Blind Spot Monitoring Question - New 2021 Model Y with Vision and no Radar

[Fixuis]

Just picked up a New 2021 Model Y with Vision. Had some Questions.

My first Tesla so super excited with the drive and car overall. Buttery smooth acceleration and auto steer and TACC and lane keeping are great but had a quick question about blind spot.

1) Under what conditions is blind spot monitoring supposed to work and turn the lines red or the card red that is in my blind spot. I just cannot get it to work. Once it turned a car that was 2 cars ahead of me in the adjacent lane but not the actual car in my blind spot. Could this mean there is something wrong with the sensors or cameras and I should take the car in for service or have a tech come out? Or is the car undergoing some kind of calibration. I have 84 miles on the car total and it got delivered with 15 from the dealer when I picked it up.

It did go through an initial calibration when I picked it up yesterday and drove for a few miles. (Blue steering wheel bar filling up)

How is the blind spot supposed to work and is there a speed limit range (like lane keeping) where it’s supposed to work above 40mph? I see the lane marker turn red but that’s it. Is that how it works? No steering vibration or any audio visual clues? I keep waiting for a chime or the car in the blind spot area to turn red or both of those things but can’t get it to work or is this how it works?

Should I try a reboot?

Thanks!

 

[frankvb]

Unfortunately Tesla's implementation is rather poor. I would not rely on cars turning red on the screen, also that is a bad place to look when trying to change lanes, look over your shoulder instead. Only audible warning/steering correction happens if you have your indicator on, and are actively steering into the path of another vehicle. It will warn you just in time (but IMHO this should have been implemented as an audible warning as soon as you use the indicator, it is rather late now).

Tesla vision should not really have any impact on this as blind spot monitoring was already camera-only, there are no rearward looking radars as in other vehicles.

BTW: I'm not sure if there is any warning if you don't have the indicator on. Not something you want to try out. Most likely the lane departure avoidance will just steer you back into the lane (assuming it's enabled).

BTW2: I'm guessing this will only start working once the cameras are calibrated and you can use AP.

 

[Tam]

Just picked up a New 2021 Model Y with Vision. Had some Questions.

My first Tesla so super excited with the drive and car overall. Buttery smooth acceleration and auto steer and TACC and lane keeping are great but had a quick question about blind spot.

1) Under what conditions is blind spot monitoring supposed to work and turn the lines red or the card red that is in my blind spot. I just cannot get it to work. Once it turned a car that was 2 cars ahead of me in the adjacent lane but not the actual car in my blind spot. Could this mean there is something wrong with the sensors or cameras and I should take the car in for service or have a tech come out? Or is the car undergoing some kind of calibration. I have 84 miles on the car total and it got delivered with 15 from the dealer when I picked it up.

It did go through an initial calibration when I picked it up yesterday and drove for a few miles. (Blue steering wheel bar filling up)

You didn't say whether you have FSD or not.

With FSD, the Auto Lane Change takes care of that task for you. On the instrument cluster, the lane line animation would immediately change to indicate what's it's doing and light up red car icons, red lane line if there's a danger of obstacle next lane.

If you don't have FSD. You don't ever see red lane line because your autopilot keeps you safe between the lane lines and never auto lane change so there's no need for blind-spot monitoring red cars/red lane lines. When you turn your signal stalk, that's when the instrument cluster would light up red car icons, red lane line if there's a danger of obstacle next lane for you to manually decide to steer to the next lane or not.

...is there a speed limit range (like lane keeping) where it’s supposed to work above 40mph?...

I don't think so. It seems to work well from 0 to 90 MPH for my FSD.

I see the lane marker turn red but that’s it. Is that how it works? No steering vibration or any audio visual clues? I keep waiting for a chime or the car in the blind spot area to turn red or both of those things but can’t get it to work or is this how it works?

If you have FSD, it would vibrate the steering wheel and chime while it's doing its own auto lane change.

If you don't have FSD, then no vibration, no chime because you are manually steering to the next lane.

Should I try a reboot?

I think your car is working as designed. Reboot is optional but I don't think it will change anything.

 

[jcanoe]

I have been driving my Model Y for almost a full year and I have never once looked at the screen while attempting to change lanes. I suggest you adjust the side view mirrors properly (so that you can't quite see the side of the Tesla without moving your head slightly.) When changing lanes I am in the habit of looking over my shoulder, not once but twice, for vehicles that are in my blind spot.

 

[Fixuis]

You didn't say whether you have FSD or not.

With FSD, the Auto Lane Change takes care of that task for you. On the instrument cluster, the lane line animation would immediately change to indicate what's it's doing and light up red car icons, red lane line if there's a danger of obstacle next lane.

