Tesla's Newest Safety Enhancement: Predictive, Vision-Based Seat Belt Tensioning

Tesla makes their cars even safer with seat belt pretensioning

Tesla

Elon Musk used Tesla's quarter two earnings call to highlight several accomplishments made by his company in recent months, including one that may have gone under the radar.

In the 2022.20 update, Tesla introduced a Seat Belt System Enhancement. Musk expanded on the upgrade and its importance to the auto industry.

"Our safety team also introduced a feature that tension seat belts if the vision system detects an imminent collision, which has never been done before," said the CEO as he described the predictive, vision-based seat belt tensioning program.

While the seatbelt is considered the single most effective safety technology in the history of the automobile, it has a fundamental flaw as it only provides tension when there is an impact.

However, Tesla's advanced camera system has made seat belts safer. "The car has got to be crunching to trigger the seatbelt tensioner, but because we have the vision, we can actually see that a collision is about to occur with 100% probability before it actually happens."

Tesla's Q2 document shows a chart that displays the seat belt tension performance in three different scenarios, belted, belted with a pre-tensioner and belted with the vision system. The vision system mirrors the vehicle's deceleration closest and shaves off milliseconds to better restrain the occupants.

Tesla compares seat belt occupant accerlation using various systems

Tesla

"This is a fundamental safety advantage that Teslas are now able to offer. And there is also an over-the-air update, so this is something that will be in place in all cars that have at least AP3 hardware," said Musk. This latest update further enhances its outstanding safety features; it provides a pretension to the seat belt and can adjust the airbag deployment faster.

The Seat Belt System Enhancement is available in update 2022.20 and higher and the feature is available for all newer Teslas, which includes the new Model S and Model X, all Model Ys, and newer Model 3s.

Tesla prides itself on developing the safest vehicles on earth. The Model S, Model X and Model 3 scored the lowest overall probability of injury of any vehicle ever tested by the U.S. government's New Car Assessment Program. The NHTSA has assessed Teslas with a 5-star safety rating. In addition, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has given Teslas the top safety pick numerous times. Most recently, calling the Model 3 the Top Safety Pick of 2022, IIHS gave high marks in every category, including superior scores for front crash prevention.

This latest safety improvement, yet another trailblazing moment for the automotive industry, will surely draw more kudos and, hopefully, save more lives.

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Tesla Increases Price of Model S; Starts Offering Free Lifetime Supercharging

Not a Tesla App

For the first time in quite a while, Tesla has increased the price of one of its vehicle offerings. The Model S Long Range and the Model S Plaid have both received a hefty price increase. However, not all is bad - as Tesla also added a new benefit for buyers.

Price Increase

The price increase for the Model S is $5,000 - currently only in the United States. This price increase will likely impact other markets, including Canada, in the coming days.

The Model S Long Range now starts at $79,990, while the Model S Plaid now starts at $94,990. The Model S and Model X now have the same starting price. Interestingly, that’s also the same pricing point for the Cybertruck AWD and Cyberbeast Trimotor non-Foundation Series. 

The vehicle configuration does not appear to have changed, so the new pricing is simply an increase rather than the addition or removal of features. Tesla previously cut the price of the Model S and Model X by 15% in 2023, so this could simply be an adjustment to ensure that the vehicle pricing stays in line with inflation and other factors.

Free Lifetime Supercharging

For those on the fence about ordering a Model S, Tesla has brought back Free Lifetime Supercharging when you order a new Model S on or after December 13, 2024. As always, Free Lifetime Supercharging is restricted to the buyer’s Tesla account and to that specific vehicle. It cannot be transferred to another vehicle or another owner after ownership transfer. It’s worth noting, that it also doesn’t exclude the owner from receiving Supercharger idle fees or congestion fees. There is currently no end date for this promotion.

There are currently no changes to the Model X, neither a price increase nor the addition of Lifetime Superchargering. However, when Tesla makes changes to one of their premium vehicles, it usually affects the other one as well. So be on the lookout for potential changes to the Model X offering in the coming days.

We’ve seen Tesla value Lifetime Supercharging at $5,000, so this falls in line with the price increase we’re seeing. It’s possible that Tesla will begin to bring back Lifetime Supercharging as a perk for buying into their more premium Model S and Model X cars, or this could be another temporary promotion to get buyers who are on the fence to go ahead and make their purchase while this promotion lasts.

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

Optimus Falls - but catches itself!

Not a Tesla App

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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