Upgrade in Tesla Autopilot User Interface possible with Unreal Engine integration
Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Visualizations Get a Major Upgrade with Unreal Engine
Tesla has taken a significant step forward in enhancing its in-car user interface, transitioning from the Godot engine to Epic Games' Unreal Engine. This shift, first observed in the Tesla firmware version 2025.20, was discovered in August 2025, initially for AMD-equipped Model S and Model X vehicles.
The move to Unreal Engine aims to provide hyper-realistic renderings and more detailed visualizations of the vehicle’s surroundings. This change could potentially boost driver confidence in Tesla’s semi-autonomous systems and align Tesla’s visualization system with other automakers using Unreal Engine.
Unreal Engine is renowned for its high-fidelity, photorealistic environments and real-time physics, offering greater interactivity and detail than before. The upgrade could lead to more realistic representations of the road and surroundings in Autopilot displays, sharper visuals, smoother animations, and potentially new features like weather simulation.
The transition from the lightweight Godot engine to Unreal Engine is still in its early stages. Activating it on the instrument cluster has proven trickier, but @greentheonly, a well-known Tesla firmware sleuth, has noted that the Unreal Engine-powered visualization is already active on the main screen.
If history is any indication, Tesla will likely continue refining and expanding the upgrade to more vehicles over time. The update also contains multiple personalities for Tesla's in-car Grok AI assistant, suggesting that the expansion of the AI assistant's personalities could offer more customization options for users.
This shift could potentially extend to the entire infotainment system, including navigation and media playback. If fully realized, the upgrade to Unreal Engine could mark Tesla's biggest in-car UI leap in years, making Tesla's in-car UI more similar to high-end video games and simulations. However, Tesla hasn't officially confirmed the switch to Unreal Engine yet.
[1] Electrek. (2025). Tesla's Autopilot visualizations get a major upgrade with Unreal Engine. [Online]. Available at: https://electrek.co/2025/08/19/tesla-autopilot-visualizations-get-a-major-upgrade-with-unreal-engine/
[2] Tesmanian. (2025). Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) visualizations get a major upgrade with Unreal Engine. [Online]. Available at: https://tesmanian.com/tesla-news/teslas-autopilot-and-full-self-driving-fsd-visualizations-get-a-major-upgrade-with-unreal-engine/
[3] Tesla North. (2025). Tesla's Autopilot visualizations get a major upgrade with Unreal Engine. [Online]. Available at: https://www.teslanorth.com/2025/08/teslas-autopilot-visualizations-get-a-major-upgrade-with-unreal-engine
[4] InsideEVs. (2025). Tesla's Autopilot visualizations get a major upgrade with Unreal Engine. [Online]. Available at: https://insideevs.com/news/510454/tesla-autopilot-visualizations-get-a-major-upgrade-with-unreal-engine/
The upgrade to Unreal Engine could revolutionize finance in the automotive industry by providing Tesla with the ability to offer more realistic financial visualizations for its drivers, such as real-time fuel efficiency, energy consumption, and cost analysis.
The collaboration between Tesla and Epic Games in the transportation sector, through the use of Unreal Engine, may facilitate the integration of advanced technology features, potentially paving the way for enhanced autonomous driving capabilities in the future.
