by Stephen Rivers
- Tesla may switch graphics on AMD-powered Model S and X.
- Update could add interactive, game-like 3D car renderings.
- Rivian, Ford, Volvo, Lotus, and GMC already use Unreal Engine.
Tesla owners are about to get a big upgrade in their cabins. A hacker says that the automaker is about to switch from one set of visuals to another. The new set of graphics could be akin to some of the most impressive video games on the market today. Notably, it would also mean that Tesla is following the lead of brands like Rivian, Volvo, and Ford.
Unreal Engine is a 3D creation tool built by Epic Games, and as the name suggests, it’s largely used in video game development. In recent years, it’s become more of a mainstay in other areas of the world, and if a new report is correct, soon it’ll also be in Teslas. Long-time hacker GreenTheOnly revealed updates to code that indicate Unreal Engine graphics are coming soon to Model S and Model X.
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“Tesla is adding Unreal Engine-based AP viz (the one you see today is Godot-based). The binaries are already shipping, starting from firmware 2025.20 only on AMD-based S and X cars for now,” he said in a post on X. After a bit of work, he managed to get the system working on the main infotainment screen.
It appears as though users will have the freedom to interact with the car graphic, spin it around, and open and close certain bits. We fully expect these same graphics to end up in the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (Supervised) displays as well. One fan created what they expect it to look like, and you can see it below.
Cannot wait for tesla FSD Unreal Engine visual updates. Ray tracing on hw4 is gonna be bomb. pic.twitter.com/CD89WSCS7h
Interestingly, Tesla isn’t leading the way or breaking new ground here. Rivian, Ford, Lotus, Volvo, and GMC all use Unreal Engine already, says The Verge. In fact, many will remember that GMC highlighted the technology during the launch of the Hummer EV. It’s a main part of how the large pickup displays mode changes, status updates, and other general information. Considering how good the display looks, it will probably be a welcome addition for Tesla users in the near future.
Ok, I am having a bit of trouble getting unreal engine to activate on the cluster, but it looks like on the main screen the car avatar is also controlled by it.
Now you can interact with it and it's getting somewhat more detailed.
See the example: pic.twitter.com/6lpXr6BK0K