Tesla Adds Water Shield to Rear Camera for 2025 Model 3 and Model Y

Sawyer Merritt/X

Tesla has initiated another minor design revision, this time improving the rear camera on the Model 3 and Model Y. This minor revision adds a protective lip around the camera, providing better shielding against rain, dirt, snow, and general road grime.

The design revision began rolling out for Model Y vehicles from Shanghai first, with the initial vehicles spotted with the revision dated as early as late September 2024. Tesla regularly makes minor design revisions on its vehicles in between model years, in an iterative design process that gradually improves as more and more vehicles are built.

Design Revision

The design revision adds a small shield around the rear camera, including a small lip towards the bottom end. The little lip is likely going to make the biggest difference, as it will help prevent kickback and wash from the tires landing on the camera lens, which can obscure it.

For now, nothing indicates a potential revision including a camera washer—similar to the Cybertruck’s front camera washer. However, given we already know the Model Y Juniper is likely arriving with a front camera, it’ll probably also have a front camera washer.

This lip for the rear camera should be a nice addition, but we’ll have to see just how much of an improvement it provides in the upcoming winter season as the messy, slushy mix arrives in much of the United States and Canada.

3D Printed Accessory

If you’re feeling left out without the new rear camera shield, you’ll soon be able to 3D print and install a similar design. Some entrepreneurial 3D modelers have already started working on making a retrofittable shield for both the HW3 and HW4 rear cameras.

In the meantime, we recommend using ceramic coating on the rear camera to help keep that slush and grime moving when it does hit the camera. A good application of ceramic coating can help prevent buildup on the lens.

Model S and X

For now, we haven’t seen this design revision on more recent Model S and Model X vehicles yet. There were previously rumors of a light refresh for both of the more premium vehicles. However, we haven’t seen any indications of these changes actually seeing the light of day.

Once the refreshes for these two vehicles arrive, we could see more drastic changes. Tesla has also indicated it is waiting to use some of its upcoming new battery cell technology in 2026, so we could be waiting for a while before seeing further updates to the Model S and Model X.

We’ll be looking for both vehicles to receive this design revision. If you spot them, let us know on social media or on our forums.

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Tesla's 2025 Q1 Earnings Call: How to Listen [Stream Links Added]

Not a Tesla App

Tesla is holding its 2025 Q1 earnings call today at 2:30 pm PT / 5:30 pm ET / 9:30 pm UTC. The earnings call will be followed by a Q&A session with Tesla executives, including Elon Musk.

We expect the focus to be on Tesla sales for the quarter, FSD Unsupservised and the Robotaxi network. Tesla may also discuss its upcoming, more affordable model, Optimus, and other products.

Listen Live

The event will be live-streamed on Tesla’s site. It is also expected to be streamed on X and YouTube like it has been in the past. Tesla has changed this from an Earnings Call to a Company Update, but it’s unclear whether the phrase change holds any significance in what will be shared.

Update: You can listen to Tesla’s earnings call live below. If you prefer, you can also listen live on Tesla’s website.

Start Time

Tesla's live stream starts at 2:30 pm PT, which is the following times around the world:

2:30 pm Pacific Time

5:30 pm Eastern Time

10:30 pm UTC

10:30 pm - London, England

11:30 pm - Berlin, Germany

9:30 am (April 23rd) - Sydney, Australia

Q&A Questions

The questions asked during the Q&A portion of the call come directly from investors. These are currently the top-voted questions, so we’ll likely see answers to several of these questions:

1. What are the highest risk items on the critical path to robotaxi launch and scaling?

2. When will FSD unsupervised be available for personal use on personally-owned cars?

3. Is Tesla still on track for releasing “more affordable models” this year? Or will you be focusing on simplified versions to enhance affordability, similar to the RWD Cybertruck?

4. Does Tesla see robotaxi as a winner-take-most market, and as you approach the Austin launch, how do you expect to compare against Waymo’s offering, especially regarding pricing, geofencing and regulatory flexibility?

5. Can you please provide an update on the unboxed method and how that is progressing?

6. How is Tesla positioning itself to flexibly adapt to global economic risks in the form of tariffs, political biases, etc.?

