Tesla Update Will Offer Waze-like Features, Displaying Accidents, Road Closures and Toll-Free Option

February 20, 2024

By Not a Tesla App Staff

Tesla will add accident and road closure icons to its maps

Fortune

Tesla's navigation system is set to receive some additional capabilities, including some Waze-like features such as displaying accidents on the road. The information, courtesy of our favorite Tesla hacker, Green, details some of his findings when digging into some of the code for software update 2024.2.6. Tesla is not only expanding its map coverage and introducing a new dialect in select regions but also adding accident, and road closure information, as well as a new routing option.

Real-Time Updates: Accident and Road Closure Icons

According to code found in Tesla’s latest update, Tesla will add "accident" and "closed road" icons to its maps. These icons are expected to give drivers near real-time updates on road conditions, allowing them to make informed decisions and avoid delays. This feature, in addition to the previously added icons such as stop signs, traffic lights, and red light speed cameras helps Tesla maps compete with mobile apps that have this information such as Google Maps and Waze.

While Green found references to these new icons in the 2024.2 update, these features are not yet active but are expected to be added in the near future.

Accident and road closure information needs to be timely to be useful so it’s unlikely that Tesla is gathering this data themselves and instead leveraging an existing data provider that already supplies this information to other services. Waze relies on crowd-sourced data, and while possible, it's unlikely that Tesla will rely on driver input to display this information.

Much like stop signs and traffic lights icons, when Tesla introduces these new features they’re expected to require a subscription to Tesla’s Premium Connectivity. While drivers can get some premium connectivity features by using their phone’s hotspot feature, accident and road closure data will likely not be one of them. Similar to traffic data, Tesla will need to pay data providers for this information, which is part of what the premium connectivity fee helps pay for.

More Navigation Options: From Fastest Route to No Tolls

Tesla is also expected to introduce a new route option to its navigation system. Thanks to alternate routes, when adding a destination to the nav system, drivers can now pick from “shortest” and “fastest” routes. However, it appears Tesla is going to expand these options by offering a “no tolls” option in certain situations. Drivers can already force the navigation system to use toll-free roads, but it requires going into settings by tapping Controls > Navigation and choosing avoid tolls. This new option will allow owners to directly compare a toll-free option to the fastest and shortest route options.

While some owners have been looking to have a way to avoid highways, it does not appear that this will be introduced at the same time.

Expanded Maps and Languages: Latin America in Focus

Tesla breaks up its maps into various regions around the world to make them smaller in size. A map region includes detailed maps, routing and language options. With the recent expansion into Chile and Colombia, Tesla will soon introduce a new map region for Latin America. This addition will support Latin American Spanish, offering a local experience for users in the region. The new Latin American Spanish language will likely remain specific to this region and will not be available in other regions such as North America.

Requirements and Availability

While some of these features will require a subscription to Tesla's Premium Connectivity service, priced at $10/month in the US, they will also require drivers to enable Online Routing to view the additional data.

Accident and road closure data and toll options are also expected to be available in limited regions, likely dependent on where Tesla can gather the data.

Interestingly, map and navigation enhancements were on our Holiday Update Wish List, including several items Tesla owners hoped would be part of the big December update. We are more than happy to keep receiving gifts even after the holiday season.

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.