What I have learned about the Tesla Dash Cam feature

[Rastaman777]

2017 MS P100D

I want to confirm that everyone else is seeing the same with the DashCam Feature. If you are seeing different functionality please let me know.

• It will record 1 minute video files that are about 2 kb in size each.
• It will only record a total of 1 hours worth of video regardless of size of your USB drive
• The 2 kb videos are not viewable
• The only way the tesla produces a viewable video is if you hit tap the DashCam icon. It then will create a video comprised of the last 10 minutes of footage.

I have attached images of the folder and video files below. you can see they are all 2 kb except for a few.

So if you forget to press the DashCam icon within 10 min of getting into an accident, which is extremely likely, then you are pretty much screwed on the video footage.

 

[DrReid]

That is not correct. There should be lots of viewable video clips. Saving it just saves a clip from being overwritten. Mine has all the videos automatically saved

 

[1375mlm]

• It will record 1 minute video files that are about 2 kb in size each.
• It will only record a total of 1 hours worth of video regardless of size of your USB drive
• The 2 kb videos are not viewable
• The only way the tesla produces a viewable video is if you hit tap the DashCam icon. It then will create a video comprised of the last 10 minutes of footage.

Same issue. It had to do with the flash drive I was using. Which one are you using?

 

[Rastaman777]

Same issue. It had to do with the flash drive I was using. Which one are you using?

Well, based on the manual that actually looks correct now that I read it more closely (see image attached)

I was using the following flash drive. Which do you use @1375mim?
SanDisk 64GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive - SDCZ430-064G-G46

 

[1375mlm]

I was using a Costco one, a 256 from SanDisk as well.
Costco Wholesale
Could be SanDisk?
What would happen for me was that it would work perfectly the first few times, but then after taking it out from the car and putting it into my laptop a couple times, it would record 2 kb unplayable files.
Reformatting fixed the issue, but then I noticed that it would record in the correct file sizes (approx 40,000+ kb) but when I would try to play, my computer would say its a "corrupt" or "unplayable" file.
I returned the product (thanks Costco return policy!) and bought the same one. Same issue.
Might have better luck trying a different USB. I remember someone else on here that was using this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00812F7O8/?tag=tmc064-20
They said it worked from what I can remember, but I didn't want to purchase and end up having to run through 2 or 3 with the same result. I figured I'd either let Tesla come up with a recommendation for USB, or wait until enough people have had experience with this issue to be able to recommend a solution

 

[madtorque]

From looking at the code behind the dash cam feature, here's how it actually works:

The program that saves the clips runs constantly, even when the car is off. The video is streamed from the AP computer to the MCU, where it is recorded.

Now, when the car is off and parked, AP shuts down. The MCU however keeps recording... This causes the 2kb files to be written, because there is no video feed when AP is off.

The dash cam only keeps 60 files (1 hour) unless you hit the dash cam icon to save a clip. Therefore, when you park the car, after an hour, all your footage will be overwritten.. I doesn't matter how big your USB drive is either, only 1 hour of running footage is stored unless you hit that save button.

This is how it is designed to function. Good or bad, it is working the way it's supposed to.

 

[Rastaman777]

Thanks @madtorque ! That makes a lot of sense then because I pulled the drive out after the car had been parked for sevseve hours. I'll test again after driving for a while. Based on your explanation I expect it to work as you described now.

 

[spectrum]

2kb is too small to be a viable video file. I think those are all empty files. Consider reformatting your flash drive and trying again — seems like it's corrupt to me.

 

[talels]

I only get multiple 1-minute long videos when I press the save button. How do you get a 10-minute long video?

 

[SpudLime]

I only get multiple 1-minute long videos when I press the save button. How do you get a 10-minute long video?

You cant right now. Have to request Tesla to change it.

 

[talels]

You cant right now. Have to request Tesla to change it.

Ok, thanks!

 

[spectrum]

I only get multiple 1-minute long videos when I press the save button. How do you get a 10-minute long video?

It’s quite easy to combine them using something like ffmpeg.

 

[Fobble]

Now, when the car is off and parked, AP shuts down. The MCU however keeps recording... This causes the 2kb files to be written, because there is no video feed when AP is off.

The dash cam only keeps 60 files (1 hour) unless you hit the dash cam icon to save a clip. Therefore, when you park the car, after an hour, all your footage will be overwritten.. I doesn't matter how big your USB drive is either, only 1 hour of running footage is stored unless you hit that save button.
.

Sounds like a dumb programming. Surprised to see such thing fromTesla programmers, where they've done many other things right from software perspective, unless they are planning for parking mode that has not been realized yet.

 

[boaterva]

The whole thing, like a lot of the software, is 'beta'. I know Elon said this is the first version (or variations of it). I hope they are really working on it and this was pushed out because he promised 'dashcam' for v9!

 

[spectrum]

Sounds like a dumb programming. Surprised to see such thing fromTesla programmers, where they've done many other things right from software perspective, unless they are planning for parking mode that has not been realized yet.

I don’t think the decision to disable cameras when the car is off was due to Tesla’s inability to program. In fact, leaving the cameras on all the time would be the easier thing to do from a programmatic perspective.

Tesla made a conscious decision to disable cameras when the car is parked because the cameras + MCU + USB writing probably caused significance drain on the 12V battery.

 

[Fobble]

I don’t think the decision to disable cameras when the car is off was due to Tesla’s inability to program. In fact, leaving the cameras on all the time would be the easier thing to do from a programmatic perspective.

Tesla made a conscious decision to disable cameras when the car is parked because the cameras + MCU + USB writing probably caused significance drain on the 12V battery.

Then why not disable the recording as well?