Tesla to Add Waze-like Reporting, Supercharger Congestion Fees, Better Alternate Routes, Autodial 911

Tesla to enhance it's alternate routes feature in an upcoming update

@TeslaRedThunder

When @greentheonly "peeks" into Tesla firmware, we pay attention. The well-known Tesla hacker has alerted us to changes for years. While sometimes he provides deep analysis of what he finds, other times it can be as simple as a few words that cause the Tesla community to go down the rabbit hole. The latest revelations found in the 2023.38 software update, reveal some enticing upcoming enhancements.

Supercharger Congestion Fees

Tesla cleverly addresses Supercharger availability concerns by bringing congestion fees for those charging beyond 80% at busy stations. This is a way to optimize station usage and a countermeasure against users extending their charge to dodge idle fees. With this change, Tesla promotes efficient Supercharger use, ensuring more users can access them when needed.

Object-on-Road Detection & Communication

Tesla's vision system is set to redefine real-time road awareness. Taking a leaf out of Waze's playbook but enhancing it significantly, Tesla will employ its cars as the sensors to feed the rest of the fleet in the area. When a Tesla detects an obstacle or hazard, other Teslas will promptly display the hazard on the map. This leap in connectivity leapfrogs apps like Waze which requires users to input road construction or hazards manually through the app.

Such a feature synergizes with the recent Emergency Safety Solutions, Inc. partnership. This company developed the recently enhanced hazard light pattern system on Tesla models. But it also has the Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol (HELP) software. It is primed to send digital signals to pre-warn drivers of looming hazards.

Every seven minutes, a disabled vehicle is involved in a crash on American roads. An alarming 15,000 injuries or fatalities annually. Given the startling statistics around crashes involving stationary vehicles, Tesla's adoption of HELP is a monumental stride towards safer roads.

Dynamic Alternate Route Suggestions

An upcoming software update will dynamically offer alternate route suggestions. Building on last year's introduction of an alternate route feature, Tesla drivers will be kept consistently informed about potential route changes, reminiscent of the dynamic route updates offered by Google Maps.

Autodial Emergency Services

Safety remains paramount for Tesla. According to Green's findings, Tesla is also looking to introduce an option to autodial 911 if an airbag deploys. In places where e-call isn't mandated, the system can tap into a connected phone via Bluetooth, ensuring that help is always a button away, irrespective of the region.

Release Date

While these features were found in decompiled code in the 2023.38 update, they are still a work in progress and need further development before they're made available. While it's possible that Tesla is already testing some of the features internally, it's also possible that they'll scrap one or more of these features.

Thanks to Green's casual peek behind the curtain, many of us will be anxiously awaiting Tesla's next update and upcoming holiday release.

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

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.

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

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.

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