Tesla adds improvements to vision only cars

July 6, 2021

By Nuno Cristovao

Tesla has doubled-down on vision as they realize they can’t rely on a matrix of sensors in order to produce an accurate representation of the real world, which is required to achieve full self-driving.

With this information in hand, Tesla released their first vehicles without radar earlier this year. If you have a Model 3 or Model Y produced in May or later of 2021 in the US, then you have a vision only car that does not rely on radar.

Unfortunately, the down side to these vehicles right now is that the software hasn’t caught up with the functionality radar was providing yet.

Tesla adds Smart Summon to vision only cars

There are many nuances between cars with radar and those without, but there are some major features that are missing from radar-less cars. Some of the missing features were Smart Summon and Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance. The cars were also limited to a maximum speed of 75 MPH (120 KPH) while on Autopilot, compared to a limit of 90 MPH for cars with radar.

That is until now. Tesla has apparently been working on adding these features back as quickly as possible for these newest vehicles. With software updates 2021.4.18.10 and 2021.4.18.11 Tesla has now added Smart Summon and Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance back to vision only vehicles. The maximum speed while on Autopilot has also been increased to 80 MPH in this release, up from 75 MPH.

These features appear to work very similarly to vehicles equipped with radar and Tesla is essentially recreating what radar provided (distance from objects) with image processing. Andrej Karpathy spoke at a conference two weeks ago where he described how Tesla is using vision to determine the distance of objects. It’s an interesting talk if you’re interested in some of the latest information on how Tesla is trying to achieve FSD.

With these major features added back to vision-only cars, Tesla has just about reached feature parity with cars that contain a radar sensor in just a short few months. The speed maximum limit while on Autopilot is still slightly below cars with radar, but 80 MPH seems to be very reasonable.

It’s clear that Tesla believes the future is vision and they will not be relying on other sensors such as radar. As software continues to improve and Tesla is able to more accurately represent distance with vision only, we expect all cars to move to a vision-only system and for radars to be disabled on older vehicles.

Tesla Introduces Hands-Free Frunk Opening in Update 2024.32.3

September 7, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

In Tesla’s upcoming update, 2024.32.3, Tesla has added hands-free support for opening the vehicle’s frunk. This follows the Spring Update (2024.14), which added Hands-Free Trunk support for certain vehicles.

When hands-free trunk support was added earlier this year, it was supported on vehicles that include an ultra wideband chip, which includes the refresh Model S, new Model X, and the 2024 Model 3. Due to the hardware requirement, these will be the same vehicles that support the new Hands-Free Frunk feature. Legacy vehicles without UWB will unfortunately not support either feature due to the hardware requirement. UWB enables far more accurate tracking of the phone key, allowing Tesla to pinpoint its exact location relative to the vehicle.

The Cybertruck interestingly also includes an ultra wideband chip, however, it didn’t include the automatic opening of the gate earlier this year. However, we expect the Cybertruck to also receive the hands-free frunk opening in this 2024.32.3 update or relatively soon afterward.

Update: The Cybertruck is receiving hands-free frunk support in the 2024.32 update as well.

Hands-Free Frunk

The Hands-Free Frunk works similarly to the trunk feature – with an iPhone 11+ and a recent version of the app, you’ll be able to stand in front of your vehicle, and the Frunk will unlatch after sounding a chime. On some vehicles, the frunk will immediately open after being unlatched, however, you’ll need to manually close it.

This new feature isn’t enabled by default – you’ll need to go to Settings > Locks > Hands-Free Frunk to enable it.

At this time, Tesla doesn’t support UWB on Android devices, though both the Hands-Free Trunk and Hands-Free Frunk support will come to Android users in a future app update, according to Tesla.

Exclude Home

With the addition of the hands-free frunk opening, Tesla has also added a new option. You can now choose to disable the automatic opening when your vehicle is located at home to prevent you from accidentally opening. This will apply to the automatic frunk and trunk. In addition, in the Model X, you’ll also be able to disable the self-presenting doors at home. This is a great addition as many people have kept the hands-free feature disabled due to it awkwardly opening in the garage.

In the 2024.32.3 update, Tesla also mentions that they’ve improved the detection of the phone key, which should make the feature more reliable and faster when approaching the vehicle from the front or rear.

Tesla’s Referral Program Launches in Europe

September 6, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Following its recent launch in the United States and Canada, Tesla has launched their referral program in several European countries as well.

The program is available in Germany, Norway, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and possibly others. The program is almost the same as the one available today in North America, with rewards for each referral and a discount for those referred. The cap in Europe is also ten per year.

This program comes right on the heels of a 0% financing offer for the Model Y in Sweden and France. While referrals aren't currently available in Sweden, the 0% financing still is.

European Referrals

The European Referral program accounts for country and local currency, where applicable.

Country	Referral Discount	Referral Award
UK	£1,000	£500
Germany, France, Netherlands	€1,000	€500
Norway	kr11,500	kr5,750

The referral reward program is comparable to the one available in North America. After exchange rates, there is only an approximately 10% difference between the available rewards in the US and EU.

Other Countries

We expect this program to start rolling out to other European countries over the next few days or weeks, as Tesla continues to expand its referral program.