Tesla Addresses Autopilot Recall in Europe & Improves Automatic Emergency Braking in Update 2024.26.8

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Update 2024.26 brought a slew of features such as YouTube Music, but in the latest revisions of 2024.26, Tesla has added a couple more.

Update 2024.26.7 has added an Autopilot change (addressed as a recall) in Europe recall, and 2024.26.8 adds improvements to Automatic Emergency Braking.

European Camera OTA Recall

On build 2024.26.7, Tesla is addressing EU Recall Submission “2024_23366”. This specific recall submission requires that if any vehicle sensors are partially or completely obstructed or blinded, they must be cleared before Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), like Autopilot, are available.

For Teslas, this was an OTA update that simply adds increased checks on the door pillar cameras, and renders Autopilot features unavailable until the cameras are cleaned or unobstructed. This recall is only relevant in the European Union and the UK and does not affect vehicles in North America, China, or other markets.

Automatic Emergency Braking

Meanwhile, build 2024.26.8 adds improvements to Tesla’s Automatic Emergency Braking system. AEB is a vital part of vehicle safety, and Tesla’s AEB system is one of the best. 2024.26.8 expands the scenario set that AEB can respond to.

These additional scenarios aren’t discussed in the vehicle manual or on Tesla’s website anywhere yet, but we expect some deeper notes on when, where, and what these AEB improvements can react to, to show up sometime soon. Either way, it's good to see Tesla is maintaining a focus on safety, even if Teslas are by and far one of the safest vehicles.

Last year Tesla added the ability for AEB to react to perpendicular vehicles instead of just those directly in front of you. They also improved AEB to function in reverse and at higher speeds than before (now up to 124 mph (200 km/h).

Tesla more recently added a set of AEB improvements to MCU1 vehicles, but it’s not clear whether those improvements also include the improvements found in 2024.26.8. One good thing is that AEB is automatically enabled by default on every drive, so these improvements will be ready to keep you safe as soon as you update. With Tesla’s new parental controls, you can also prevent this critical feature from being turned off accidentally.

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Tesla Wireless Charging to Feature Automatic Docking

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla’s upcoming Home Wireless Charging Pad – the so-called “Project Garfield,” will get special Autopark support. Vehicle backup cameras will be able to locate the Wireless Charging Pad and then Autopark the vehicle in the best spot for the charging session to begin.

This information comes from Gizmodo China, who found this information from a reputable local source. We previously looked into Tesla’s Wireless Charging Patents in-depth and how Tesla intends to make this a simple and easy-to-use system, but one that’s also fairly high performance.

Automatic Docking

Similar to your robotic vacuum automatically docking to charge, eventually, your Tesla will be able to automatically locate your Home Wireless Charging Pad, and then maneuver itself into the perfect spot to take advantage of the highest charging speeds with the least energy leakage.

Automatically docking the vehicle is a fantastic solution to the woes of Wireless Charging, where even minor misalignment creates heat and wastes lots of energy. This fixes that issue at the vehicle level, so owners won’t have to move their wireless charging pads under the vehicle or move their vehicle around to find the perfect spot on their own.

In combination with Tesla’s patent to automatically adapt to variations in wireless charging layouts and systems, it seems that Tesla will be able to adapt to most circumstances that previous wireless EV charging companies were having difficulties with. Tesla will be able to vary the coil induction across its Wireless Charging Pad to “steer” or aim the wireless charging at different parts of the inductive coil inside the vehicle, enabling them to reduce heat, reduce waste energy, and accommodate variances in how vehicles line-up with the Wireless Charging Pad.

This feature may be limited to owners or subscribers of Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, which come with AutoPark as a standard feature. It could also be a software-level feature that’s enabled when a Home Wireless Charging Pad is detected nearby—which could also be an excellent option. We don’t know how Tesla plans to implement this just yet, but it will be very cool.

While we expect Tesla’s upcoming Robotaxi to feature the first Wireless Charging tech inside an EV, the Cybertruck already has the connectors for it and is ready to be retrofitted with the induction coils in a future update. The upcoming Model Y Juniper may also bring Wireless Charging en-masse to EVs.

We’re super excited to hear more about Tesla’s Home Wireless Charging Pads, as they’ll add even more convenience to owning a Tesla.

Tesla to Add Smart Child Seat Support to Their Vehicles

By Karan Singh
Rendering of what Tesla's integration could look like
Rendering of what Tesla's integration could look like
@dkrasniy

Tesla is adding support for Smart Child Seats in an upcoming update. Greentheonly, who typically decompiles and analyzes Tesla’s software updates, found references to smart car seats in update 2024.32. Tesla will sometimes release code in a software update that isn’t exposed to end users. There could be various reasons for this, such as Tesla wanting to collect data and running the feature in shadow mode, which is often the case with features like Park Assist, Autopark, or Autopilot changes.

Tesla also has the capability to turn on a certain feature in a remote configuration, letting them enable or disable the feature at their discretion. Whatever the case, Tesla appears close to releasing support for these new car seats that help alert parents of potential dangers.

Smart Child Seats

The Smart Child Seat in the preview image is the Babyark Convertible Car Seat, which retails for approximately $1,200 USD. In the code of Tesla’s update, they specifically refer to an “ISOFIX” base. ISOFIX is a standardized car seat fitting system that automatically locks onto a car seat.

The Babyark comes with a slew of smart features, including real-time notifications, buckle alerts, status notifications, and approximately how much time your baby has spent in the seat. Additionally, the Babyark can remind owners of reconfiguring the seat as your child grows. One of the key features of Babyark is a forgotten child alert – which prevents parents from leaving their child in the car.

At this point, we’re not quite sure exactly how many of these smart features will be integrated into Tesla’s UI, but most likely the forgotten child alert will be integrated, as well as possibly a means to automatically recognize when an ISOFIX style seat is installed. Currently, child seats need to be manually marked in the UI – which will dismiss the seatbelt indicator for that seat.

Tesla has time and time again placed a huge focus on safety features, and this upcoming support for smart child seats is another interesting integration to help ensure that parents can keep their children safe. And when they grow up – you can use Tesla’s parental controls to ensure that they drive their Tesla in a safe manner.

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