If you don't have FSD. You don't ever see red lane line because your autopilot keeps you safe between the lane lines and never auto lane change so there's no need for blind-spot monitoring red cars/red lane lines. When you turn your signal stalk, that's when the instrument cluster would light up red car icons, red lane line if there's a danger of obstacle next lane for you to manually decide to steer to the next lane or not.


I don't think so. It seems to work well from 0 to 90 MPH for my FSD.


If you have FSD, it would vibrate the steering wheel and chime while it's doing its own auto lane change.

If you don't have FSD, then no vibration, no chime because you are manually steering to the next lane.


I think your car is working as designed. Reboot is optional but I don't think it will change anything.

I don’t have FSD but the manual states this:

'When an object is detected in your blind spot or near the side of Model Y (such as a vehicle, guard rail, etc.), the touchscreen displays colored lines radiating from the image of your vehicle. The location of the lines correspond to the location of the detected object. The color of the lines (white, yellow, orange, or red) represent the object's proximity to Model Y, with white being the farthest and red being the closest and requiring your immediate attention. These colored lines only display when driving between approximately 7 and 85 mph (12 and 140 km/h). When Autosteer is active, these colored lines also display if driving slower than 7 mph (12 km/h). However, the colored lines do not display if Model Y is at a standstill (for example, in heavy traffic).'

I will do more testing but so far this is what I am seeing:

With my turn signal on and cars in blind spot, the lane marker and adjancent car does not turn red. I have only seen the lane markers turn red once in maybe 10-15 tries. Maybe there are certain conditions under which it's supposed to do that.

I have seen some odd behavior sometimes though:

A car will be in my blindspot with my turn indicator on and the lane markers and that car will not turn red. That car will then pass me and end up 2-3 car lengths ahead of me in the adjacent lane. Then I will try to test it again and another car will come up from behind with my turn signal on and it's that intial car that is already 2-3 cars ahead of me in the adjacent lane that will turn red. Weird.

 

[TomServo]

When changing lanes to the left looking back to the right to check the display is not natural. The indicators in the mirrors in my 2017 GM vehicles light up to alert me there is car in my blind spots even if I’m not making a lane change. It’s easily seen with your peripheral vision without any effort.

From my decades in the USAF that’s what we would call “situation awareness”. This is one feature I wish Tesla would embrace the tried and true system used on probably 95% of all vehicles sold and in use today.

 

[jcanoe]

The Tesla blind spot warning lights displayed on the screen can be useful while backing into a parking space.

 

[jpfive]

When changing lanes to the left looking back to the right to check the display is not natural. The indicators in the mirrors in my 2017 GM vehicles light up to alert me there is car in my blind spots even if I’m not making a lane change. It’s easily seen with your peripheral vision without any effort.

From my decades in the USAF that’s what we would call “situation awareness”. This is one feature I wish Tesla would embrace the tried and true system used on probably 95% of all vehicles sold and in use today.

Situational Awareness. SA. Helps fighter pilots live longer.

 

[Tam]

I don’t have FSD but the manual states this:

'When an object is detected in your blind spot or near the side of Model Y (such as a vehicle, guard rail, etc.), the touchscreen displays colored lines radiating from the image of your vehicle. The location of the lines correspond to the location of the detected object. The color of the lines (white, yellow, orange, or red) represent the object's proximity to Model Y, with white being the farthest and red being the closest and requiring your immediate attention. These colored lines only display when driving between approximately 7 and 85 mph (12 and 140 km/h). When Autosteer is active, these colored lines also display if driving slower than 7 mph (12 km/h). However, the colored lines do not display if Model Y is at a standstill (for example, in heavy traffic).'

I will do more testing but so far this is what I am seeing:

With my turn signal on and cars in blind spot, the lane marker and adjancent car does not turn red. I have only seen the lane markers turn red once in maybe 10-15 tries. Maybe there are certain conditions under which it's supposed to do that.

I have seen some odd behavior sometimes though:

A car will be in my blindspot with my turn indicator on and the lane markers and that car will not turn red. That car will then pass me and end up 2-3 car lengths ahead of me in the adjacent lane. Then I will try to test it again and another car will come up from behind with my turn signal on and it's that intial car that is already 2-3 cars ahead of me in the adjacent lane that will turn red. Weird.

Ohhh! I forgot the Sonars. Those rounded wavy lines are not lane lines. They are sonar lines to alert proximity to cars or even curbs. Their audio only alarms with slow speed such as for parking. Yes. They are active as you described. I was describing red car icons and red lane lines as dangers for a lane change.

 

[Fixuis]

Ohhh! I forgot the Sonars. Those rounded wavy lines are not lane lines. They are sonar lines to alert proximity to cars or even curbs. Their audio only alarms with slow speed such as for parking. Yes. They are active as you described. I was describing red car icons and red lane lines as dangers for a lane change.

