Tesla to Remove Window Auto-Close Features Due to New Regulations

Auto-close windows feature is being removed from Tesla vehicles

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An updated Federal regulation from the NHTSA no longer allows for auto-close windows via the car or an app, among other features.

Tesla owners took to social media to share their frustration of their vehicles missing the set-it-and-forget-it auto-close window features.

Twitter user and Tesla owner @Tommyf902 reached out to Tesla Service to get additional information about the issue. Tesla Service responded, “Due to recent federal regulations, certain automatic window features will not be available until further development.”

The features that Tesla Service are referring to include:

• Rolling window(s) up/down with physical switches unless the vehicle’s brake pedal has been pressed
• Venting/closing the windows via the Tesla mobile app
• Automatically closing the windows once the vehicle has locked
• Automatically closing the windows when the vehicle is in Car Wash Mode

Tesla service responds to @Tommyf902 about his window auto-close feature being unavailable

@Tommyf902/Twitter

Although not specifically mentioned by Tesla Service, this will likely limit the movement of the windows during Tesla's Light Show feature as well.

This updated safety guidance by the NHTSA isn’t just restricted to windows, either. It also applies to roof panel systems and partitions.

“This standard applies to passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, and trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 kilograms or less. This standard's inadvertent actuation performance requirements of S6(a) need not be met for vehicles manufactured before October 1, 2008. The standard's pull-to-close switch operability requirements of S6(c) need not be met for vehicles manufactured before October 1, 2010.”

The operation of a power-operated window, partition, or roof panel system may only be closed when the vehicle’s engine is set to “ON,” “START,” or “ACCESSORY” position; by “muscular force unassisted by vehicle supplied power”; or upon continuous activation of a locking system on the exterior of the vehicle, among others. In Tesla Service’s message to Tommy, the wording said “until further development.”

Availability in the Future

The code of federal regulation does state that a window can be opened remotely if the device is pressed continuously and is no more than 6 meters (19.5 feet) away from the vehicle, although it can not be capable of closing the window or partition. There are also some exceptions based on the window's ability to detect force. According to the regulation, the window would need to be capable of stopping and reversing direction if it exerts a force equal to 100 newtons or more.

New Teslas are already being delivered without the ability to remotely close windows, so it sounds like Tesla may not have a solution that meets regulations, at least not yet. Tesla may be working on a solution or waiting for updated guidance from the NHTSA. So while the feature may not currently be available now, Tesla may roll out a fix or workaround to the problem.

Update: As pointed out by one of our readers, it looks like the federal regulations that Tesla service is referring to may be different than those linked in this article. Those regulations do not appear to have changed in recent years. It's not clear whether this will affect current vehicles, but we should know more soon as Tesla is expected to release the next major update in the next two weeks.

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

Optimus Falls - but catches itself!

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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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Is Tesla Close to Licensing FSD? GM Quits Cruise, BMW Praises Tesla

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In a relatively surprising move, GM announced that it is realigning its autonomy strategy and prioritizing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) over fully autonomous vehicles.

GM is effectively closing Cruise (autonomous) and focusing on its Super Cruise (ADAS) feature. The engineering teams at Cruise will join the GM teams working on Super Cruise, effectively shuttering the fully autonomous vehicle business.

End of Cruise

GM cites that “an increasingly competitive robotaxi market” and “considerable time and resources” are required for scaling the business to a profitable level. Essentially - they’re unable to keep up with competitors at current funding and research levels, putting them further and further behind.

Cruise has been offering driverless rides in several cities, using HD mapping of cities alongside vehicles equipped with a dazzling array of over 40 sensors. That means that each cruise vehicle is essentially a massive investment and does not turn a profit while collecting data to work towards Autonomy.

Cruise has definitely been on the back burner for a while, and a quick glance at their website - since it's still up for now - shows the last time they officially released any sort of major news packet was back in 2019. 

Competition is Killer

Their current direct competitor - Waymo, is funded by Google, which maintains a direct interest in ensuring they have a play in the AI and autonomy space.

Interestingly, this news comes just a month after Tesla’s We, Robot event, where they showed off the Cybercab and the Robotaxi network, as well as plans to begin deployment of the network and Unsupervised FSD sometime in 2025. Tesla is already in talks with some cities in California and Texas to launch Robotaxi in 2025.

GM Admits Tesla Has the Right Strategy

As part of the business call following the announcement, GM admitted that Tesla’s end-to-end and Vision-based approach towards autonomy is the right strategy. While they say Cruise started down that path, they’re putting aside their goals towards fully autonomous vehicles for now and focusing on introducing that tech in Super Cruise instead.

NEWS: GM just admitted that @Tesla’s end-to-end approach to autonomy is the right strategy.

“That’s where the industry is pivoting. Cruise had already started making headway down that path. We are moving to a foundation model and end-to-end approach going forward.” pic.twitter.com/ACs5SFKUc3

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 10, 2024

With GM now focusing on Super Cruise, they’ll put aside autonomy and instead focus solely on ADAS features to relieve driver stress and improve safety. While those are positive goals that will benefit all road users, full autonomy is really the key to removing the massive impact that vehicle accidents have on society today.

In addition, Super Cruise is extremely limited, cannot brake for traffic controls, and doesn’t work in adverse conditions - even rain. It can only function when lane markings are clear, there are no construction zones, and there is a functional web connection. 

The final key to the picture is that the vehicle has to be on an HD-mapped and compatible highway - essentially locking Super Cruise to wherever GM has time to spend mapping, rather than being functional anywhere in a general sense, like FSD or Autopilot.

Others Impressed - Licensing FSD

Interestingly, some other manufacturers have also weighed into the demise of Cruise. BMW, in a now-deleted post, said that a demo of Tesla’s FSD is “very impressive.” There’s a distinct chance that BMW and other manufacturers are looking to see what Tesla does next. 

BMW chimes in on a now-deleted post. The Internet is forever, BMW!

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It seems that FSD has caught their eyes after We, Robot - and that the demonstrations of FSD V13.2 online seem to be the pivot point. At the 2024 Shareholder Meeting earlier in the year, Elon shared the fact that several manufacturers had reached out, looking to understand what was required to license FSD from Tesla.

There is a good chance 2025 will be the year we’ll see announcements of the adoption of FSD by legacy manufacturers - similar to how we saw the surprise announcements of the adoption of the NACS charging standard.

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