Since the beginning of 2019, the French Tesla driver TeslaStars has kept a regularly updated list of software innovations that his Model 3 gets via over-the-air updates on Twitter. This week excitedly reported the latest release 2022.24.6, which Tesla offers portable driver profiles in the cloud, for example. Initially unnoticed, the Model 3’s radar sensor was also deactivated, which necessitated some limitations.
Back to the future of Tesla
In the spring of 2021, CEO Elon Musk announced that the future of self-driving at Tesla lies in “seeing only,” that is, in evaluating camera images alone. Shortly thereafter, the radar sensor that was at the forefront of all Tesla Model 3 and Model Y models for the USA was removed, later followed by the Model S, Model X and the rest of the world. With software from version 2020.20.9, older Teslas are now also beginning to be converted to “see-only”, as is the case with TeslaStars, which sooner or later should reach all owners.
But for now, this is a step backwards. For example, owners of the newly produced Model 3 and Model Y without radar in Germany have already begun to mock the Vision-based autopilot system, because without a camera, the automatic windshield wipers must be activated. However, they are at times overzealous, earning Tesla to “just eliminate” corruption. The assistant high beam, which Norwegian YouTuber Bjorn Nyland complained about for about 20 minutes in a recent Tesla test, is also energizing itself. At least autopilot support can be turned off.
Well, I have a Tesla Vision now. May a little, at night. It is definitely smoother than the radar especially when decelerating to match the speed of the car ahead or when stopping at a traffic light 🚦
He does new weird things, like hesitating to pass a car on a divided highway 🛣🤔 https://t.co/mFTRjLpBdH pic.twitter.com/d17yAufHg5
– TeslaStars ✨🇺🇦🕊❤️👀 (TeslaStars) September 1, 2022
Not initially secured by TeslaStars, but successfully verified, the Vision-only Autopilot also means the automatic steering’s maximum speed is limited to 140 km/h instead of 150 km/h as before with the additional radar sensor. Additionally, you can no longer set the distance to the vehicle in front of you as low as 1. Tesla’s maximum speed has already been raised from 130 km/h since the Vision was introduced. According to Tesla’s page about the change, a full restoration of the previous autopilot range should take place “in the coming weeks.”
Autopilot’s vision is smoother and weirder
The current version of Vision software does not appear to have any real advantages. TeslaStars report a smoother ride than before with the radar, but there are also new anomalies such as hesitation when overtaking in a double lane. He was also surprised that Tesla somehow hid from him the shutdown of the radar: there is no information about him in the program notes for the version in which it is implemented. After installation, he could only see that he was now driving a Vision Tesla from the interpretations for the previous versions 2022.20 (see image above) and 2022.16.
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