Blindspot Warnings - Please Improve

[aleagle]

By all accounts, my Tesla S is one of the safest cars on the road ... with one glaring exception - The blindspot monitor. One of the reasons I bought a Tesla was for the safety features, but the blindspot monitors (if you can call them that) are nearly useless since they don't accurately notify the driver of cars approaching from the rear on the right or left until its too late. I've noticed that the "radiating lines" that are displayed on the instrument panel (denoting approaching vehicles) don't appear until an approaching vehicle is at my bumper.
Having had blindspot monitors on my last three vehicles (and having depended on them), I assumed that Tesla's ultrasonics would be superior, but thus far they are far inferior to most other vehicle manufacturers. I have read online where this has been noted by Tesla, but nothing official from Tesla. I had even heard that the last HW2 update was supposed to have improved this shortcoming, but, alas, it did not.
Is there any hope that the ultrasonic sensors will be improved upon - or that the better software/firmware will be developed?

 

[chillaban]

We expect dramatic improvement will come on this front when Tesla activates the side repeater cameras.

Note that most automakers use radar in the rear quarter panel for blind spot monitoring, not ultrasonics. But that approach also has drawbacks of not being able to understand lane lines and whether or not a nearby car is truly in your lane.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

You could just use my solution

Simply drive faster than everyone else, and you won't need them.

But, yeah I expect Tesla to massively improve it on HW2 cars within the next few months when they add the detection data from the side cameras.

My only real concern with HW2 is whether the IC computer is fast enough to show the side information fast enough.. I doubt the existing delay is with the ultrasonics.

 

[clostridium]

There have been some other threads discussing these questions. It seems that the side cameras should help quite a bit however the lack of a rear facing radar might still create limitations in the quality of the system since that's how many other vehicles do it well.

Another point brought up was the difficulty in cameras seeing objects to the side at night due to lack of contrast. Perhaps combined with ultrasonics and/or if they are tracking moving objects (cars don't just appear next to you obviously) it will be fine.

I totally agree that the blind spot monitoring is a joke in the car currently.

 

[aleagle]

We expect dramatic improvement will come on this front when Tesla activates the side repeater cameras.

Note that most automakers use radar in the rear quarter panel for blind spot monitoring, not ultrasonics. But that approach also has drawbacks of not being able to understand lane lines and whether or not a nearby car is truly in your lane.

I have not heard about the "side repeater cameras". What are they? How do they work? Are they already part of HW@? When will they be activated? TIA

 

[chillaban]

I have not heard about the "side repeater cameras". What are they? How do they work? Are they already part of HW@? When will they be activated? TIA

Sorry, they are AP2 specific. They're already equipped on all AP2 cars (the turn signal markers on the side of the cars have cameras that point rearward in a 45 degree angle, providing a similar field of view as your side view mirrors).

They are not activated yet, though they are taking periodic videos and sending them back to Tesla. Eventually, it will be the cameras used by EAP to make fully automatic lane changes.

 

[aleagle]

Sorry, they are AP2 specific. They're already equipped on all AP2 cars (the turn signal markers on the side of the cars have cameras that point rearward in a 45 degree angle, providing a similar field of view as your side view mirrors).

They are not activated yet, though they are taking periodic videos and sending them back to Tesla. Eventually, it will be the cameras used by EAP to make fully automatic lane changes.

Thanks. What is the difference between HW2 and AP2?

 

[chillaban]

Thanks. What is the difference between HW2 and AP2?

Same thing!

 

[pete8314]

There have been some other threads discussing these questions. It seems that the side cameras should help quite a bit however the lack of a rear facing radar might still create limitations in the quality of the system since that's how many other vehicles do it well.

Another point brought up was the difficulty in cameras seeing objects to the side at night due to lack of contrast. Perhaps combined with ultrasonics and/or if they are tracking moving objects (cars don't just appear next to you obviously) it will be fine.

I totally agree that the blind spot monitoring is a joke in the car currently.

Agreed. Although I can't say for sure that my previous Audi A5 didn't have rear-facing radar, I can say that when the rear view camera quit working, so did the blind spot detection, so my assumption at the time was that the blind spot detection was at least using some data from the camera. That was back in ye olde 2012, and things have progressed a lot since, so I assume Tesla could implement some fairly basic intelligence to use the rear camera as another data source. At least, that's my primary data source (with the blind spot mirrors) when checking for cars nearby, I never use the dash display.