7. Does Tesla still have a battery supply constraint (noted on Q4 ER call) and how does this change w/tariffs?

8. Did Tesla experience any meaningful changes in order inflow rate in Q1 relating to all of the rumors of “brand damage”?

9. Regarding the Tesla Optimus pilot line, could you confirm if it is currently operational? If so, what is the current production rate of Optimus bots per week? Additionally, how might the recent tariffs impact the scalability of this production line moving forward?

10. Robotaxi still on track for this year?’

Look Back at 2025 Q1 Numbers

Most of Tesla’s Q1 deliveries, 323,800 units, were unsurprisingly for the Model 3 and Model Y, while the “Other Models” category (including the Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X) accounted for 12,881 deliveries.

Comparing these numbers to Q1 2024, the Model 3/Y is down about 13%, while the Model S/X and Cybertruck are down about 24%.

In terms of production, Tesla built 345,454 Model 3/Y vehicles and 17,161 from its “Other Models” line. The company attributed the production drop to the Model Y changeover but stated that the ramp is “going well.” However, deliveries and production were both down year over year.

Although Tesla doesn’t officially break down its numbers by region, Troy Teslike, who closely monitors Tesla's delivery and production numbers has provided estimates that show Tesla’s deliveries across regions. Tesla delivered the most vehicles in China this past quarter, so it’ll be interesting to see if this trend continues.

His estimates for the regional break down are below:

We expect a large portion of Tesla’s earnings call to focus on the long-awaited launch of its Robotaxi, and we will hopefully receive an update on its upcoming, more affordable model, which is rumored to be delayed.

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New Castings Spotted at Giga Texas Likely Intended for Tesla Cybercab

@JoeTegtmeyer

Tesla’s Giga Texas factory usually gives us the first site of Tesla’s upcoming products. We first saw the Cybertruck and Model Y castings here. With Giga Texas being one of Tesla’s largest factories, it’s logical that most products would originate here.

Tesla has also stated that it intends to manufacture the Cybercab, Semi, the next-generation vehicle, and Optimus at Giga Texas over the coming years. The affordable vehicle and Cybercab were originally intended to be manufactured at Giga Mexico, but the plans for that facility were waylaid by changes in economic policy.

Robotaxi Castings

These new castings were spotted by Joe Tegtmeyer, who regularly does drone flights of Giga Texas. Joe pointed out that these castings don’t look like the usual Model Y or Cybertruck castings usually seen outside Giga Texas.

With an eagle eye, @minusYCore on X also spotted some interesting text on the frames holding the castings up. In particular, the castings say “RTTX050” and “W68-RSF AS-CAST”. These could be interpreted as ‘Robotaxi Texas’ and ‘Rear SubFrame,’ as Tesla marks Cybertruck castings as “CTTX.” The as-cast portion indicates that these particular castings haven’t been trimmed yet, according to the X user.

The castings laid out.

@JoeTegtmeyer

The size and shape of these castings—combined with rumors that Tesla’s more affordable vehicle has been delayed—suggest that these castings are intended for the Cybercab.

These castings are much flatter and appear to be a different size than the castings found throughout Giga Texas, indicating that they are intended for an entirely different product.

It’s possible that these are the first castings used by Tesla to test their unboxed assembly process, which the Cybercab is expected to rely on. If you take a closer look at the video below, you’ll note that these new castings look very similar to the ones in the unboxed assembly video.

Interestingly, Tesla did say that they don’t intend to have the Cybercab available for customers before late 2026 or early 2027, but we’ll likely hear updated timelines as Tesla’s Q1 2025 Earnings Call tomorrow.

A more vertical look at the castings.

@JoeTegtmeyer

New Giga Presses

To top it all off, new parts for a Giga Press - the machine Tesla uses to make these castings - were also sighted in Texas. These machines are few and far between, and each one is highly specialized for the particular vehicle it produces. Seeing new parts coming in usually indicates that a new assembly line is under construction, or that changes are being made to an existing line to either expand it or update it.

There’s a lot happening and we will hopefully know more tomorrow evening.

New Giga Press parts

@JoeTegtmeyer

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