An In-Depth Look at Tesla's New Traffic Lights and Speed Camera Icons: All Possible Icons and What They Mean

December 20, 2023

By Kevin Armstrong

New map icons

Not a Tesla App

Tesla’s latest software update, version 2023.44.30.4. improves Tesla maps by integrating icons for traffic lights, stop signs and more directly onto the map.

The new icons help drivers be more aware of what their route looks like and what’s coming up next, potentially warning them of hidden stop signs or speed cameras.

All Icons And Their Meanings

There’s a lot more to this feature than just displaying traffic lights and stop signs. Tesla is displaying a large array of various conditions. According to Greentheonly, Tesla is displaying up to 11 different icons on its maps. The various icons you may see include:

Average Speed Camera - Instead of recording your speed at a specific moment in time, these systems use two or more cameras to determine your average speed between two points. If your average speed is higher than the speed limit, then you were speeding and may be ticketed.

Caution Lights - It’s not clear what this icon represents, but it may be used to identify flashing yellow lights

Construction - An icon that alerts you of recent construction areas

Danger Zone - A danger zone is defined by local law and provided by the local government. It’s only available in select regions.

Fixed Speed Camera - Fixed speed cameras capture a vehicle’s speed at a specific location.

Mobile Speed Camera - A mobile speed camera is when a speed camera is mounted to a vehicle instead of being a part of the city structure.

Police - An icon that may display the location of police or police departments

Red Light Speed Camera - A red light speed camera is usually mounted on traffic lights or near the intersection. The camera aims to capture the license plate of any vehicles crossing the intersection if the light has turned red.

Speed Camera (generic) - This appears to be a generic icon for speed cameras on the map. It’s possibly used if Tesla doesn’t know the type of speed camera at the location.

Stop Sign - A traditional stop sign. It’d be a great addition if Tesla could include whether the intersection has a stop sign in all directions or if the crossing street doesn’t stop.

Traffic Light - A traffic light with more than one light

The actual icons available and displayed are dependent on your region. Not all icons are available in all regions.

Data and Requirements

Unfortunately, this feature is not available to everyone. It’s limited to specific regions where the data is available (check out our release notes to see if it’s available in your region). However, it also requires owners to subscribe to Tesla’s Premium Connectivity service at $10/month in the US. Contrary to some other information going around, this feature does not require the latest map data.

Although it does require drivers to have Online Routing enabled to view this new data. To activate or see if you have online routing enabled, you can go to Controls > Navigation and confirm Online Routing is turned on.

While Tesla can determine traffic lights and stop signs using machine learning, they’re likely buying this additional data through an existing provider, which is why they’re requiring Premium Connectivity to use it.

How and When Icons are Displayed

The new icons are only displayed along your route and not on adjacent streets. This helps keep the display clean and easy to read, however, it could be useful to know where other traffic lights and stop signs are located when trying to find a faster route.

The icons on the map also disappear as you approach the item. So any traffic lights or speed cameras you recently passed are no longer displayed.

Tesla will also warn you about upcoming speed cameras above the next turn module.

You can now view stop signs, traffic lights and speed camera locations along your route

DirtyTesla / TeslaRedThunder

Future Enhancements

Besides enhanced awareness of your surroundings and upcoming situations, these icons could also be used to aid in driving directions. Navigation system directions could sometimes be clearer and knowing where stop signs and traffic lights are could be an aid used in voice guidance. For example, instead of saying turn left onto Main St, it could use a traffic light as guidance and say turn left at the traffic light, or your destination will be on the right after the stop sign.

This is not something Tesla currently does, but this information leaves the door open for future enhancements.

Tesla Increases Price of Model S; Starts Offering Free Lifetime Supercharging

December 14, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

For the first time in quite a while, Tesla has increased the price of one of its vehicle offerings. The Model S Long Range and the Model S Plaid have both received a hefty price increase. However, not all is bad - as Tesla also added a new benefit for buyers.

