For those of us driving classic vintage Model S vehicles (mine is a mid-2013 P85+) that lack parking sensors, the introduction of backup lines on the rearview camera with 6.1 can be helpful. My previous vehicle had some extra lines on the backup camera that helped to determine distances and clearances around the car. Today I conducted a few experiments to see where the Tesla programmers put their lines.
The first test was to simply lay out some rope to match the lines on the screen. The photo below shows where the lines fall relative to a standard 108 inch (2743 mm) parking slot. The rope lines were a 70 inches (1778 mm) apart and the ends fell approximately 78 inches (1981 mm) from the back bumper. According to Tesla specifications, this compares to a rear track of 66.9 inch (1700 mm) and an overall vehicle width of 86.2 inch (2189 mm). That means the car is about 8 inches (203 mm) wider on both sides than the lines. The ends of the lines extend roughly 1/3 of the car length back from the bumper.
You can see where the lines intersect the rear tire on my 21x9 P85+ rear wheels.
The next test involved calibrating the curved lines when steering in reverse. Repeating the rope layout, the photo below shows what a full turn to the left produces.
Leaving the wheel fully turned, I backed the car to determine how well it tracked the curved lines. Reaching the end of the ropes showed the car turned tighter than the lines indicated. This is particularly helpful when parallel parking if you use the lines to avoid the curb and unsightly rash on your wheels.
I don’t know if the location of the backup camera or any other changes through the Model S evolution creates different results for different cars, so you might want to investigate yourself before threading your car into any tight spots.
The first test was to simply lay out some rope to match the lines on the screen. The photo below shows where the lines fall relative to a standard 108 inch (2743 mm) parking slot. The rope lines were a 70 inches (1778 mm) apart and the ends fell approximately 78 inches (1981 mm) from the back bumper. According to Tesla specifications, this compares to a rear track of 66.9 inch (1700 mm) and an overall vehicle width of 86.2 inch (2189 mm). That means the car is about 8 inches (203 mm) wider on both sides than the lines. The ends of the lines extend roughly 1/3 of the car length back from the bumper.
You can see where the lines intersect the rear tire on my 21x9 P85+ rear wheels.
The next test involved calibrating the curved lines when steering in reverse. Repeating the rope layout, the photo below shows what a full turn to the left produces.
Leaving the wheel fully turned, I backed the car to determine how well it tracked the curved lines. Reaching the end of the ropes showed the car turned tighter than the lines indicated. This is particularly helpful when parallel parking if you use the lines to avoid the curb and unsightly rash on your wheels.
I don’t know if the location of the backup camera or any other changes through the Model S evolution creates different results for different cars, so you might want to investigate yourself before threading your car into any tight spots.
