Tesla Expected to Switch to Cabin Camera Detection Instead of Seat Sensors to Address Recall

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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 Releases Update 2024.26 – Automations for Climate and Charging, Weather and New Music Services

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Tesla recently launched 2024.26 to employees, and this update is packed with so many features, that we may as well call it the Summer Update.

The update has been pushed to “wave 1” employee testers, who usually receive feature updates ahead of time to test for bugs and other issues.

This update has brought some hotly requested features, so let’s go over some of them in detail.

Updated Climate Screen

There is a redesigned climate control panel, which will allow users to “select their comfort settings with ease”. We haven’t seen any images of the updated climate control panel just yet, but we’re scheduling to be built in and have all features on one screen instead of having the front and back seats separated.

Fan Speed Adjustment during Phone Calls

On 2024.26, with climate controls on Auto, fan speed may automatically lower to reduce the sound of ambient noise during a phone call. A similar feature was previously introduced last year in 2023.26, so we expect this to be an improvement to the same feature.

Navigate to Sub-Destinations

As part of the bigger navigation updates coming soon, Tesla has added another feature that uses the updated Google Places API. You will now be able to navigate to sub-destinations, including specific terminals at airports.

This is a change that will be absolutely necessary for Robotaxi but is also extremely helpful for drivers trying to figure out the monstrous interchanges and signs that most modern airports have. Hopefully, this integration continues to be expanded, and we receive additional sub-destinations such as specific parking lots or floors for parking garages, enabling users to park their vehicles as close as possible to the relevant mall or building entrance.

The sub-destination menu mockup preview

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Schedule Charge & Conditioning

With the newly revamped climate menu, Tesla is adding features that have been requested for quite some time. This includes the ability for more granular control of scheduled charging and preheating/precooling options – including scheduling one-off or specific days and times of the week for charging or vehicle conditioning. And it’s all location dependent!

This same feature will also arrive in the Tesla app, which means users will be able to manage all their locations, charge start and stop times, and climate start times as needed.

More Music Services, Games, Weather and More

Music and Weather

Tesla also added a few other awesome features to this update, including YouTube Music and Amazon Music, as well as an updated Weather widget, featuring a weather report and Air Quality Index. Read about it here.

Parental Controls

Tesla has also added Parental Controls to its feature package – focused on safer driving by limiting vehicle top speed, and acceleration, as well as enforcing safety features. Read about the details on this one here.

Games

Tesla has updated some of the games in the Arcade, including an update for Battle of Polytopia and Vampire Survivors, two of its most popular games. Additionally, support has been added for TeslaMic, which works with the updated Caraoke Mode. The TeslaMic may also soon become available for purchase in North America when this update goes to customers – if it matches the Chinese store price, it will cost approximately $160 USD ($220 CAD).

Zoom Meetings

With this release, Zoom meetings will now resize to full screen when the car enters Park, or default to full screen if the car is already parked.

Additionally, you’ll now be able to log in by scanning a QR code on a device that’s already logged into Zoom! That’s a feature we hope comes to more of Tesla’s third-party integrations.

Release Date

Given that it just went to wave 1 employees today, and will most likely need some minimum bug fixing, this could be at least a week or two before it hits customer vehicles. If you’re on the FSD branch, don’t expect to receive this update for a while, as people on FSD V12.3.6 (2024.14.X), are waiting for FSD V12.4.2 on 2024.15.10.

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Tesla Adds Parental Controls for Safer Teen Driving in Update 2024.26

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In Tesla update 2024.26, which is now in employee testing, Tesla is launching a set of parental controls. The parental controls allow you to limit certain vehicle options for teens or other drivers.

The new restricted controls are focused on safer driving. They will limit the vehicle's top speed, acceleration, enforce safety features and even notify you if the vehicle is driven late at night.

Reducing Speed & Acceleration

One of the biggest features of the new parental controls is the ability for you to set a maximum speed and reduce the vehicle's acceleration. Tesla already included a max speed option that could be enforced in Valet Mode, but with this update, it could now be enforced for other drivers as well. Once a profile is tagged as a restricted driver, then they will need to enter a PIN code to modify or turn off the max speed. You will also be able to limit the acceleration mode to Chill, meaning that the vehicle's horsepower and torque are limited.

Enforcing Safety Features

With parental controls, the owner could also force specific safety features to remain on. These features include Speed Limit Warning, Automatic Emergency Braking and Forward Collision Warning. Although these features aren't a nuisance, parental controls prevent them from being turned off accidentally.

Notifications When Driving at Night

The last feature Tesla is adding to parental controls in update 2024.26 is the ability for the vehicle's owner to receive notifications if the vehicle is driven past a certain time. For example, if you set a curfew of midnight, then you'll receive a notification if the vehicle starts driving past this time.

Set Up Parental Controls

You'll be able to set up parental controls through the Tesla app or in the vehicle. In the vehicle, navigate to Controls > Safety and scroll to Parental Controls.

In the Tesla app, the feature is expected to be under the Security & Safety section, where you can already limit the top speed.

Any driver profiles that are limited will have a "training wheels" icon next to the driver's name.

Beyond Teen Drivers

It's possible that the new restricted profiles may also be able to useful if you rent your vehicle on Turo or another rental service as well. While you may not want to receive notifications for night driving, you may want to prevent drivers from going over 100 MPH, or from turning off important safety features.

Be sure to check out the other features of update 2024.26 such as YouTube Music, Amazon Music and others.

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