Firmware
Tesla short-sellers up in arms over latest Autopilot Traffic Light update
Since the early days of the original Roadster, Tesla has been a company that warrants equal amounts of optimism and pessimism. As the company grew and remained resilient, it also started gaining a lot of sincere support from enthusiasts and outright hate from critics. Examples of the latter have become particularly evident following the release of Autopilot’s Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control feature.
Tesla’s Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control has only started rolling out to the company’s fleet of eligible vehicles. The feature’s wide release is pretty much identical to the iteration rolled out to members of Tesla’s Early Access Program. This meant that cars would stop when a stoplight is encountered, regardless of what light is on. If the green light is on, drivers are required to push down the gear selector or press on the accelerator to instruct the vehicle to move forward.
As could be seen in real-world demonstrations of the feature, Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control works well provided that drivers are paying full attention to the road. Tesla warns drivers of stop signs ahead, which gives owners enough time to instruct their cars to move forward. As with all of Tesla’s other driver-assist features like Navigate on Autopilot, Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control is bound to get better after receiving updates. Tesla mentioned this in the feature’s Release Notes: “Over time, as we learn from the fleet, the feature will control more naturally,” Tesla wrote.
Such a system does not sit well with Tesla’s harshest critics on social media. Tesla and Elon Musk attracts avid fans and rabid critics, and some have actually done dangerous things in the past, all in the name of the anti-Tesla cause. It is then unsurprising to see Tesla critics up in arms following the release of Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control. The criticisms were varied. Some argued that the feature is fraudulent since it does not work as advertised. Others stated that it was extremely dangerous since Tesla drivers will be stopping at green lights now. Amidst all these, there are some that take things a bit farther.
Tesla critic and proud TSLAQ member @daltonnyuphilo1, for one, stated that with such a dangerous feature being deployed on the road today, it is now a matter of moral obligation to sabotage Tesla’s efforts. “Sabotaging Tesla self-driving cars so that they no longer can take the road is a moral obligation,” he wrote, while also suggesting that Teslas should be “destroyed or sequestered completely.” Strangely enough, this is not the first time Tesla critics and short-sellers promoted such dangerous ideas.
During the lead up to Tesla’s Autonomy Day last year, reports were abounding that the electric car maker was planning on holding a demonstration of its full self-driving system. In response, a number of Tesla critics and short-sellers proposed that TSLAQ members try to crash the company’s FSD test car to see if it really is prepared for real-world scenarios. Disturbingly enough, avid TSLAQ member and California resident Randeep Hothi seemed to have taken the suggestions to heart, stalking Tesla employees who were testing FSD on the road in a Model 3 test car.
Just as suggested by short-sellers and critics, Hothi performed several maneuvers in his Honda Accord that were deemed threatening by the Tesla employees. In one instance, Hothi drove so erratically and swerved so close to the Model 3 test car that the Tesla staff actually called the police to report the incident.
A look at forums dedicated to Tesla critics and Twitter threads populated by short-sellers shows something very interesting. Despite the irony in the entire situation, critics seem to be able to reconcile the allegations that Tesla’s Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control is nothing but a fake feature propagated by Elon Musk and AI Director Andrej Karpathy, together with the accusations that the function (which should not exist because it’s fake) is too dangerous and must be taken off the road. Is it possible that this is a case of mental gymnastics? Perhaps, but we’d have to take some time to see.
In the meantime, one can simply hope that no Tesla critic actually follows through with any sabotaging plans. That will likely result in legal action, or worse, injuries on the road.
It appears that Tesla may be preparing to roll out some subscription-based services soon. Based on the observations of a Wales-based Model 3 owner who performed some reverse-engineering on the Tesla mobile app, it seems that the electric car maker has added a new “Subscribe” option beside the “Buy” option within the “Upgrades” tab, at least behind the scenes.
A screenshot of the new option was posted in the r/TeslaMotors subreddit, and while the Tesla owner in question, u/Callump01, admitted that the screenshot looks like something that could be easily fabricated, he did submit proof of his reverse-engineering to the community’s moderators. The moderators of the r/TeslaMotors subreddit confirmed the legitimacy of the Model 3 owner’s work, further suggesting that subscription options may indeed be coming to Tesla owners soon.
Did some reverse engineering on the app and Tesla looks to be preparing for subscriptions? from r/teslamotors
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite has been heavily speculated to be offered as a subscription option, similar to the company’s Premium Connectivity feature. And back in April, noted Tesla hacker @greentheonly stated that the company’s vehicles already had the source codes for a pay-as-you-go subscription model. The Tesla hacker suggested then that Tesla would likely release such a feature by the end of the year — something that Elon Musk also suggested in the first-quarter earnings call. “I think we will offer Full Self-Driving as a subscription service, but it will be probably towards the end of this year,” Musk stated.
While the signs for an upcoming FSD subscription option seem to be getting more and more prominent as the year approaches its final quarter, the details for such a feature are still quite slim. Pricing for FSD subscriptions, for example, have not been teased by Elon Musk yet, though he has stated on Twitter that purchasing the suite upfront would be more worth it in the long term. References to the feature in the vehicles’ source code, and now in the Tesla mobile app, also listed no references to pricing.
