Tesla FSD Beta 11.3.1: New Features and Visualizations

Tesla's latest FSD Beta adds new features and visualizations

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Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, tweeted that the latest Full Self-Driving Beta is “a major step change improvement. Still needs another point release of polish before rolling out wide.” That said, most of those who have taken v11.3.1 for a ride are impressed.

There are a number of options that have been added and removed with this beta, as well as new visualizations.

New Visualizations

Let’s start with the bright shiny objects - new visualizations. Anyone who has watched the ride-along on YouTube has noticed that FSD v11.3.1 looks different.

Wider Path

Firstly, the path the vehicle is taking is a much thicker line, representing the entire space the car currently occupies and will occupy in the immediate future.

Chevrons

Chevrons will also appear in the path to show the car slowing down. The opacity and speed at which the chevrons are moving change depending on how quickly the car is slowing.

Stopping Line

A white or black line will now appear in front of the Tesla to tell the supervising driver exactly where the car will stop. There’s no more guessing where the car will stop moving. This line appears as soon as the car realizes that it will have to stop, like when approaching an intersection.

Traffic Lights

The traffic lights will now sometimes appear in blue. The blue light indicates that the vehicle is obeying that traffic light. Let’s say you are turning left at an intersection with three traffic lights present; the light in front of the left lane will be blue, while the other two for traffic going straight will remain gray.

Many have observed more detailed images of the surroundings as well. This includes a rolling tire that appeared while Chuck Cook was out for a ride. As documented in the release notes, the system identifies objects differently and seemingly much more accurately.

FSD Messages

FSD Beta 11.3.1 will now display messages letting you know what the vehicle is doing

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How many times have you enabled FSD, and you or your passengers asked, "what is it doing?" Well, now it tells you exactly what it is doing. For example, if it spots an intersection and a red light, it will say, "stopping for the red light." It will display various messages that make it clear what the vehicle is stopping or waiting for such as stop signs, crossing pedestrians, bicyclists and more. This addition gives us a better look into what the software is doing.

Voice Drive-Notes

This is a significant addition because the software now allows for instant driver feedback. If you must take control away from FSD, a prompt will ask you to explain what happened. You can leave an audio recording. For example, if the software says it is stopping for a red light, but you see the light is green, you can take over and tell Tesla what happened so their team can review it.

Glowing Speed Limit Sign

FSD Beta 11.3.1 will glow the speed limit sign when you exceed the detected speed limit by more than 50%

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The speed limit sign appears in the same location, but now it will glow when the vehicle's speed exceeds the posted limit by more than 50%, for example, going 75 mph in a 50 mph zone.

Speed Limit Offset

Speaking of speed, the option to set your Autopilot speed to an absolute value over the speed limit has been removed. You used to be able to set Autopilot to travel 10 mph over the posted speed limit, which would apply in all cases. However, you'll now have to use the 'relative' option, which lets you choose a percentage value to travel above the limit. So choosing a 15% offset will let the vehicle travel at about 35 mph in a 30 zone, while in a 65 mph zone, the vehicle will travel up to 75 mph.

New 'Minimal Lane Changes' Option

There have been a lot of comments about a smoother drive experience with better, less robotic lane changes. However, if you'd like to reduce the number of lane changes the vehicle makes, there is a new option called 'Minimal Lane Changes.' This new option in the Autopilot menu reduces lane changes by having the vehicle only make a lane change when it's required to follow the route. It prevents the vehicle from making lane changes due to slow-moving traffic in its lane.

New Shortcut for Autopilot Options

FSD Beta 11.3.1 includes a shortcut to the FSD Profiles

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With this beta, Tesla also introduced a new shortcut for some Autopilot options. When tilting the right scroll wheel left/right in previous betas, the vehicle would adjust its follow distance from 2 to 7. This option has now been removed since FSD Beta now handles the follow distance automatically on the highway.

When tilting the scroll wheel, you'll now be presented with a new set of options. They'll allow you to adjust the vehicle's FSD Profile, between Chill, Average and Assertive. This isn't new to this beta, but the ability to quickly change the FSD Profile is. In addition to being able to switch the FSD Profile, you'll also have the option to quickly enable 'Minimal Lane Changes' with this shortcut. The option will only stay enabled for the current drive. The informational box in the vehicle explains how Minimal Lane Changes works:

"When enabled, Full Self-Driving (Beta) will limit changes only to follow the navigation route or when required for safety. This option gets reset when the car is parked at the end of a drive."

Removal of 'Navigate on Autopilot'

With the introduction of FSD Beta to highway driving, Tesla has now removed the 'Navigate on Autopilot' (NoA) feature. NoA was Tesla's term for the vehicle performing lane changes to follow your route. However, with the introduction of FSD Beta v11, this option became redundant and it has now been removed with this update.

Correction: Navigate on Autopilot is still available if you switch to 'Autosteer' on the Autopilot menu. The Navigate on Autopilot options disappear when you're using FSD Beta.

New Autopilot Menu

Tesla has reorganized the Autopilot menu

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With this update, Tesla has redesigned the Autopilot menu to remove older options and make your options clearer. At the very top Tesla now gives owners three options for Autopilot features, they are, Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC), Autosteer, or FSD Beta. Autosteer is essentially Basic Autopilot, which will keep the vehicle's speed, brake, keep a proper follow distance and steer within the vehicle's lane. FSD Beta is the option you'll want if you want the vehicle to make lane changes to follow your route. After that, you have more FSD options, such as FSD Profile, followed by 'Lane Change Notification,' which was previously a part of Navigate on Autopilot and Speed Offset. Tesla also cleaned up some other options, removing the toggles for 'Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control' and 'Full Self-Driving Visualization Preview'. Underneath the Autopilot preferences, you then have Summon and the other usual options.

