Tesla Rolls Out GPS Update Improvements In 2020.20.5 OTA Update

Featured Image Credit: Tesla

Tesla has included out a GPS update in its recently-released 2020.20.5 over-the-air update. Based on Tesla’s release notes, the GPS update would improve vehicles’ ability and tracking, which could go a long way in the company’s efforts to roll out more advanced driver-assist features. 

A look at Tesla update tracker TeslaFi shows that the 2020.20.5 update is rolling out to older vehicles such as Model S 85 and Model X 90D units. However, some Model 3 owners have also reported that their vehicle has received the recently-released OTA update. So far, 2020.20.5 has been reported by Tesla owners from North America, Australia, and the United Kingdom. 

Interestingly enough, TeslaFi’s data shows that the 2020.20.5 update is being distributed primarily to vehicles that are equipped with Hardware 1.0, Hardware 2.0, and Hardware 2.5. This suggests that the patch seems to be geared more towards vehicles that were produced before Tesla started rolling out its custom-built Hardware 3.0 computer. 

Credit: Tesmanian

Tesmanian was able to retrieve the release notes of the recent update, specifically the section referring to the new GPS improvements. Following is Tesla’s release notes. 

“We have updated your car’s GPS to improve its stability and tracking. Please note that with this update, the GPS in your car will temporarily recalibrate once after the update, which might cause a few minutes delay in where updating your car’s position is displayed on the map.”

Based on the information from the release notes and the fact that the update is seemingly being rolled out to older vehicles, it appears that 2020.20.5 is designed to level out the performance of Tesla’s fleet, at least to some degree. GPS improvements may seem pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, but they go a long way in contributing to a vehicle’s key functions, such as navigation.

This is especially true when one considers that navigation is key to the rollout of the company’s Full Self-Driving suite. Tesla is currently pushing hard to roll out more features for its FSD suite, which would put the system closer to a feature-complete version. CEO Elon Musk is optimistic about FSD, previously stating that its feature-complete iteration is poised to be released in the near future.