How Much Does FSD Rely on Map Data? Maybe More Than You Think [Video]

By Karan Singh
Tesla uses a combination of map data and vision data for FSD visualizations
Tesla uses a combination of map data and vision data for FSD visualizations
@ArthurFromX

Tesla’s FSD visualizations are admittedly one of the coolest parts of owning a Tesla. Seeing vehicles all around you on the screen, and watching the car make decisions can be mesmerizing.

However, have you ever wondered exactly how the car generates the visualizations? Is it real-time, or does it rely on map data that is downloaded separately from the vehicle’s firmware?

Map Data

Tesla distributes map data to vehicles worldwide separately from its vehicle firmware versions. This means that the map data updates can have a different tempo than the firmware updates. For instance, some cars on 2024.8.9 (an FSD V11 version from ~3mo ago), as well as cars on 2024.14.7 (an FSD V12 version from just a few days ago) just started receiving the NA-2024.8-14924 map update last week. These updates ensure that vehicles can get the most current information about road layouts, traffic patterns, and other critical driving data.

While FSD can usually work with different map versions, how much does FSD and the in-car visualizations rely on the predefined map data? It obviously uses it for some things such as speed limit, but does it use it more than that? Thanks to user, ArthurFromX on X, we now have a better idea of how much relies on map data.

FSD Visualizations

Tesla’s FSD visualizations rely on a combination of pre-mapped data and real-time information gathered by the cameras. This approach provides both background context (pre-mapped data), as well as real-time context via computer vision.

It all comes together to provide an accurate representation of what the car sees around it, taking into account the width, height, and length of nearby vehicles, curbs, and other objects, such as garbage bins or traffic cones.

A post on X highlighted that FSD visualizations might be more impacted by background data than initially thought. The post mentioned that construction to a local roundabout rendered the visualizations inaccurate, although the car was correctly navigating the lane and making its exit.

This suggests that while real-time data is crucial, the accuracy of pre-mapped data still plays a significant role in the overall effectiveness of FSD visualizations, and perhaps a lesser role in the actual decision-making process of FSD.

FSD Navigation

Of course, these visualizations impact more than just what you see on screen. The mapping data and real-time data provide information on how the vehicle plans its path, and how it makes driving decisions, such as moving into right, or left-turn lanes as required.

Mapping data most likely provides background information, enabling the onboard hardware to process and work on driving the vehicle with an initial idea of where it is and what the road looks like.

In short, map data plays a backseat role to the actual driving of FSD, but does play a bigger role in route decision, as well as providing context and predictions to what the vehicle sees. It seems at the moment that visualizations are based on a combination of map data and camera data the vehicle gathers.

For a complete list of FSD visualizations supported, check out our FSD visualizations page.

Tesla Smoking While Supercharging? A Look at What's Actually Happening

By Karan Singh
Hot_Engineering3140 on Reddit

Winter is here, and temperatures are dropping, so one of the most common Tesla questions is about to resurface.

If you’ve landed here after frantically searching about “smoke” coming from your Tesla while Supercharging, take a deep breath—it’s completely normal.

Tesla Smoking While Charging

If you’re Supercharging in freezing weather—even with preconditioning—you might notice steam rising from your Tesla. But rest assured, your car isn’t smoking.

Your Tesla’s heat pump is hard at work warming both the cabin and battery to keep you comfortable and ensure optimal charging temperatures. Over time, condensation and ice build-up in the heat exchanger coils.

Why Does It Happen?

When you reach a Supercharger with your vehicle, the heat pump is still running hot, but without the cold air from driving to keep the heat exchanger coils cool, the ice and condensation quickly start to evaporate—creating what looks like smoke.

Since this typically happens near the front of the vehicle, where a car would traditionally have an engine, new vehicle owners can be startled by the discovery. However, rest assured that it’s just water vapor and it’s completely normal in cold weather.

In fact, this behavior can be experienced in any EV with a heat pump in cold climates. So, if you saw steam coming out of your vehicle and panicked, don’t worry—you’re not alone.

Now that you know what’s happening, go ahead and Supercharge with confidence.

Tesla Improves YouTube App With Smoother Playback

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla made a lot of improvements in the 2024 Holiday Update, including more than 15 undocumented improvements that were included in the release. One of these was a stealthy performance improvement to the YouTube app.

Several people have mentioned they’ve seen improved performance on YouTube since this year’s Holiday Update - and there’s an interesting reason why.

YouTube Improvements

The improved YouTube performance in Tesla vehicles comes from an unexpected source—Tesla actually rolled back support for YouTube’s newer AV1 video encoding. Instead, vehicles now default to the older VP9 encoding standard.

While AV1 is highly efficient in terms of bandwidth, it requires considerably more processing power to decode and display videos. VP9, on the other hand, is less computationally demanding but uses more bandwidth to achieve the same video quality. This trade-off means smoother playback and better overall performance, even if it comes at the cost of slightly higher data usage.

Intel Inside

The VP9 video codec that the YouTube app is now using is much easier to decode, making it less taxing on the vehicle’s processor. This change is particularly beneficial for Tesla vehicles with Intel processors, which previously struggled to stream video at just 720p. When using AV1, these vehicles often experienced stuttering, sometimes forcing the YouTube app to automatically downgrade playback to 480p.

With this update, Intel-based Teslas should now be able to stream at 1080p smoothly. Streaming at 1440p is also possible, although occasional stutters still occur as the system keeps up with the decoding process.

Intel-based vehicles are the big winners with this change, but this appears to affect AMD Ryzen-based infotainment units as well, providing even smoother playback.

Chromium Web App

Tesla’s Theater apps aren’t native applications; instead, they run as chromeless web apps, leveraging the open-source browser built into Teslas known as Chromium (the open-source version of Chrome). Although this works quite well, there is a severe limitation - Chromium hardware acceleration isn’t supported on Linux, the operating system Tesla uses for their OS.

As a result, Tesla vehicles rely on software decoding instead of hardware decoding, which would otherwise handle video playback far more efficiently. A potential solution could be for Tesla to transition away from Chromium-based web apps in favor of a Mozilla Firefox-based browser, as Firefox does support hardware acceleration on Linux. This switch could also open the door to better streaming performance and the possibility of expanding Tesla’s in-car entertainment options.

However, Tesla’s choice of Chromium likely stems from Digital Rights Management (DRM) requirements for streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix, which rely on DRM-enabled playback. Firefox on Linux has had inconsistent support for DRM due to codec availability and variations in operating system versions.

We’re hopeful that Tesla will either adopt Firefox or develop a fully native application to improve video streaming, rather than continuing with the current web-based Tesla Theater. This shift could also pave the way for additional in-car applications built on Tesla’s native Linux environment—perhaps even reviving the long-rumored Tesla App Store.

Regardless, this update is a welcome improvement, particularly for YouTube, which remains one of the most widely used Theater Mode apps due to its accessibility, free content, and mix of short and long-form videos. It remains to be seen whether similar improvements are made for Netflix, Disney+, or other streaming platforms.

If you’ve noticed improved performance in Theater Mode, now you know why.

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