Tesla Vision Speed Limits not functional in some countries

[Tomas Cech]

I drive a Tesla M3 LR, 2023 (not Highland), and I reside in the Czech Republic. Since the beginning, speed limits displayed have only been those based on GPS. Apparently, car does NOT read the speed limit road signs, neither new/movable nor those dynamic (displays over highway lanes), while being driven in Czechia. While I drove the car in Germany mid April 2024, reading on-road speed limit signs worked perfectly there, including those dynamic ones. Update 2024.26 includes "Vision Speed Limits" upgrade, clearly stating "Vision Speed Limits now leverages your car's cameras to detect speed limit signs to improve the accuracy of speed limit data on highways and local roads". However, "Vision Speed Limits" upgrade is missing in release notes of my M3LR for 2024.26.7 upgrade installed just yesterday and the car did NOT start reading the road signs by camera after the 2024.6.7 upgrade installed.

Apparently, both hardware and software of my M3LR are capable or reading the road signs, while this option is disabled at the territory of the Czech Republic. Anyone having same experience or deeper knowledge of Tesla policy on this matter?

 

[Ejvind]

I drive a Tesla M3 LR, 2023 (not Highland), and I reside in the Czech Republic. Since the beginning, speed limits displayed have only been those based on GPS. Apparently, car does NOT read the speed limit road signs, neither new/movable nor those dynamic (displays over highway lanes), while being driven in Czechia. While I drove the car in Germany mid April 2024, reading on-road speed limit signs worked perfectly there, including those dynamic ones. Update 2024.26 includes "Vision Speed Limits" upgrade, clearly stating "Vision Speed Limits now leverages your car's cameras to detect speed limit signs to improve the accuracy of speed limit data on highways and local roads". However, "Vision Speed Limits" upgrade is missing in release notes of my M3LR for 2024.26.7 upgrade installed just yesterday and the car did NOT start reading the road signs by camera after the 2024.6.7 upgrade installed.

Apparently, both hardware and software of my M3LR are capable or reading the road signs, while this option is disabled at the territory of the Czech Republic. Anyone having same experience or deeper knowledge of Tesla policy on this matter?

 

[Ejvind]

Hi

It is the same in Denmark and it is quite annoying. My friende that drive Skoda, Audi and VW EV`s laughs a bit because they have had it from the start, so it has nothing to do with danish law.

 

[Tomas Cech]

Hi Ejvind,

I reported this issue to Tesla and funny enough, they still seem not to believe it. So far they keep asking me (in other words) "does the car really NOT read traffic signs? Are you sure?"... I suggest you report this issue to Tesla support as well.

As for potential legal issues: no issue at all. I had ad least three cars before this Tesla during past 10 years (2 BMWs and one Audi), all of them did read traffic signs well.

 

[Ejvind]

on the highway mine is now detecting temporary and electronic signs but not all of then….but it detected a few 80km/t on the highway where there is roadwork..

 

[TomasB]

The same here, Model 3 LR 2024 (Highland), software 2024.26.6.
I was so disappointed realizing that just this particular thing is missing in my local release notes, while it's still reported on this web as "Available in the Czech Republic". My prev. cars (VW Passat, Skoda Superb and Skoda Kodiaq) didn't have any issues with it. They were even more successful than my Tesla is in countries where it works, like UK or Germany. What a shame!

 

[ffMathy]

on the highway mine is now detecting temporary and electronic signs but not all of then….but it detected a few 80km/t on the highway where there is roadwork..

I am Danish too. Can unfortunately say that it is not capable of reading electronic signs. These are still map-based.

The reason I know is that I drove by an electronic sign which usually would say 90 on the highway, but it was changed to 80 on that single day I that I drove. The car still changed the speed to 90.

I am also doubtful if Hardware 3.0 can even read electronic signs at all, or will ever be able to.

Hardware 4 (AI4) contains LED Flicker Mitigation in its cameras, which will allow it to not see LED lights as "flickering". This might be a necessary requirement for that kind of stuff to work.

