymous Recordings
Tesla says that these voice notes will be anonymous, so they likely won't be tied to a specific vehicle or driver profile. However, it's not clear whether Tesla will simply transcribe your audio to text and store that, or if they will retain the audio clip, which could result in it being a little less anonymous.
Transcribing Audio Drive Notes
Tesla’s engineers certainly won’t be listening to every single voice memo sent in, so we’re assuming that Tesla will automatically transcribe these voice memos so that engineers can quickly search through and address various types of reports. However, the question remains if the transcription isn't clear, will the audio clip be available for playback?
Tesla, unfortunately, failed to point out the new voice notes feature in the latest FSD Beta release notes, but this is an exciting feature that will hopefully let many owners provide more detailed feedback on why they disengaged Autopilot.
This feature has been available to Tesla employees and early testers with the public build of FSD Beta 11.3.1 and will hopefully be available to everyone with access to FSD Beta soon.
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Rendering of what Tesla's license plate feature could look like
Not a Tesla App
Tesla update 2024.38 has started rolling out to several regions and vehicles. Thanks to Tesla hacker Greentheonly, we have a behind-the-scenes look at some new features coming to Teslas.
License Plate Display
According to Greentheonly, it looks like Tesla may soon let you display your actual license plate in the vehicle’s visualization on the screen. In our article, The Most Request Tesla Features, several readers suggested displaying the vehicle’s license plate in the visualization instead of a blank, white plate.
It looks like Tesla will be doing just that, at least in China. Green found references that appear to conclude that you’ll be able to display your vehicle’s plate on screen. This will likely be user input, so you could have it say anything you’d like, and it doesn’t have to be your actual license plate.
For many owners, who may find it difficult to remember their license plate, this could serve a practical purpose in addition to adding to the visualization's realism.
While Green was only able to say it’ll be available in China, we expect this is due to China’s software development team working on it and that it’ll eventually be released worldwide.
While code for this feature was found in update 2024.38, we may not be turned on in China yet. We suspect this feature may be a strong candidate for Tesla’s upcoming holiday update.
FSD Hardware Version Display
As part of the 2024.38 update, Tesla has now made it easy to determine whether your vehicle includes Hardware 3 or Hardware 4. You can now simply navigate to Controls > Software and tap Additional Vehicle Information. In addition to other hardware information about your vehicle, your Autopilot hardware version will now be listed as well.
You can see whether your vehicle has HW2.5, HW3, or AI4. This in-car display is useful, but if you don’t have access to the vehicle, you can always use our guide on how to determine the hardware version of a Tesla.
New Battery Health Test & Service Mode Improvements
Green found some additional things as well. There’s a new and improved Battery Health Test. The new test will show you how your car scores compared to similar vehicles in the Tesla fleet.
In addition, maintenance records can now be permanently stored “in the car.” It doesn’t appear that this feature is activated yet, but it’s likely in active development with some parts leaking out in the 2024.38 update.
Tesla has included various Service Mode improvements and new visualizations in this update.
Mr Li on X came across some covered-up Project Juniper vehicles recently and he managed to get various shots of the vehicle.
Juniper Images
This front image reveals what looks like two rows of lights, possibly confirming the front light bar for the Model Y refresh — similar to the one on the Cybercab.
The rear side has a lot of lights on it!
Mr Li on X
The rear side shows a ton of brake lights, but it’s not clear why. While it looks like the Model Y refresh will also feature a rear light bar similar to the Cybertruck, there isn’t strong evidence of that in this photo.
Mr Li on X
There's an obvious set of lights at the bottom, so it looks like the Model Y refresh will be similar to the new Model 3 where the bottom lights can operate as brake lights when the one-piece tail lights and trunk are up.
Mr Li on X
In the last photo, we see that the overall form factor of the refreshed Model Y will remain unchanged, and Tesla is focusing the changes on the front and rear ends of the vehicle, much like the Model 3 refresh. However, in this one shot, we can also see what appears to be red light leaking out of the rear camera cover opening, possibly due to the rear light bar.
The Model Y is not only Tesla’s best-selling vehicle but also the world’s best-selling car in 2023. This year, it’s expected to be the best-selling vehicle in the United States and again in the world, so this refresh will be huge for Tesla.
@DominicBRNKMN made another fantastic set of concepts based on these new images. Given he had the most accurate Model 3 Highland concept before the official launch, we’re pretty sure his latest work be close here as well.
@DominicBRNKMN
We’re super excited to see the eventual reveal of Project Juniper, which is expected in the first half of 2025. However, expect to see a few more leaks before production kicks off at Giga Shanghai.