Thanks.hose semi circle arc lines are fine and have been showing up since day 1. I’m talking about the red lane lines and the red car in your blind spot in the adjacent lane. So you’re saying both the red lines and the red car will only show up if I start to move into the adjacent lane. That’s not been my experience. The lane markings turn solid red at highway speeds up even if I doing nothing and driving in my lane if there is a car in my blind spot. I’m looking for the same behavior at city speeds below 40mph but that never happens. Under what conditions are both or one of those supposed to turn red.

Manual has nothing on those. Can’t find any info on this. I only see the line turn red at highway speeds when there is a car in the blind spot. Those lines never turn red when I’m driving at city speeds of under 40 mph. Why is that?

I understand the car that is in you blind spot in the adjacent lane is suppose to turn red if I start moving over but is that the case for those solid red lane markings as well?

 

[Tam]

Thanks.hose semi circle arc lines are fine and have been showing up since day 1. I’m talking about the red lane lines and the red car in your blind spot in the adjacent lane. So you’re saying both the red lines and the red car will only show up if I start to move into the adjacent lane. That’s not been my experience. The lane markings turn solid red at highway speeds up even if I doing nothing and driving in my lane if there is a car in my blind spot. I’m looking for the same behavior at city speeds below 40mph but that never happens. Under what conditions are both or one of those supposed to turn red.

Manual has nothing on those. Can’t find any info on this. I only see the line turn red at highway speeds when there is a car in the blind spot. Those lines never turn red when I’m driving at city speeds of under 40 mph. Why is that?

I understand the car that is in you blind spot in the adjacent lane is suppose to turn red if I start moving over but is that the case for those solid red lane markings as well?

The blind spot useful for high speed driving that I am referring to are the red lane line (hard to see the color below, but it's turning from grey to red) and the red icon cars, not the sonar semi circle waves because although good for parking but their range is too limited for freeway speed:

It happened above because the Navigation on Autopilot automatically decided to change lane on its own without the driver's input so that's when the red lane line and red car icons appeared because there's a danger of obstacles in this instance for changing lane.

If you manually turn on turn signal stalk (instead of the above automatic method above), you would get the same display. If you don't turn on the signal stalk, there's no blind spot display above.

The above blind spot display is both both good for highway and city use (I have FSD so I am not sure whether plain autopilot restricts the display to highway only.)

 

[Fixuis]

Got it. So it does work for you even on low city speeds such as 10-40 mph? If yes then this maybe tied to FSD where FSD covers both low and high speeds and basic auto pilot only does it at highway speeds which if true, sucks big time.

 

[Tam]

Got it. So it does work for you even on low city speeds such as 10-40 mph? If yes then this maybe tied to FSD where FSD covers both low and high speeds and basic auto pilot only does it at highway speeds which if true, sucks big time.

For my FSD, yes, exact behavior/displays for both the high speed of 90 MPH and low speed like from standing still in stop and go traffic in both highways and city streets.

 

[Fixuis]

For my FSD, yes, exact behavior/displays for both the high speed of 90 MPH and low speed like from standing still in stop and go traffic in both highways and city streets.

And it works even when doing manual driving and indicating?

 

[Tam]

And it works even when doing manual driving and indicating?

Yes. It only works when there's an intention to change lane which can be the robotic automatic decision from Navigation on Autopilot without flipping the signal stalk or manually flipping the signal stalk at any time without depending on the robotic automatic decision.

If there's no intention to change lane either automatic decision or manually flipping the signal stalk, then there's no red lane line/red car icons on the instrument cluster.

 

[Fixuis]

Yes. It only works when there's an intention to change lane which can be the robotic automatic decision from Navigation on Autopilot without flipping the signal stalk or manually flipping the signal stalk at any time without depending on the robotic automatic decision.

If there's no intention to change lane either automatic decision or manually flipping the signal stalk, then there's no red lane line/red car icons on the instrument cluster.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Tiff_619]

This is a bummer. I was going to wait and get the Hyundai Ioniq 5 because I liked the safety features like the fact that when you turn on your blinker it pops up the side camera for you. Tesla has those camera, why not do that?

 

[TesMY]

I have been driving my Model Y for almost a full year and I have never once looked at the screen while attempting to change lanes. I suggest you adjust the side view mirrors properly (so that you can't quite see the side of the Tesla without moving your head slightly.) When changing lanes I am in the habit of looking over my shoulder, not once but twice, for vehicles that are in my blind spot.

But that's disappointing when compared to standard blind spot monitors thats available in almost all new cars. I hope Tesla will update their software with sound indicators