Tesla's cameras around placed strategically around the vehicle
Tesla
In Tesla's mission to shape the future of sustainable transportation, a pivotal part is played by its camera systems. Designed to enhance safety, enable autonomous features, and provide security against threats, these cameras have evolved significantly over the years.
The Evolution of Tesla's Camera Systems: From MobileEye to Hardware 4
Tesla's journey with integrating cameras into their vehicles started post-2014. The early models with the Autopilot 1 (AP1) system used technology from MobileEye, a leader in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).
However, with the arrival of the Model 3 and Model Y and the 2021 redesigned Model S and Model X, the game changed. All these models now feature nine cameras. Fast forward to 2023, some models are now equipped with Hardware 4.0 (HW4), which have eight higher resolution cameras, and reduce the front-facing cameras to two.
Front Cameras
Teslas have three front-facing cameras with HW3 and two with HW 4
Tesla
The front cameras are located at the top of the windshield. They consist of a camera with a typical lens, a wide-angle lens, and a telephoto lens. The telephoto camera can see up to 250 meters ahead according to Tesla, ideal for high-speed Autopilot use, while the main lens covers 150 meters. In addition, the wide-angle lens gives a panoramic-like view for navigation at complex intersections and tight curves.
Rear View Camera
The rearview camera is positioned above the license plate. It provides a view of up to 50 meters behind the vehicle, assisting with parking, reverse driving and reverse automatic emergency braking.
Fender Cameras
Teslas contain a camera on each fender that points toward the rear of the vehicle at about a 45° angle. This allows the vehicle to see vehicles to its side and help monitor the vehicle's blind spots.
These cameras can also be viewed by the driver when using Tesla's blind spot monitor feature, or by enabling the side cameras while in reverse, which displays the reverse camera feed, along with the fender or 'repeater' cameras.
B-Pillar Cameras
Tesla vehicles also include two other side cameras that are found on the B-pillar. Instead of aiming backward like the repeater cameras, these cameras are aimed toward the front of the vehicle. This allows them to capture areas in the front half of the vehicle. These cameras aid with intersections, parking and more. Unfortunately, the video from these cameras can only be viewed while the vehicle is parked and by going to Controls > Service and tapping on 'Preview Cameras'.
Cabin Camera
All current Tesla models include a cabin camera. The camera is located above the rearview mirror and monitors driver attentiveness, especially when Autopilot is in use. You can view the cabin camera onscreen by navigating to Controls > Service > Preview Cabin Camera. You can also view it through the Tesla app if Sentry Mode is enabled and Sentry Mode Live Access is available in your region.
Future Bumper Camera
Looking ahead, newer Tesla models are expected to feature a bumper camera, as seen in the Cybertruck prototypes. Additionally, with hardware 4.0, the cameras have a higher resolution and an anti-glare coating for enhanced visibility.
Functionality Unveiled: The Multifaceted Uses of Tesla's Cameras
Tesla's cameras play a vital role in the advanced features the vehicles are known for. Their primary use is for the Autopilot system and active safety features like Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB). Furthermore, Sentry Mode and Dashcam features use cameras to record potential threats when parked and on the road. In newer models, the cabin camera monitors driver attentiveness to ensure safety during Autopilot use.
View, Access and Calibrate
Tesla now lets you preview all cameras included in your vehicle
Simon
While driving, you can access the rear and fender cameras through the center display. To test or preview other cameras, you can navigate to Controls > Service > Preview Cameras, and then select the camera you'd like to preview at the top of the screen. In addition, through the Tesla app, remote viewing capabilities are available for five of the vehicle's cameras, including the front-facing camera, fender cameras, rear camera, and cabin camera.
If you're noticing issues with your vehicle's cameras, Tesla provides the ability to calibrate them. It's a simple process initiated from the vehicle's touchscreen, although certain features like Autopilot will be unavailable until the process completes.
Confidentiality in Focus: Tesla's Data Privacy Measures
Tesla takes data privacy seriously. For example, the cabin camera doesn't save or transmit data unless data sharing is enabled in your car's settings. For Sentry Mode and Dashcam footage, data is stored locally and can be accessed only by the owner.
