Tesla The company will begin dropping ultrasonic sensors from its electric vehicle lineup as it moves to camera-only technology – despite the key parking assist features not being available.
The company’s suite of cameras – known as Tesla Vision – will now handle all driver assistance technology duties following the previous removal of radar equipment in early 2021.
Tesla will. The ultrasonic sensor will be phased out globally from the Model 3 and Model Y starting in Octoberfollowed by the Model S and Model X in 2023.
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However, some parking-related features – including Park Assist, Autopark, Summon, and Smart Summon – won’t be available until a future software update in the coming months.
“In the near future, once these features achieve performance parity with today’s vehicles, they will be restored through a series of over-the-air software updates,” Tesla said.
“All other available Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving capability features will be active at the time of delivery depending on order configuration.”
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Other active safety features, such as autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assist and blind spot alert, are not affected by the change.
Currently, Tesla vehicles are equipped with 12 ultrasonic sensors mounted on the front and rear bumpers. It is understood that the sensors are mainly used to assist in parking.
Tesla says the change won’t affect crash safety results, with the Model Y recently earning a five-star ANCAP rating.
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Tesla has not yet provided a timeline for the production date and local time of vehicles without ultrasonic sensors.
This isn’t the first time Tesla has temporarily limited features in a shift to camera-only technology.
The brand’s Autopilot semi-autonomous cruise control system was limited to 121 km/h for vehicles manufactured from May 2021 until earlier this year, which did not include radar.
The radar was removed from the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y for Australia in June 2022.