Tesla Autopark only backs into parking spaces, and has always worked that way as far as I can remember. I suppose it was implemented that way because there's no bumper-level camera in front, but I don't really know. Does anyone know if Tesla has said anything about allowing Autopark to (optionally) pull forward into a perpendicular parking space?
There are (at least) a couple of reasons why parking forward would be useful or necessary:
A related observation: I've had Autopark since my first 2016 AP1 Model S but never used it, other than to try it out, because it was slow and more trouble than it was worth. I've used the new vision-based Autopark in FSD v12 a couple of times (perpendicular only), and it's much better (and faster) than before, so I'll probably use it more.
There are (at least) a couple of reasons why parking forward would be useful or necessary:
- Here in FL we don't use front license plates, and some parking facilities require you to park head first so your plate is visible. This requirement would have to be met by any fully autonomous vehicle.
- Sometimes the target perpendicular space is ahead of you instead of to the side, and having to turn around and back in is cumbersome and makes parking take longer. Not a requirement like the first item, but convenient for supervised FSD.
A related observation: I've had Autopark since my first 2016 AP1 Model S but never used it, other than to try it out, because it was slow and more trouble than it was worth. I've used the new vision-based Autopark in FSD v12 a couple of times (perpendicular only), and it's much better (and faster) than before, so I'll probably use it more.