Twitter user observation sparks investigation by Euro NCAP

Euro NCAP investigating Tesla for potentially modified testing software

Euro NCAP

Tesla hacker Greentheonly recently discovered Tesla added various testing agencies’ names into some of its development software, sparking an investigation by Euro NCAP, Europe’s government-supported organization that thoroughly tests vehicles for safety.

Tesla just added ANCAP support in their code. This is in addition to already existing "I VISTA" (Chinese testing grounds), Euro NCAP and Korea NCAP

One wonders why do it (they also give testing houses one-off builds with the testing house in the name (with tweaked settings?) )

— green (@greentheonly) September 10, 2022

Green found Tesla recently added ANCAP, Australasia’s testing agency, to its software. I VISTA, which is China’s testing grounds, Euro NCAP, and Korea NCAP were already mentioned in the vehicle's code. The addition of ANCAP into the software aligns with Tesla beginning sales of the Model Y in Australasia.

Although Green was able to find these references in Tesla's software, he wasn't able to determine what they're being used for since they're run on Tesla's FSD hardware, which has limited access.

No Evidence of Any Attempt to Cheat

After Green's tweet, Euro NCAP took a closer look at Tesla’s software and their testing results and found no evidence that Tesla attempted to cheat in any of the agencies' tests.

“The integrity of its star-rating scheme is of utmost importance to Euro NCAP and we will continue to do all we can to ensure the rating reflects the safety which consumers can expect from their vehicles,” Aled Williams, Euro NCAP’s program director, told CNN Business. “So far, Euro NCAP’s investigations have not revealed any evidence of an attempt to ‘cheat’ the tests by Tesla.”

Euro NCAP Testing

Tesla does use geofencing to enable and disable its Full Self-Driving software. Notably, the company does this in Toronto, and owners are anticipating Tesla to remove the geofence in version 10.69.3.

“It is possible that GPS location is used to identify that the car is at a specific test track,” Williams added. “It’s one of the possibilities we put to Tesla and they absolutely deny that this is done.”

Others are speculating that adding agencies’ names to the code is likely for Tesla to contain the data at these testing sites. Tesla could gather test data so they can make improvements to both the hardware and software of their fleet.

It's important to note that the vehicle's software could not impact any of Tesla's safety crash tests done by these agencies as all vehicle sensors are covered before crash tests are performed.

The only testing that relies on the vehicle's software is software-assisted tests such as automatic emergency braking, pedestrian avoidance, lane departure, etc.

Tesla would be putting too much at risk by trying to cheat during any of these tests. Their vehicles are already some of the safest vehicles on the road, and they continue to improve their safety by making improvements to seat belt tensioning systems and improving the vehicle's hazard lights.

Tesla Update 2025.20 Tear Down Reveals Grok Personalities and Icons

@greentheonly on X

While most automakers are adding basic and un-integrated AI assistants to their vehicles, Tesla appears to be working hand-in-hand with xAI to build out an entire cast of characters for in-vehicle Grok. In the latest dive into Tesla’s firmware, Tesla hacker @greentheonly uncovered a few new details about the upcoming Grok feature.

This discovery, part of a larger batch of changes found in Tesla update 2025.20, also offers a hint at the hardware required for the Grok.

A Dozen Groks

While we knew from previous firmware teardowns that Tesla was adding various Grok personalities to the vehicle UI, this update introduces a new one called Language Tutor, which may allow users to learn and practice a new language. 

These are the different personas that will be included in Grok:

• Argumentative

• Assistant

• Conspiracy

• Doctor

• Kids’ Stories

• Kids’ Trivia Games

• Meditation

• Motivation

• Romantic

• Sexy

• Storyteller

• Therapist

• Language Tutor

• and the Grok Classic - Unhinged Mode

Release Date

Icons for these personalities have been added to the firmware for the first time, leading us to think Tesla is getting close to releasing the feature. However, even after the feature is developed and included in vehicle software, Tesla may only enable it selectively — such as for select employees for testing.

Grok is expected to be one of the largest vehicle features added via a software update, so it’ll be a big deal when it’s finally released. While we know more or less what to expect from Grok, what we don’t know is about vehicle requirements or whether it’ll require a subscription beyond Premium Connectivity.

Grok Requirements

While subscriptions required are anyone’s guess, vehicle requirements may be a little clearer now, thanks to Green’s discovery that Grok is only being added to AMD-based vehicle software builds.

Unfortunately, this likely means that older, Intel-based vehicles will not receive Grok support, at least for the time being. When Tesla introduced a voice assistant in China, they also started off with AMD-only support but later added Intel support, so it’s possible that the same could happen with Grok.

Energy Saving

Green also found a new undocumented navigation feature in 2025.20.3. This one focuses on leveraging Tesla’s vast amounts of data in an interesting way and offers drivers proactive advice to save energy on a well-traveled route. 

In the Energy App, your vehicle will display, “This route is typically driven at X mph. Slow down by Y mph to save Z% for the rest of this trip.’ 

As you can see in the photo below, Tesla recognizes that vehicles typically drive at 66 mph on the route being driven and offers the driver the option to go five mph slower to save 1% of range. While this example doesn’t provide much incentive to slow down, it could be useful for someone with a low state of charge or if the savings are more significant.

The new line in the Energy App

Not a Tesla App

In the future, Tesla could even use this, alongside the road surface data they’re gathering, to help plan routes for Robotaxi and Unsupervised FSD.

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NHTSA to Streamline Approvals for Control-Free Vehicles Like Tesla’s Cybercab

Not a Tesla App

In a letter to industry, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced that it is overhauling its approvals process for vehicles designed without human controls.

The change addresses a regulatory bottleneck that has slowed down American companies like Tesla from deploying purpose-built Robotaxis, rather than relying on using traditional vehicles with steering wheels and pedals. The policy shift is outlined in a letter posted to the NHTSA’s website, which you can find here.

Reducing Approvals From Years to Months

Under the existing rules today, any vehicle that is built without a steering wheel or brake pedals must receive a special exemption from federal safety standards.

Obtaining exemptions for a particular vehicle was a time-consuming process for both the companies requesting exemptions and the NHTSA. The process was often a black box—nobody knew when an exemption might be granted, and approvals could take years.

The NHTSA, under the new administration’s guidelines for autonomous vehicle development, is now committed to streamlining this process. The agency will be implementing a new, faster approach immediately for receiving exemptions for autonomous vehicles without standard controls. The NHTSA expects decisions on exemption requests to be determined within months rather than years. 

Accelerating the Cybercab

This change has massive implications for Tesla, which is banking on the production of the simplified and easy-to-maintain purpose-built Cybercab. The Cybercab is developed from the ground up as an autonomous Robotaxi and will be one of the key beneficiaries of this move by the NHTSA.

Knowing that a final design won't be caught in a multi-year regulatory limbo provides a level of certainty that has been missing. It allows Tesla to confidently plan the manufacturing, development, and deployment processes without worrying whether the project will get stuck in regulatory approvals.

According to the letter, the agency will publish its improved instructions for the streamlined process "shortly." With Tesla already having begun Cybercab pre-production and the goals for its deployment as soon as late 2026, there’s still a lot to be done to make autonomy a part of Tesla’s new sustainable abundance mission statement.

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