The first-gen Model 3 and Model Y will soon have support for their matrix headlights
Not a Tesla App
According to a new document in the EU, Tesla is preparing to enable its matrix headlights on the current Model Y and first-gen Model 3.
The document, dated January 3, 2024, reveals that Tesla is introducing adaptive high-beam support to these vehicles, similar to what they recently released on the new Model 3.
A similar document was leaked in December that showed that Tesla was looking to add adaptive high beams to the new Model 3.
Software Update
In Tesla software update 2024.2, Tesla introduced support for adaptive headlights in their newest vehicle, the new Model 3.
While this was the first Tesla vehicle to receive support for adaptive high beams, it left many vehicle owners wondering whether Tesla would enable support for matrix headlights that have come on vehicles for several years.
Supported Vehicles
According to this document, the approval is only for the Model 3 and Model Y. However, it’s almost certain that the update will also arrive on the Model S and Model X as well, although it could come in a separate, later update.
The first Model X vehicles with matrix headlights were delivered in June/July of 2023, while the Model 3, Model Y, and Model S have had matrix headlights for a longer period. Support on the Model 3 and Model Y has varied by region and model, so the best way to tell whether your vehicle has matrix headlights is to look at them. If you see a large, round projector lens like the image below, your vehicle has the new matrix headlights.
Matrix headlights
Not a Tesla App
Video of Adaptive Headlights on New Model 3
X user m.jr.88 posted a video (below) of his new Model 3 that has support for the new adaptive high beams feature. In the video, you can see how select parts of the road brighten and dim as vehicles approach.
Will It Be Available Outside of the EU?
Headlights play an important role in vehicle safety and therefore adaptive headlights are often highly regulated by safety agencies. Due to the leaked document, it appears the feature will be available across the European Union, however, it’s not immediately clear whether it will be available in other regions at the same time.
In 2022, the NHTSA issued a ruling that automakers could install adaptive headlights in their vehicles. However, there could be specifications that must be followed in the U.S. or another region that could differ from EU requirements.
Tesla would without a doubt want to make this feature available in as many regions as possible; however, potential adaptations may be necessary to align with local market nuances and regulatory requirements. At this time, we would expect matrix headlights to become available in the EU soon, with other potential markets available at the same time or soon thereafter.
Release Date
The original document for the new Model 3 was dated November 8th, 2023, so it was about two months before Tesla introduced the update that enabled adaptive high beams on the 2024 Model 3.
If Tesla follows a similar timeline, we may see support for matrix headlights in the next 4-6 weeks. Tesla could add it as soon as the next major update, which is expected to be version 2024.6 or 2024.8.
Update 2024.2, which includes support for the new Model 3 is still in the early stages of rolling out with only about 1% of Tesla's fleet having access to the update. However, we'll likely see bigger waves roll out in the next couple of weeks.
Adaptive High Beam Release Notes
The release notes for adaptive high beam support in update 2024.2 states that the high beams will now adjust to reduce glare for other drivers and cyclists. It goes on to say that by detecting road users and selectively dimming individual pixels of the headlights, the high beams can remain on longer and provide better visibility.
The new adaptive high beam feature is disabled by default but can be enabled in supported vehicles by going to Lighting > Adaptive High Beam in the vehicle's settings.
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With Tesla’s first major expansion of the Robotaxi Geofence now complete and operational, they’ve been hard at work with validation in new locations - and some are quite the drive from the current Austin Geofence.
Validation fleet vehicles have been spotted operating in a wider perimeter around the city, from rural roads in the west end to the more complex area closer to the airport. Tesla mentioned during their earnings call that the Robotaxi has already completed 7,000 miles in Austin, and it will expand its area of operation to roughly 10 times what it is now. This lines up with the validation vehicles we’ve been tracking around Austin.
Based on the spread of the new sightings, the potential next geofence could cover a staggering 450 square miles - a tenfold increase from the current service area of roughly 42 square miles. You can check this out in our map below with the sightings we’re tracking.
If Tesla decides to expand into these new areas, it would represent a tenfold increase over their current geofence, matching Tesla’s statement. The new area would cover approximately 10% of the 4,500-square-mile Austin metropolitan area. If Tesla can offer Robotaxi services in that entire area, it would prove they can tackle just about any city in the United States.