Tesla's advanced camera systems play an integral role in enhancing vehicle safety, providing driver-assist features, and creating a robust security layer. However, understanding the function and usage of these cameras is essential for maximizing the benefits. With Tesla continuously innovating, exciting enhancements, like bumper cameras and upgraded hardware, lie on the horizon, promising to take vehicular safety and autonomy to the next level.
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The included changes affect the Camera app, the Dashcam Viewer and Tesla’s blind spot monitoring feature.
Rear Camera
For owners of a refreshed Model Y or original Model Y equipped with AI4, this update brings two improvements to the camera views when reversing.
The backup camera now includes a new toggle button in the top-left corner of the rear camera feed, allowing drivers to switch between the original, narrower view and the newer, wider perspective. When Tesla introduced the wider rear camera in update 2025.14, many users were upset that the view was now further away. Users will now be able to choose their preferred view.
In addition to the new rear camera option, the side camera feeds have also been enlarged to provide a larger field of view.
What’s happening with these changes is that Tesla has uncropped camera views, but they often choose to adjust or crop the camera feed to focus on the most useful areas, making sure that the vehicle’s bumpers and other items don’t occupy unnecessary space. With the changes in this update, Tesla is adjusting the areas of the video that are being cropped.
If you’re interested in what the camera views look like uncropped, you can check out the Camera Previews section in your vehicle that lets you view every raw camera feed.
Another camera improvement is available on update 2025.20.3 for all vehicles that received the updated Dashcam App with AMD Ryzen processors (how to tell if you have Intel or AMD). This includes all Model 3 and Model Y vehicles with AMD Ryzen, as well all 2021+ Model S and Model X vehicles.
When reviewing footage in the Dashcam Viewer app, you can now tap the "expand" button, which looks like two diagonal arrows, to slightly zoom out on the video as it plays. This is a useful feature when trying to get a clearer look at specific details in a Sentry Mode or Dashcam event, such as a license plate, without the hassle of having to export the video file to a computer.
Blind Spot Camera
@max_bracco
Tesla is really focusing on camera improvements with this release. The Blind Spot Camera feature was previously only available whenever the rear view camera on screen. Turning on the rear camera while your blind spot camera view was enabled would cause the blind spot view to disappear. Likewise, if you turned on your turn signal while the Camera app was open, then the blind spot camera feature would not appear.
With this update, Tesla now allows the Camera app and the blind spot camera feature to be used simultaneously.
Dashcam Viewer Multi-Delete
We recently covered another change to the updated Dashcam App in update 2025.20. This undocumented change allows users to delete multiple videos at once for the first time. This is especially useful if you’re trying to clear up room on your Dashcam USB drive. Previously, you had to delete each video individually, whether you were doing it in the vehicle or through the Tesla app.
Update 2025.20 Rolling Out Now
These camera improvements are rolling out as part of software update 2025.20.3. As with all Tesla software updates, it may take several weeks for this to roll out to your particular vehicle.
In addition, it also features 10 new features that didn’t appear in Tesla’s release notes. Join us as we go through all the smaller additions.
Improvements to Heated Steering Wheel
If the steering wheel heater is set to Auto, the steering wheel will now heat up based on the cabin temperature, even if the climate system is set manually.
Previously, the climate system needed to be set to Auto for the steering wheel heater to turn on automatically.
Apple Music Improvements
Gologolum/X
There have been several improvements to Apple Music. Besides shuffling an entire Apple Music playlist instead of just the first 100 songs, Tesla has also improved these other options:
- If you’re listening to one of Apple Music’s curated stations, such as Apple Music 1, the name of the song and artist will now be displayed in the music player instead of the name of the station.
- The latest Apple Music stations, including Apple Música Uno, Apple Music Club, and Apple Music Chill, are now selectable in your Tesla.
Language Support
@rafaelrlevy/X
While other Tesla models support a variety of languages, the Cybertruck was limited to English. With this update, you can now switch the on-screen language, the voice recognition language and navigation language to options available in other Tesla models.
Note: Navigation languages are limited by your map region.