 

[Mknac]

The blind side warning is the only complaint I have. Its not that it doesn't work, MS doesn't have it. They told me it did. My previous cars (Ford) had very good blind side indicators.

 

[animorph]

They didn't even bother claiming to have blind spot monitoring when I bought my X. I waited for AP2 so it would have better coverage of blind spots. I do expect it will be solid once the extra cameras are utilized.

 

[Bmcarter31]

Anyone know if there is an update on this? I just took delivery of my MX two days ago and it doesn't appear to have blind spot monitoring at all. Quite disappointing, as my Mazda had it and it worked very well.

 

[vgrinshpun]

I've been using HD rear view camera while driving and it works perfect for detecting cars in blind spot. It also provides much more information, not just that "something" is "somewhere" in your blind spot.

I am using it for more than 4 years and 83k miles and could not be happier, improved my confidence in knowing precise positioning of other cars a lot.

Because it is white angle camera it has 100% coverage of blind spot. Before using it I "calibrated" it in my mind by experimenting with my other stationary car in the driveway: positioned my MS at different levels as related to the other stationary car and observed view on the central display vs. actual relative position of two cars.

 

[melburstein]

The Mercedes-B,enz GLC300 SUV and the side mirrors do the blind spot warning, quite effectively. That's the only feature of her car that I prefer over my Tesla Model S75.

 

[Bmcarter31]

@vgrins I agree with you. The more I get used to the car, the easier it is to monitor my surroundings. I still think having an icon on your side mirror is better, as it keeps your eyes on the same plane. Looking down at the blind spot "bubbles" on the driver dash plus the rear camera seems less safe, but still gives you a lot of visibility. I've gotten used to it now.

 

[Az_Rael]

I learned how to adjust my side mirrors on this forum, and once I did that I haven't looked back. It's way better than trying to use the blind spot system on our P85D.

Tesla should have put it on the mirrors to make it useful.

How To: Adjust Your Mirrors to Avoid Blind Spots | Feature | Features | Car and Driver

Here it is in action on my car:

 

[Bmcarter31]

@Az_Rael - I will try that out. Thanks for sharing!

 

[kort677]

I've been using HD rear view camera while driving and it works perfect for detecting cars in blind spot. It also provides much more information, not just that "something" is "somewhere" in your blind spot.

The biggest issue I have with that is that using the rear view camera in this fashion still requires diverting your eyes from the direction that they should be focused on. the biggest drawback that I see with the tesla system is the location of the visual alert and the lack of an audio alert.

 

[outie]

I learned how to adjust my side mirrors on this forum, and once I did that I haven't looked back. It's way better than trying to use the blind spot system on our P85D.

Tesla should have put it on the mirrors to make it useful.

How To: Adjust Your Mirrors to Avoid Blind Spots | Feature | Features | Car and Driver

Here it is in action on my car:
View attachment 253988
View attachment 253987

I am not sure if you have ever experienced this scenario where this so-called blind spot side mirror setup is giving you blind spots:
There's a car right behind you (1 car length or less, like in stopped traffic). This car basically blocks your rear view completely. Your lane is completely stopped (or close to) but the adjacent lane is wide open. You want to switch to that lane but realize you cannot see if there's any approaching car at all (say, about 3-4 car lengths and beyond). With a "normal" or so-called "incorrect" side mirror configuration, you'd have no problem seeing what's approaching and change lane accordingly.

 

[Az_Rael]

I am not sure if you have ever experienced this scenario where this so-called blind spot side mirror setup is giving you blind spots:
There's a car right behind you (1 car length or less, like in stopped traffic). This car basically blocks your rear view completely. Your lane is completely stopped (or close to) but the adjacent lane is wide open. You want to switch to that lane but realize you cannot see if there's any approaching car at all (say, about 3-4 car lengths and beyond). With a "normal" or so-called "incorrect" side mirror configuration, you'd have no problem seeing what's approaching and change lane accordingly.

Having used this mirror setup for at least a year now, I find its very easy in the situation you are describing to lean my head to see the side of my car in the side mirror. I then get a good view of what’s coming and can change lanes accordingly.