Tesla's new High Fidelity Park Assist feature in the holiday update
Tiberionee / EVBaymax
Tesla's 2023 Holiday Update is rolling out to happy customers around the world, and it includes everything we've heard about, from the NHTSA-related changes to FSD Beta 11.4.9, High Fidelity Park Assist, Custom Lock Sounds, and more.
However, the most exciting feature in the update is undoubtedly Tesla's updated Park Assist feature with new visualizations.
This feature provides a 3D reconstruction of the vehicle's surroundings while parking, akin to a 360-degree camera, but with 3D models that are built in real-time.
The system is leveraging Tesla Vision to create the surrounding environment, such as cars, pillars, bikes and other nearby objects. It certainly may not recognize what all the objects are, but it can define its outlines and build a 3D model.
Each 3D model is gray, but changes color the closer the vehicle gets to the object. The objects go from gray to yellow, to orange, and then finally red.
This is the first time we're seeing Tesla render 3D models using vision in a manner that LiDAR would be used.
Since these are actual 3D models, you can even pan and rotate the on-screen models to view them from various angles.
Requirements
Many vehicles are receiving the new Park Assist, however, it's not everyone. Vehicles running hardware 3 and hardware 4.0 are both receiving it, which is good news, but there are some limitations. It’s not particularly clear yet, but it appears that the feature may be limited to Ryzen infotainment units, or it may be rolling out to vehicles without ultrasonic sensors (USS) first.
If it's the latter, then there's no doubt that Tesla will expand this to vehicles with USS at some point in the future.
Future Visualizations
The visualizations provided by Park Assist are surprisingly good and accurate. They appear to be much more accurate than Park Assist has been in the past for vehicles without USS. For those owners, this will be a great enhancement that is not only exciting but useful when parking or getting around tight corners.
From the early videos and images we've seen, the visualizations look fantastic. We may be looking at upcoming FSD Beta visualizations in this new holiday feature.
Over the years, Tesla has introduced UI elements that indicate when specific hardware or software features are active—and these two new dots follow the same pattern.
In June 2024, Tesla introduced the ability to see which third-party apps have access to the vehicle’s location, and these new indicator dots have a similar goal — to improve transparency on features that impact privacy.
Green Dot
If you’ve noticed a green dot on your Tesla display or the instrument cluster for the Model S or Model X, then you have access to Tesla’s hands-free Autopilot feature.
The green dot is displayed on the screen whenever FSD or Autopilot is active and the vehicle is using the interior camera to monitor the driver’s attention.
The cabin camera does a much better job monitoring the driver than the old method of sensing torque on the steering wheel. The cabin camera detects driver attention by tracking the driver’s head and eyes and making sure they’re focusing on the road. If the driver looks away from the road for an extended period, the vehicle will warn the driver or issue a strike for repeat offenses.
If the cabin camera is occluded or obscured, or if it’s simply too dark, the vehicle will fall back to monitoring the driver by detecting torque on the steering wheel.
The presence of the green dot not only lets the driver know that the interior camera is being used but also lets them know whether they need to keep their hands on the steering wheel.
It’s important to note that images and video taken with the interior camera are processed in the vehicle and do not leave the vehicle unless you have granted access for Tesla to use them to improve functionality.
You can check your privacy and data sharing policy in Controls > Software and tap the Data Sharing button at the bottom.
Orange Dot
The orange dot functions similarly to the green one, but instead of indicating cabin camera usage, it appears when the vehicle’s microphone is active. This was added with software update 2025.2, which now listens for audio cues to detect emergency vehicles and other types of noises that could help the vehicle better understand its environment in the future.
Tesla is currently collecting this data to refine its ability to detect emergency vehicles even before they come into view. This capability is expected to be added in FSD v14 along with a larger model size.
Like cabin camera analytics, drivers can opt to share audio data with Tesla to improve detection accuracy. Many users received an “Allow Sound Detection Analytics” prompt following the recent update. If they consent, Tesla may use certain audio snippets to help improve their detection model. Any data transmitted to Tesla is not linked to a specific user or vehicle, so it can’t be tied to a specific individual.
Otherwise, all audio detection and processing is completed in the vehicle to ensure the driver’s privacy.
Tesla proves once again that it listens to its customers, and this is a perfect example. Since the Cybertruck’s launch with an adjustable air suspension, owners have been requesting suspension-related features.
One major request is the ability to remotely adjust the vehicle’s height. This could previously only be done from inside the cabin via the touchscreen, but Tesla has now added it to the latest version of the Tesla app. However, using the feature also requires vehicle software 2025.8 or higher.
This software update also brings improvements to the Cybertruck’s steer-by-wire system, which is set to come to future Tesla models. Unlike traditional rack-and-pinion steering, steer-by-wire is not directly connected to the wheels like other vehicles, and “road feel” does not carry through to the steering wheel. Instead, Tesla implements software-driven wheel feedback, which is being improved in this update.
Remote Height Adjust
Now, as of Tesla software update 2025.8 and Tesla App V4.42.5, Cybertruck owners can remotely adjust the height of their Cybertruck through the Tesla app. This setting is in the Controls section of the app.
Here, you can adjust to the four pre-set road heights, including High, Medium, Low, and Entry. For now, you cannot adjust to the two Off-Road Mode heights, which are Very High and Extract.
Now, if you don’t own a Cybertruck, you’re probably wondering why so many are asking for this feature. Well, if you want to go off-roading or even want to load something into the bed of your truck, it’s convenient to be able to remotely adjust the height of the car without having to go in it first.
You can also use it to show off the Cybertruck’s massive vertical range of motion - which can go nearly eight inches from Entry to Extract - all without having to hop into the Cybertruck.
Model S and Model X?
This feature could also potentially make its way to the Model S and Model X sometime in the future since both of these vehicles also have an adjustable air suspension. Today, the heights of these vehicles can only be adjusted inside the vehicle.
We’re sure some Model S and Model X owners would love to be able to adjust the suspension remotely, even if they may not have the same use cases — it’s still a nice to have feature.
Steer-by-Wire Improvements
Tesla has improved the Steer-by-Wire feedback and response on the Cybertruck’s yoke. This new update should provide more realistic wheel feedback. The feedback will now adapt to different road surfaces for a better driving experience.
That means the response and feedback of the wheel will now be more precise - and also be varied by what kind of terrain you’re driving on.
More Features
One more thing we’d love to see from Tesla regarding the Cybertruck is the ability to drop just one side of the suspension. This is possible in Service Mode, where you can deflate either the front or rear air tanks, thereby inducing a slant to the vehicle.
This makes loading items even easier, as the bottom of the tailgate is now even closer to the ground. Tesla showed off the feature during the Cybertruck’s initial reveal. While the Cybertruck never arrived with its built-in ramp, we’d still love the ability to dip the truck for easier loading.
Another feature that was supposed to arrive for the Cybertruck was related to Steer-by-Wire. Today, the Cybertruck can steer up to 7 degrees, but the actual hard limit for the rear wheels is somewhere between 10 and 14 degrees. We’d love to see Tesla expand the rear wheel steering limits which will help reduce the Cybertruck’s already tight turning circle.
Four-Wheel Steering gives Cybertruck a tighter turning radius than a Model S
At low speeds, rear wheels rotate opposite to the front wheels—enabling tighter maneuvering around the jobsite, parking lots, etc pic.twitter.com/nxDiRTZKEI
![Video Reveals the Cybertruck's Unique User Interface [Video]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/images/news/2023/cybertruck-ui-1_300w.jpg)