 

[Tomas Cech]

I had a long communication with Tesla support and it is indeed worth sharing. First, I sent two mails and the answer always was "does reading of traffic sign REALLY not work? When? Can you provided a video?" I always answered, yes, it is REALLY not working AT ALL in Czechia, while it is working (with the same car, same hardware, same software) in Germany very well. After that, silence, no answer.
Than I called the support. First, I was told "yes, we know it is not working in the Czech Republic, as the infrastructure in Czechia is not ready for that". This caught my attention so I asked about what infrastructure was meant. The guy started claiming that in Germany, there were sensors on the traffic signs allowing the cars recognizing them. Once I asked what sensors in the car read those sensors on traffic signs, I got no answer on that question and the guy spotted I only have a basic Autopilot and started claiming that cars with Enhanced Autopilot or FSD do not have this problem. I countered by claiming that reading traffic signs is a STANDARD safety feature mentioned everywhere in car documentation...
Conclusion: the guy at support only knows THAT it is not working. As for why, he either has no idea or he is lying. Hard to say what is worse. Will escalate it to Tesla Service and ask for an official statement. I personally believe this feature is simply turned off for Czechia, due to reasons uknonwn to me (like in Switzerland, the Sentry is off because of privacy, but no legal reasons in Czechia). Should Tesla have decided to bind this feature to the Enhanced Autopilot or FSD only, they should have said it clearly prior car sales.
Will keep you informed on the progress. I ordered service for Monday.

@TomasB: you may want to join me in pushing Czech Tesla.

 

[TomasB]

I had a long communication with Tesla support and it is indeed worth sharing. First, I sent two mails and the answer always was "does reading of traffic sign REALLY not work? When? Can you provided a video?" I always answered, yes, it is REALLY not working AT ALL in Czechia, while it is working (with the same car, same hardware, same software) in Germany very well. After that, silence, no answer.
Than I called the support. First, I was told "yes, we know it is not working in the Czech Republic, as the infrastructure in Czechia is not ready for that". This caught my attention so I asked about what infrastructure was meant. The guy started claiming that in Germany, there were sensors on the traffic signs allowing the cars recognizing them. Once I asked what sensors in the car read those sensors on traffic signs, I got no answer on that question and the guy spotted I only have a basic Autopilot and started claiming that cars with Enhanced Autopilot or FSD do not have this problem. I countered by claiming that reading traffic signs is a STANDARD safety feature mentioned everywhere in car documentation...
Conclusion: the guy at support only knows THAT it is not working. As for why, he either has no idea or he is lying. Hard to say what is worse. Will escalate it to Tesla Service and ask for an official statement. I personally believe this feature is simply turned off for Czechia, due to reasons uknonwn to me (like in Switzerland, the Sentry is off because of privacy, but no legal reasons in Czechia). Should Tesla have decided to bind this feature to the Enhanced Autopilot or FSD only, they should have said it clearly prior car sales.
Will keep you informed on the progress. I ordered service for Monday.

@TomasB: you may want to join me in pushing Czech Tesla.

Let's do it! But I doubt the guys in the CZ service points can do anything. I was already trying to deal with some SW issues through them and they are pretty lame. I ended up asking through the Tesla in-app service chat.

 

[Tomas Cech]

An update: I wrote to Tesla Support - no answer, no explanation. I talked to Tesla Support - the answers I got were utter nonsenses (see above). I talked to Tesla mobile repair technician, who came to fix my bonnet lock and he had no idea but promised to check. Summa summarum: communication from Tesla has been terrible.
But... BUT... on Friday, I received an update 2024.26.8 and voila: reading of traffic signs by cameras started suddenly working, without any notice at all in release notes. So, problem solved. Someone in Tesla just hit the right button...

Just fyi: you can easily recognize whether your car is reading on-road speed limit signs by cameras: if yes, you can see traffic signs with speed limits in your tesla vision screen, next to the road signs - you see the icon of your car passing by those signs. Looks like your car's avatar is passing by giant lolipops. This means signs are being read. If no signs keep appearing, your speed limits shown come out of navigation database.

Good luck in other countries. And @TomasB: pls kindly let me know if you got update 2024.26.8 and whether it solved the issue.

 

[TomasB]

I also received 2024.26.8, but didn't expect any changes other than the new emergency breaking scenario or what was it in the release notes. It's true I realized today there was one speed sign shown on the display in the 3D car visualization, so it was recognized. When I saw that, I thought it's just a fluke. I will pay more attention to it next time I'm driving anywhere. Thanks for letting us know!