Parking and Blind Spot sensors/assist

[VCanucks]

I visited the showroom in Seattle the other day and one of the main things i wanted was a blind spot sensor as i find them handy as hell, and the manager there told me that despite it not being advertised or talked about even, the production cars he's seen all contain the hardware for the sensors but the current software doesn't support it yet. I reserved mine (Canadian P614), just wondering if anyone else was told this?

 

[mdh]

I visited the showroom in Seattle the other day and one of the main things i wanted was a blind spot sensor as i find them handy as hell, and the manager there told me that despite it not being advertised or talked about even, the production cars he's seen all contain the hardware for the sensors but the current software doesn't support it yet. I reserved mine (Canadian P614), just wondering if anyone else was told this?

I hope you are right!!!! I've owned my car for 72 hours thus far. Great car. This is my biggest wish so far.... parking sensors. I asked someone at Tesla recently and they told me there is no pre-installed wiring to support this. I hope this person was not in the "know."

 

[VCanucks]

The manager claimed to involved with meetings in california so i do hope he knows what hes talking about, he did say that there might be an additional charge for connecting the service which i think is ridiculous

 

[mdh]

The manager claimed to involved with meetings in california so i do hope he knows what hes talking about, he did say that there might be an additional charge for connecting the service which i think is ridiculous

Fingers crossed. Functionally, this is the biggest hole in my mind... but, I am only 72 hours into ownership.

 

[mknox]

I visited the showroom in Seattle the other day and one of the main things i wanted was a blind spot sensor as i find them handy as hell, and the manager there told me that despite it not being advertised or talked about even, the production cars he's seen all contain the hardware for the sensors but the current software doesn't support it yet. I reserved mine (Canadian P614), just wondering if anyone else was told this?

At the Get Amped event in Toronto last summer, I asked if the car had front/rear parking assist sensors. The Tesla rep from California gave me a big smile and said "not yet". I pressed a little bit, but the most I could get was something like "stay tuned". I did not ask about blind spot sensors, but I've seen some rear parking assist sensor systems that wrap far enough around the rear bumper that they can be dual purposed.

 

[jandkw]

I live in a small town so the parking sensor is not as useful to me. I like to see Tesla offer the blind spot monitors and the cross traffic sensors. This could avoid a lot of accidents.

 

[DrTaras]

Just cross posting some insight:
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/show...talled-on-my-S?p=194119&viewfull=1#post194119

 

[Shurhold]

Just was in old orchard store outside Chicago and the manager there stated that blind spot indicator is prewired and coming as an upgrade soon.

Why is this not public info yet?

 

[VCanucks]

did they give you a rough eta on that? i feel like im the only one that read the article on tesla announcing the chademo adapter too haha, everyone does know about that right?

 

[mdh]

Just was in old orchard store outside Chicago and the manager there stated that blind spot indicator is prewired and coming as an upgrade soon.

Why is this not public info yet?

I hope you are right.. one of the service people told me this is not the case... I hope you are right.

 

[smd]

I sometimes drive with the rear HD camera on all the whole time on the touchscreen. It actually works pretty well as a blind spot monitor for me on the freeways, although there is no beeping or lights flashing. I just take a quick glance there as I look at my side mirrors and I easily know if it's OK to change lanes.

 

[SuperCoug]

Just was in old orchard store outside Chicago and the manager there stated that blind spot indicator is prewired and coming as an upgrade soon.

Why is this not public info yet?

I was told the exact same thing by the manager of the Bellevue store. I'm REALLY hoping it's true but I'd put the chances at 50/50 (perhaps higher now that you were given the same info from another store manager).

He did mention that there is some question about the potential cost for this upgrade. It might be part of a free firmware upgrade or perhaps sold as a separate application.

 

[pete8314]

I sometimes drive with the rear HD camera on all the whole time on the touchscreen. It actually works pretty well as a blind spot monitor for me on the freeways, although there is no beeping or lights flashing. I just take a quick glance there as I look at my side mirrors and I easily know if it's OK to change lanes.

This, in part at least, is how the Audi system works. Although you cannot view the camera when driving, the car uses it as part of the blind spot detection. I'm not sure if there are secondary sensors on the mirrors as well.

 

[jiaotong]

Wow, I really hope this is true as well. Visibility out the back is a little thin and this is the best news/upgrade I can think of!

 

[brianman]

I sometimes drive with the rear HD camera on all the whole time on the touchscreen. It actually works pretty well as a blind spot monitor for me on the freeways, although there is no beeping or lights flashing. I just take a quick glance there as I look at my side mirrors and I easily know if it's OK to change lanes.

It's also pretty handy for getting some warning when a Tesla is sneaking up on you. Those things are damn near silent!

 

[yobigd20]

Blind Spot Monitor

Stuff like blind spot monitoring and parking sensors were brought up on Tesla forums but were never promised, nor are they headlining features.

nor do you even need them if you are an attentive driver and always aware of your surroundings. never had them, and never need them. I never use rear backup cameras either as I believe their more dangerous than good as they give you a false sense of security. I trust my own eyes only.

 

[Zas]

I sometimes drive with the rear HD camera on all the whole time on the touchscreen. It actually works pretty well as a blind spot monitor for me on the freeways, although there is no beeping or lights flashing. I just take a quick glance there as I look at my side mirrors and I easily know if it's OK to change lanes.

i noticed the same thing, and works prety good...but the problem is that the camera gets all mucked up in snow or rain, and then it becomes useless for this.

 

[jerry33]

i noticed the same thing, and works prety good...but the problem is that the camera gets all mucked up in snow or rain, and then it becomes useless for this.

Seems like an opportunity here for a third party cleaning add-on. A really focused air gun to clear the lens might do it.

 

[Cattledog]

I sometimes drive with the rear HD camera on all the whole time on the touchscreen. It actually works pretty well as a blind spot monitor for me on the freeways, although there is no beeping or lights flashing. I just take a quick glance there as I look at my side mirrors and I easily know if it's OK to change lanes.

Agree - I think the camera lens is such a wide angle that you get essentially 100% coverage with it and mirrors. But a software upgrade to add that functionality would be awesome, hope the hardware is just sitting dormant.

 

[brianman]

nor do you even need them if you are an attentive driver and always aware of your surroundings. never had them, and never need them. I never use rear backup cameras either as I believe their more dangerous than good as they give you a false sense of security. I trust my own eyes only.

I've heard this argument many times, and I respectfully disagree.

Scenario
Driver hits something he shouldn't have (property, a biker, a child chasing a soccer ball, whatever) and it's in court. Plaintiff posits that the driver is at fault. The driver says he didn't see it/him/her. The plaintiff says that blind spot monitoring and parking sensors would have caught it, and trots in a dozen experts from various automobile companies to testify explicitly that those technologies should have prevented the contact based on studies, measurements, etc. Plaintiff then confirms that driver's vehicle has both features. And then the dialog...

• "So you just ignored the warnings, or they didn't work?"
• "They didn't work."
• "Remembering you're under oath, why didn't they work?"
• "I had them turned off."

No matter how attentive or aware you think you are, you would be foolish and potentially negligent to turn them off without good reason. Pride is not a good reason.

Similarly, it's foolish for Tesla not to seriously consider including such features -- and doing so says nothing about the skills of the drivers.