From Urban Core to Rural Roads
The locations of the validation vehicles show a clear intent to move beyond the initial urban and suburban core and prepare the Robotaxi service for a much wider range of uses.
In the west, validation fleet vehicles have been spotted as far as Marble Falls - a much more rural environment that features different road types, higher speed limits, and potentially different challenges.
In the south, Tesla has been expanding towards Kyle, which is part of the growing Austin-San Antonio suburban corridor spanning Highway 35. San Antonio is only 80 miles (roughly a 90-minute drive) away, and could easily become part of the existing Robotaxi area if Tesla obtains regulatory approval there.
In the East, we haven’t spotted any new validation vehicles. This is likely because Tesla’s validation vehicles originate from Giga Texas, which is located East of Austin. We won’t really know if Tesla is expanding in this direction until they start pushing past Giga Texas and toward Houston.
Finally, there have been some validation vehicles spotted just North of the new expanded boundaries, meaning that Tesla isn’t done in that direction either. This direction consists of the largest suburban areas of Austin, which have so far not been serviced by any form of autonomous vehicle.
Rapid Scaling
This new, widespread validation effort confirms what we already know. Tesla is pushing for an intensive period of public data gathering and system testing in a new area, right before conducting geofence expansions. The sheer scale of this new validation zone tells us that Tesla isn’t taking this slowly - the next step is going to be a great leap instead, and they essentially confirmed this during this Q&A session on the recent call. The goal is clearly to bring the entire Austin Metropolitan area into the Robotaxi Network.
While the previous expansion showed off just how Tesla can scale the network, this new phase of validation testing is a demonstration of just how fast they can validate and expand their network. The move to validate across rural, suburban, and urban areas simultaneously shows their confidence in these new Robotaxi FSD builds.
Eventually, all these improvements from Robotaxi will make their way to customer FSD builds sometime in Q3 2025, so there is a lot to look forward to.
For years, the progress of Tesla’s FSD has been measured by smoother turns, better lane centering, and more confident unprotected left turns. But as the system matures, a new, more subtle form of intelligence is emerging - one that shifts its attention to the human nuances of navigating roads. A new video posted to X shows the most recent FSD build, V13.2.9, demonstrating this in a remarkable real-world scenario.
Toll Booth Magic
In the video, a Model Y running FSD pulls up to a toll booth and smoothly comes to a stop, allowing the driver to handle payment. The car waits patiently as the driver interacts with the attendant. Then, at the precise moment the toll booth operator finishes the transaction and says “Have a great day”, the vehicle starts moving, proceeding through the booth - all without any input from the driver.
If you notice, there’s no gate here at this toll booth. This interaction all happened naturally with FSD.
While the timing was perfect, the FSD wasn’t listening to the conversation for clues (maybe one day, with Grok?) The reality, as explained by Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI, is even more impressive.
It can see the transaction happening using the repeater & pillar cameras. Hence FSD proceeds on its own when the transaction is complete 😎
FSD is simply using the cameras on the side of the vehicle to watch the exchange between the driver and attendant. The neural network has been trained on enough data that it can visually recognize the conclusion of a transaction - the exchange of money or a card and the hands pulling away - and understands that this is the trigger to proceed.
The Bigger Picture
This capability is far more significant than just a simple party trick. FSD is gaining the ability to perceive and navigate a world built for humans in the most human-like fashion possible.
If FSD can learn what a completed toll transaction looks like, it’s an example of the countless other complex scenarios it’ll be able to handle in the future. This same visual understanding could be applied to navigating a fast-food drive-thru, interacting with a parking garage attendant, passing through a security checkpoint, or boarding a ferry or vehicle train — all things we thought that would come much later.
These human-focused interactions will eventually become even more useful, as FSD becomes ever more confident in responding to humans on the road, like when a police officer tells a vehicle to go a certain direction, or a construction worker flags you through a site. These are real-world events that happen every day, and it isn’t surprising to see FSD picking up on the subtleties and nuances of human interaction.
This isn’t a pre-programmed feature for a specific toll booth. It is an emergent capability of the end-to-end AI neural nets. By learning from millions of videos across billions of miles, FSD is beginning to build a true contextual understanding of the world. The best part - with a 10x context increase on its way, this understanding will grow rapidly and become far more powerful.
These small, subtle moments of intelligence are the necessary steps to a truly robust autonomous system that can handle the messy, unpredictable nature of human society.
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