Tesla will be issuing an OTA recall for the seatbelt warning system later this month, according to paperwork that was published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this Friday.
Impacts
This recall is estimated to impact 125,000 vehicles across Tesla’s entire model range, including the Model S, X, 3, and Y. At this time, there is no indication of this recall reaching the Cybertruck.
Relying on the Cabin Camera
The recall addresses the driver occupancy sensor – a known problem since at least 2020 on some vehicles. This recall indicates that it may impact more vehicles than just those where people have noticed an issue.
The sensor completes the circuit and provides a signal when the driver is seated – but with some vehicles, even when the sensor is depressed by the weight of the driver, no visual or audio reminders will be given when the driver’s seatbelt isn’t fastened.
Tesla hacker, Greentheonly recently discovered that Tesla is going to stop relying on the occupancy sensors in its seats, which appears related to this OTA recall.
By relying on the cabin camera, Tesla will not only be able to resolve the occupancy sensor issue, but also reduce costs across their vehicles. Tesla currently use an occupancy sensor for each seat position.
Instead Tesla is expected to use the internal camera to detect occupancy of the seats, similar to their vision-based belt tensioners. Tesla already uses the cabin camera for various tasks, such as detecting whether there are any occupants in the vehicle and for driver monitoring. In FSD 12.4, Tesla is expected to rely more heavily on its driver monitoring system in order to remove the steering wheel nag in most situations.
Advantages of Using the Cabin Camera
Leveraging the cabin camera instead of weight occupancy sensors may actually become an improvement over the sensors that can be triggered accidentally.
If a heavy object or children’s seat is placed on a seat, it can cause the seat belt warning to be triggered incorrectly.
Software Update
This will be an OTA update, which means that as usual, Tesla vehicles will not have to come into service centers. Tesla is changing how the seat belt warning reminder will function – rather than relying on the sensor, it is expected to rely on the cabin camera to trigger the visual and audio warnings if the vehicle is put into drive or reverse and the driver seatbelt isn’t fastened.
There is currently no indication whether this update will be coming to Canada or other regions besides the United States in its initial release, but eventually we expect this change to apply to all regions.
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Tesla has begun to reach out to customers in the United States and is offering demo drives of the Cybertruck on an invite-only basis. @brandonhd on X shared the first invite image, and it looks like it's going out quite quickly to multiple locations that have Cybertrucks on display.
Up until now, display vehicles have been for just that – looking, but no touching. Some Tesla delivery centers and showrooms have also allowed viewers to take a seat inside and open it up, but most are still locked away behind the velvet rope.
It’s exciting to see that Tesla has begun to demo them – and it can only be so long until demo drives open up to everyone.
Advisor-led Demo
This Demo Drive is led by a Tesla Advisor – while you’re driving, the advisor will be in the passenger seat, walking you through the experience. They’ll explain steer-by-wire, off-road controls, and will introduce new-to-Tesla buyers to all the features that are currently available.
The list of locations so far for demo drives appears to be fairly limited, but we will hopefully see demo drives roll out throughout the United States, and eventually Canada too. Here is the current list of city/state locations that have seen demo drive invites.
Actually Smart Summon, the successor to Tesla’s Smart Summon feature, has been confirmed to be coming as soon as next month as per Elon Musk. Colloquially known as “ASS”, Actually Smart Summon is supposed to improve on the regular Smart Summon capabilities, which have historically used ultrasonic sensors (USS) to navigate parking lots.
We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon, and we’re quite excited about what other features will be unlocked once it finally shows up at our doorstep.
Vision-based Improvements
ASS is supposed to bring Smart Summon to vehicles that don’t have USS – using Tesla Vision. Most recently, Tesla has brought Autopark to vehicles without USS, and Vision-based Autopark has been a huge success. It is faster, more reliable, and smoother than the older USS-based solution. It can also park and maneuver in tighter locations.
Today, Smart Summon is sometimes useful at best, usually a party trick, or downright dangerous at worst. It’s excellent and best used in straight lines, where you have a clear line of sight of the vehicle, and can stop it if doesn’t see an obstacle.
I used Smart Summon today, just before writing this article – my 2022 Model Y (with USS) – did manage to show up just fine – in a straight-line location from where I was parked, after exiting the parking spot fairly cleanly. However, I’ve previously used Smart Summon and have had the vehicle turn towards obstacles, such as cart returns or curbs. Overall, it’s a sometimes-useful feature that has a lot of drawbacks right now.
Smart Summon is also restricted to a certain distance – and it's pretty small. The max distance is shorter than most parking lots, being only about 215 ft (65m). If you’re lucky enough to park close, it's very useful to bring your car right to you.
Actually Smart Summon
ASS will bring FSD V12-like capabilities to Smart Summon – the vehicle will primarily use Vision to drive toward you (or the location you’ve indicated). ASS has been supposed to be coming since about September 2022 and has seen many delays – we’re almost at the 2-year point today.
We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon being able to bring the vehicle – safely – right to you. ASS is also one of the key steps towards bringing some other cool features that Elon Musk has previously mentioned – Park Seek and Banish Autopark.
We’re also hopeful that Actually Smart Summon will increase the maximum range a vehicle can be summoned, because the current range is fairly small. Alongside Park Seek and Banish Autopark, we’re closing in on a Robotaxi-based future.
Park Seek and Banish Autopark
When the FSD v12.4 showed up, Elon also mentioned that going forward, vehicles would automatically park themselves when arriving in a parking lot – Park Seek – and that if you got out of the car at the entrance to a business, you could get it to automatically park itself in the parking lot – Banish Autopark. These are two features that are needed for Robotaxi to work – which itself is delayed to October 10th of this year. We’re looking quite forward to them – as in combination with Actually Smart Summon, Tesla has reached the cusp of vehicle autonomy.
A vehicle that arrives, driverless, at the location you’re at, then drives somewhere, parks itself there, and waits for you – is the definition of a Robotaxi.
While we’re likely to have to wait for Banish Autopark and Park Seek just a bit longer, Actually Smart Summon being around the corner is exciting! Gone will be the days of having to run out to your car when you forgot your umbrella – your car will just come right to you instead.
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