Auto-close windows feature is being removed from Tesla vehicles
Not a Tesla App
An updated Federal regulation from the NHTSA no longer allows for auto-close windows via the car or an app, among other features.
Tesla owners took to social media to share their frustration of their vehicles missing the set-it-and-forget-it auto-close window features.
Twitter user and Tesla owner @Tommyf902 reached out to Tesla Service to get additional information about the issue. Tesla Service responded, “Due to recent federal regulations, certain automatic window features will not be available until further development.”
The features that Tesla Service are referring to include:
Rolling window(s) up/down with physical switches unless the vehicle’s brake pedal has been pressed
Venting/closing the windows via the Tesla mobile app
Automatically closing the windows once the vehicle has locked
Automatically closing the windows when the vehicle is in Car Wash Mode
Tesla service responds to @Tommyf902 about his window auto-close feature being unavailable
@Tommyf902/Twitter
Although not specifically mentioned by Tesla Service, this will likely limit the movement of the windows during Tesla's Light Show feature as well.
This updated safety guidance by the NHTSA isn’t just restricted to windows, either. It also applies to roof panel systems and partitions.
“This standard applies to passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, and trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 kilograms or less. This standard's inadvertent actuation performance requirements of S6(a) need not be met for vehicles manufactured before October 1, 2008. The standard's pull-to-close switch operability requirements of S6(c) need not be met for vehicles manufactured before October 1, 2010.”
The operation of a power-operated window, partition, or roof panel system may only be closed when the vehicle’s engine is set to “ON,” “START,” or “ACCESSORY” position; by “muscular force unassisted by vehicle supplied power”; or upon continuous activation of a locking system on the exterior of the vehicle, among others. In Tesla Service’s message to Tommy, the wording said “until further development.”
Availability in the Future
The code of federal regulation does state that a window can be opened remotely if the device is pressed continuously and is no more than 6 meters (19.5 feet) away from the vehicle, although it can not be capable of closing the window or partition. There are also some exceptions based on the window's ability to detect force. According to the regulation, the window would need to be capable of stopping and reversing direction if it exerts a force equal to 100 newtons or more.
New Teslas are already being delivered without the ability to remotely close windows, so it sounds like Tesla may not have a solution that meets regulations, at least not yet. Tesla may be working on a solution or waiting for updated guidance from the NHTSA. So while the feature may not currently be available now, Tesla may roll out a fix or workaround to the problem.
Update: As pointed out by one of our readers, it looks like the federal regulations that Tesla service is referring to may be different than those linked in this article. Those regulations do not appear to have changed in recent years. It's not clear whether this will affect current vehicles, but we should know more soon as Tesla is expected to release the next major update in the next two weeks.
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The feature is now possible thanks to what Wes Morrill, Cybertruck’s lead engineering, points out is a huge rewrite of Tesla’s Trip Planner, which not only makes it much more accurate but will now allow users to choose their arrival charge percentage.
More Accurate Trip Planner
When you navigate to a destination, your Tesla will automatically calculate when, where, and how much you need to charge. While the process seems straightforward, Tesla deserves a lot of credit for creating a simple user experience because a lot goes into accurately determining this information.
Tesla has to calculate many moving pieces in order to accurately predict when and where you should stop. First, it needs to consider your driving efficiency and wind direction, terrain elevation, traffic, vehicle speed, and ambient temperature. It also needs to predict the best Superchargers to stop at, taking into account congestion and charger speed.
Now, according to Wes’ post this morning, Tesla has made backend improvements to the Trip Planner, thanks to a rewrite by several engineers, that bring even more accurate predictions to Trip Planner.
It sounds like these changes are mostly server-side, so thanks to their OTA connection, more accurate predictions should be available to all vehicles—no vehicle update is required.
Arrival State of Charge
Along with Tesla’s improvements to Trip Planner, Wes also stated that these improvements allow for a popular feature request — the ability to select your desired charge level at arrival.
Up until now, Tesla’s Trip Planner tried to get you to your destination as quickly as possible, which usually meant arriving with a low state of charge.
While this was fine if you have a charger at your destination, it’s not great if you don’t, or it could be even worse if there are no chargers nearby.
Max de Zegher said on X that he has heard the requests for a selectable arrival state of charge. Wes later clarified this by saying that these improvements to Tesla’s Trip Planner now allow for additional features to be added, such as “desired arrival charge.”
Actually trip planner got a huge rewrite on the back end. I had a great conversation with one of the engineers working on this over a morning run a few weeks back, it's pretty neat. The rewrite also unlocks additional features, like desired arrival charge.
Given that Max de Zegher’s comments came last night and Wes Morrill commented this morning, this feature request likely won’t arrive with the upcoming Holiday Update. Tesla actually hinted at such a feature being added in their last app update, so it does seem like they’ve already planned for it.
Although ‘Arrival State of Charge’ was on our wishlist for the Holiday Update, it looks like it may arrive soon after the holidays.
As Tesla update 2024.44.3 continues to roll out, we’re seeing more features in this update. While the update doesn’t include many new feature, it either improves existing features or rolls out a feature to new regions. Actually Smart Summon is rolling out to Europe, although with more strict restrictions. AutoPark is also rolling out to the UK and several other countries for the first time, and we’re now seeing improvements to Autopark arriving in North America and Europe.
As Tesla’s 2024.44.3 update continues to roll out, more features in the update are being revealed. While this update doesn’t introduce many entirely new features, it does refine existing features or expand the reach of others.
Notably, Actually Smart Summon is now rolling out in Europe, albeit with stricter regulations. Vision-based AutoPark is debuting in the UK and several other countries, while North America and Europe are receiving updates that further improve Autopark’s functionality.
Improvements to Autopark
As part of the same update, Tesla is making a batch of improvements to Autopark in Europe and North America. In the release notes, Tesla states that Autopark is receiving performance and visualization improvements. Unfortunately, Tesla doesn’t go into more detail here, but it sounds like these improvements could be the faster and more accurate Autopark enhancements Ashok Elluswamy talked about earlier this year.
Those improvements are expected to make Autopark more reliable, let it pick spots faster, move faster into them, and also shift between forward and reverse faster. The improvements would also let the vehicle park in tighter spots than before, with more accurate vision.
We’ll have to wait and see how this improved Autopark compares to the current version.
Your vehicle's Autopark performance and visualizatons have been improved.
Autopark in the UK and Other Countries
Countries in Europe that previously didn’t have access to Vision-Based Autopark, including the UK, will now have access to the new Autopark for the first time with update 2024.44.3 and later. This includes countries such as the UK, Ireland and Malaysia.
While these countries are receiving Autopark, it’s not clear whether it includes the Autopark improvements that other regions are receiving. The release notes don’t include the Autopark Improvements section in these countries, but that could be due to Tesla simplifying the release notes for these countries that are receiving Autopark for the first time.
With Autopark finally introduced in these regions, it’ll be the first time vehicles without ultrasonic sensors are capable of Autopark. Vision-Based Autopark is far more reliable, faster, and easier to use in more situations than the older USS-based solution.