The idea of FSD subscriptions could prove quite popular among electric car owners, especially since it would allow budget-conscious customers to make the most out of the company’s driver-assist and self-driving systems without committing to the features’ full price. The current price of the Full Self-Driving suite is no joke, after all, being listed at $8,000 on top of a vehicle’s cost. By offering subscriptions to features like Navigate on Autopilot with automatic lane changes, owners could gain access to advanced functions only as they are needed.
Elon Musk, for his part, has explained that ultimately, he still believes that purchasing the Full Self-Driving suite outright provides the most value to customers, as it is an investment that would pay off in the future. “I should say, it will still make sense to buy FSD as an option as in our view, buying FSD is an investment in the future. And we are confident that it is an investment that will pay off to the consumer – to the benefit of the consumer.” Musk said.
Tesla has started rolling out update 2020.36 this weekend, introducing a couple of notable new features for its vehicles. While there are only a few handful of vehicles that have reportedly received the update so far, 2020.36 makes it evident that the electric car maker has made some strides in its efforts to refine its driver-assist systems for inner-city driving.
Tesla is currently hard at work developing key features for its Full Self-Driving suite, which should allow vehicles to navigate through inner-city streets without driver input. Tesla’s FSD suite is still a work in progress, though the company has released the initial iterations of key features such Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control, which was introduced last April. Similar to the first release of Navigate on Autopilot, however, the capabilities of Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control were pretty basic during their initial rollout.
2020.36 Showing Speed Limit Signs in Visualization from r/teslamotors
With the release of update 2020.36, Tesla has rolled out some improvements that should allow its vehicles to handle traffic lights better. What’s more, the update also includes a particularly useful feature that enables better recognition of speed limit signs, which should make Autopilot’s speed adjustments better during use. Following are the Release Notes for these two new features.
Green Traffic Light Chime
“A chime will play when the traffic light you are waiting for turns green. If you are waiting behind another car, the chime will play once the car advances unless Traffic-Aware Cruise Control or Autosteer is active. When Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control is activated, a chime will play when you can confirm to proceed through a green traffic light. To enable, tap Controls > Autopilot > Green Traffic Light Chime.
“Note: This chime is only designed as a notification. It is the driver’s responsibility to observe their environment and make decisions accordingly.”
Speed Assist Improvements
“Speed Assist now leverages your car’s cameras to detect speed limit signs to improve the accuracy of speed limit data on local roads. Detected speed limit signs will be displayed in the driving visualization and used to set the associated Speed Limit Warning.
“As usual, to adjust Speed Assist settings, tap Controls > Autopilot > Speed Limit.”
Footage of the new green light chime in action via @NASA8500 on Twitter ✈️ from r/teslamotors
Amidst the rollout of 2020.36’s new features, speculations were abounding among Tesla community members that this update may include the first pieces of the company’s highly-anticipated Autopilot rewrite. Inasmuch as the idea is exciting, however, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that this was not the case. While responding to a Tesla owner who asked if the Autopilot rewrite is in “shadow mode” in 2020.36, Musk responded “Not yet.”
Tesla has rolled out a free three-month trial subscription to Sirius XM, in what appears to be the company’s latest push into making its vehicles’ entertainment systems more feature-rich. The new Sirius XM offer will likely be appreciated by owners of the company’s vehicles, especially considering that the service is among the most popular satellite radios in the country today.
Tesla announced its new offer in an email sent on Monday. An image that accompanied the communication also teased Tesla’s updated and optimized Sirius XM UI for its vehicles. Following is the email’s text.
“Beginning now, enjoy a free, All Access three-month trial subscription to Sirius XM, plus a completely new look and improved functionality. Our latest over-the-air software update includes significant improvements to overall Sirius XM navigation, organization, and search features, including access to more than 150 satellite channels.
“To access simply tap the Sirius XM app from the ‘Music’ section of your in-car center touchscreen—or enjoy your subscription online, on your phone, or at home on connected devices. If you can’t hear SiriusXM channels in your car, select the Sirius XM ‘Subscription’ tab for instruction on how to refresh your audio.”
Tesla has actually been working on Sirius XM improvements for some time now. Back in June, for example, Tesla rolled out its 2020.24.6.4 update, and it included some optimizations to its Model S and Model X’s Sirius XM interface. As noted by noted Tesla owner and hacker @greentheonly, the source code of this update revealed that the Sirius XM optimizations were also intended to be released to other areas such as Canada.
Interestingly enough, Sirius XM is a popular feature that has been exclusive to the Model S and X. Tesla’s most popular vehicle to date, the Model 3, is yet to receive the feature. One could only hope that Sirius XM integration to the Model 3 may eventually be included in the future. Such an update would most definitely be appreciated by the EV community, especially since some Model 3 owners have resorted to using their smartphones or third-party solutions to gain access to the satellite radio service.
The fact that Tesla seems to be pushing Sirius XM rather assertively to its customers seems to suggest that the company may be poised to roll out more entertainment-based apps in the coming months. Apps such as Sirius XM, Spotify, Netflix, and YouTube, may seem quite minor when compared to key functions like Autopilot, after all, but they do help round out the ownership experience of Tesla owners. In a way, Sirius XM does make sense for Tesla’s next-generation of vehicles, especially the Cybertruck and the Semi, both of which would likely be driven in areas that lack LTE connectivity.
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