Price Increase

The price increase for the Model S is $5,000 - currently only in the United States. This price increase will likely impact other markets, including Canada, in the coming days.

The Model S Long Range now starts at $79,990, while the Model S Plaid now starts at $94,990. The Model S and Model X now have the same starting price. Interestingly, that’s also the same pricing point for the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast Trimotor non-Foundation Series.

The vehicle configuration does not appear to have changed, so the new pricing is simply an increase rather than the addition or removal of features. Tesla previously cut the price of the Model S and Model X by 15% in 2023, so this could simply be an adjustment to ensure that the vehicle pricing stays in line with inflation and other factors.

Free Lifetime Supercharging

For those on the fence about ordering a Model S, Tesla has brought back Free Lifetime Supercharging when you order a new Model S on or after December 13, 2024. As always, Free Lifetime Supercharging is restricted to the buyer’s Tesla account and to that specific vehicle. It cannot be transferred to another vehicle or another owner after ownership transfer. It’s worth noting, that it also doesn’t exclude the owner from receiving Supercharger idle fees or congestion fees. There is currently no end date for this promotion.

There are currently no changes to the Model X, neither a price increase nor the addition of Lifetime Superchargering. However, when Tesla makes changes to one of their premium vehicles, it usually affects the other one as well. So be on the lookout for potential changes to the Model X offering in the coming days.

We’ve seen Tesla value Lifetime Supercharging at $5,000, so this falls in line with the price increase we’re seeing. It’s possible that Tesla will begin to bring back Lifetime Supercharging as a perk for buying into their more premium Model S and Model X cars, or this could be another temporary promotion to get buyers who are on the fence to go ahead and make their purchase while this promotion lasts.

Tesla’s Optimus Robot Learns to Walk Without Vision [VIDEO]

December 13, 2024

By Karan Singh

Optimus Falls - but catches itself!

Not a Tesla App

Tesla recently showed off a demo of Optimus, its humanoid robot, walking around in moderately challenging terrain—not on a flat surface but on dirt and slopes. These things can be difficult for a humanoid robot, especially during the training cycle.

Daily walks help clear your mind pic.twitter.com/dUsW58trS6
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 9, 2024

A Look Behind the Curtain

Most interestingly, Milan Kovac, VP of Engineering for Optimus, clarified what it takes to get Optimus to this stage. Let’s break down what he said.

Optimus is Blind

Optimus is getting seriously good at walking now - it can keep its balance over uneven ground - even while walking blind. Tesla is currently using just the sensors, all powered by a neural net running on the embedded computer.

Essentially, Tesla is building Optimus from the ground up, relying on as much additional data as possible while it trains vision. This is similar to how they train FSD on vehicles, using LiDAR rigs to validate the vision system’s accuracy. While Optimus doesn’t have LiDAR, it relies on all those other sensors on board, many of which will likely become simplified as vision takes over as the primary sensor.

Today, Optimus is walking blind, but it’s able to react almost instantly to changes in the terrain underneath it, even if it falls or slips.

What’s Next?

Next up, Tesla AI will be adding vision to Optimus - helping complete the neural net. Remember, Optimus runs on the same overall AI stack as FSD - in fact, Optimus uses an FSD computer and an offshoot of the FSD stack for vision-based tasks.

Milan mentions they’re planning on adding vision to help the robot plan ahead and improve its walking gait. While the zombie shuffle is iconic and a little bit amusing, getting humanoid robots to walk like humans is actually difficult.

There’s plenty more, too - including better responsiveness to velocity and direction commands and learning to fall and stand back up. Falling while protecting yourself to minimize damage is something natural to humans - but not exactly natural to something like a robot. Training it to do so is essential in keeping the robot, the environment around it, and the people it is interacting with safe.

We’re excited to see what’s coming with Optimus next because it is already getting started in some fashion in Tesla’s factories.