View Cabin Camera

Plus, we previously reported this undocumented feature that appeared in the first update of 2023. Surprisingly, the preview cabin camera video is also available with this update. This function, found under service, allows owners to view their cabin camera inside the vehicle. That provides some peace of mind for users so they can have an idea of what the camera can and cannot see when activated. If you have any privacy concerns, check out our article on Tesla’s Privacy Policy.

Tesla's FSD Beta v11.3.1 is an impressive step forward, with new visualizations and features that enhance the driving experience. Tesla continues to push the boundaries of self-driving technology, and the positive feedback from early users is a testament to their progress. With the upcoming wide release of v11.3.2, we can only expect more exciting updates and improvements from Tesla. Stay tuned for more updates on the future of autonomous driving.

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Tesla Is Now Offering Cybertruck Test Drives [List of Locations]

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Tesla has begun to reach out to customers in the United States and is offering demo drives of the Cybertruck on an invite-only basis. @brandonhd on X shared the first invite image, and it looks like it's going out quite quickly to multiple locations that have Cybertrucks on display.

Up until now, display vehicles have been for just that – looking, but no touching. Some Tesla delivery centers and showrooms have also allowed viewers to take a seat inside and open it up, but most are still locked away behind the velvet rope.

It’s exciting to see that Tesla has begun to demo them – and it can only be so long until demo drives open up to everyone.

Advisor-led Demo

This Demo Drive is led by a Tesla Advisor – while you’re driving, the advisor will be in the passenger seat, walking you through the experience. They’ll explain steer-by-wire, off-road controls, and will introduce new-to-Tesla buyers to all the features that are currently available.

Once FSD V12.5 comes to the Cybertruck, we’re sure they’ll be demoing its capabilities FSD capabilities as well.

Locations

The list of locations so far for demo drives appears to be fairly limited, but we will hopefully see demo drives roll out throughout the United States, and eventually Canada too. Here is the current list of city/state locations that have seen demo drive invites.

• Manhasset, New York

• West Covina, California

• Los Angeles, California

• Houston, Texas

• Orlando, Florida

• Westmont, Illinois

• Tucson, Arizona

• Phoenix, Arizona

• Delaware

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Musk Confirms 'Actually Smart Summon' is Coming in a Revision of FSD V12.5

Not a Tesla App

Actually Smart Summon, the successor to Tesla’s Smart Summon feature, has been confirmed to be coming as soon as next month as per Elon Musk. Colloquially known as “ASS”, Actually Smart Summon is supposed to improve on the regular Smart Summon capabilities, which have historically used ultrasonic sensors (USS) to navigate parking lots.

We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon, and we’re quite excited about what other features will be unlocked once it finally shows up at our doorstep.

Vision-based Improvements

ASS is supposed to bring Smart Summon to vehicles that don’t have USS – using Tesla Vision. Most recently, Tesla has brought Autopark to vehicles without USS, and Vision-based Autopark has been a huge success. It is faster, more reliable, and smoother than the older USS-based solution. It can also park and maneuver in tighter locations.

Just recently, Tesla returned the Model X’s self-presenting doors, using Tesla Vision. Vision has seen some fantastic improvements, and many people are waiting for ASS to bring forth these improvements to Smart Summon.

Smart Summon Today

Today, Smart Summon is sometimes useful at best, usually a party trick, or downright dangerous at worst. It’s excellent and best used in straight lines, where you have a clear line of sight of the vehicle, and can stop it if doesn’t see an obstacle.

I used Smart Summon today, just before writing this article – my 2022 Model Y (with USS) – did manage to show up just fine – in a straight-line location from where I was parked, after exiting the parking spot fairly cleanly. However, I’ve previously used Smart Summon and have had the vehicle turn towards obstacles, such as cart returns or curbs. Overall, it’s a sometimes-useful feature that has a lot of drawbacks right now.

Smart Summon is also restricted to a certain distance – and it's pretty small. The max distance is shorter than most parking lots, being only about 215 ft (65m). If you’re lucky enough to park close, it's very useful to bring your car right to you.

Actually Smart Summon

ASS will bring FSD V12-like capabilities to Smart Summon – the vehicle will primarily use Vision to drive toward you (or the location you’ve indicated). ASS has been supposed to be coming since about September 2022 and has seen many delays – we’re almost at the 2-year point today.

We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon being able to bring the vehicle – safely – right to you. ASS is also one of the key steps towards bringing some other cool features that Elon Musk has previously mentioned – Park Seek and Banish Autopark.

We’re also hopeful that Actually Smart Summon will increase the maximum range a vehicle can be summoned, because the current range is fairly small. Alongside Park Seek and Banish Autopark, we’re closing in on a Robotaxi-based future.

Park Seek and Banish Autopark

When the FSD v12.4 showed up, Elon also mentioned that going forward, vehicles would automatically park themselves when arriving in a parking lot – Park Seek – and that if you got out of the car at the entrance to a business, you could get it to automatically park itself in the parking lot – Banish Autopark. These are two features that are needed for Robotaxi to work – which itself is delayed to October 10^th of this year. We’re looking quite forward to them – as in combination with Actually Smart Summon, Tesla has reached the cusp of vehicle autonomy.

A vehicle that arrives, driverless, at the location you’re at, then drives somewhere, parks itself there, and waits for you – is the definition of a Robotaxi.

While we’re likely to have to wait for Banish Autopark and Park Seek just a bit longer, Actually Smart Summon being around the corner is exciting! Gone will be the days of having to run out to your car when you forgot your umbrella – your car will just come right to you instead.

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