Sentry Mode Improvement
Sentry Mode automatically turns off if the vehicle’s battery falls below a 20% state of charge. However, with this update, Sentry Mode will now automatically come back on if the vehicle is plugged in.
Lane Departure Avoidance Updated to FSD
Not a Tesla App
Tesla appears to be migrating core safety features from the legacy Autopilot stack to the newer FSD stack. Update 2025.14 added Lane Departure Avoidance (LDA) and Lane Assist to the Cybertruck—despite it not supporting Basic Autopilot, which these features were previously based on.
Instead, these features now appear to be based on FSD, which not only means that the Cybertruck can include them but that they’re also based on a newer and much better tech architecture that better understands the environment.
The visualizations have also been changed for these two safety features. Previously, when these features were activated, the visualizations would revert back to Autopilot.
Now, the visualization for LDA will feature a blue line on both sides of the lane marking you’re going over. These changes appear to only affect vehicles with FSD in North America for now. However, they apply to HW3 and HW4 vehicles.
Although vehicles with HW3 are not receiving the B-pillar camera recording for Sentry Mode and Dashcam, they are receiving the improved Dashcam Viewer if they include the AMD Ryzen infotainment chip.
The updated Dashcam Viewer has several new features, including a new grid view that lets you view four cameras at once, making it easier to view what happened during the event.
The updated player now also includes buttons to jump back or forward in 15-second increments, as well as the ability to jump directly to the next clip.
The different camera views are now placed along the bottom instead of at each corner of the video.
Camera App
Not a Tesla App
For HW4 vehicles (how to tell), the Camera app has been updated so that the repeater cameras are now displayed at the top instead of the bottom. Each camera feed is also labeled so that users can more easily identify the rear, left, and right cameras.
In addition, the field of view for the rear camera is now wider, not only in the vehicle but also when viewing the rear camera through the Tesla app.
In regions where km/h is used, Tesla has updated the speedometer to properly reflect km/h instead of KM/H.
Sentry Mode Menu
Not a Tesla App
The Sentry Mode menu has been updated to make it easier to turn on Sentry Mode for a one-time use.
Under Controls > Safety, Tesla now has separate controls to turn on and off Sentry Mode one time (the button with the Sentry Mode icon) and the option to enable Sentry Mode whenever the vehicle is parked.
The exclude home, work and favorites options only show up when you enable Sentry Mode when parked.
Service Mode Release Notes
Not a Tesla App
New Second Row Seats Panel
A new Second Row Seats panel is available to support seats diagnosis. It adds the ability to determine the status of the seat recliner components and perform recliner motor calibrations.
Models: 2025+ Model Y
Connector Reference (Service Mode Plus)
A new Connector Reference panel is available to help find connectors and highlight harnesses on the vehicle. Rotate the 3D model to explore or type in the search bar to find a specific connector.
Models: 2024+ Model 3, 2025+ Model Y
New Guided Headlight Aiming Workflow
A new guided Headlight Aiming workflow is available to assist with adjusting the aim of the headlights. To access the new workflow, tap Controls > Service > Adjust Headlights on the touchscreen User Interface (Ul).
Models: Model 3 and Model Y with DAS HW4 located in the USA and Canada
A Recordings Viewer has been added to the Noise Recording panel. It adds the ability to view and delete recordings that were created using the Noise Recording panel.
Models: Cybertruck
HVAC Panel Updates - Top-Down Cabin View and Thermal
Component Testing
A top-down cabin view and the ability to view the statuses of sensors, temperatures, temperature targets, and mass flows throughout the HVAC system have been added to the HVAC panel.
Models: Cybertruck
Falcon Door Panel Updates - Interactive Ultrasonic Sensor Diagnostic Procedure (Added in 2025.14.3)
An interactive diagnostic procedure has been added to the Falcon Door panel to support ultrasonic sensor false detection diagnosis.
Models: Model X
Update 2025.20
While only a small percentage of the Tesla fleet has started receiving update 2025.20, we’ve already found four features that didn’t appear in the official release notes. This update is fairly small, but some features, such as the ability to delete multiple Sentry Mode videos at once, add some much-needed details.
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