Tesla's Model Y is on track to be the best-selling passenger vehicle in the world, but it can't come soon enough for the company's Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen. The 54-year-old father of two wouldn't put his family in anything other than a Tesla for several reasons, but one stands higher than the rest — safety.
Tesla has a lot of selling points, zero emissions, cutting-edge technology, incredible performance, and fantastic style, but von Holzhausen thinks its most significant selling point should be safety. "(Teslas are) far safer than any other car out on the road. I have a family with kids, and I shudder to think of putting my kids in any other car because it's less safe."
The designer of the Model Y, as well as the Model S, X and 3, said on theRide the Lightning podcast, "if you want to do the right thing for your family and have the lowest probability of injury, then you have to put them in a Tesla."
Teslas Are Upto 10 Times Safer
Driving a Tesla on Autopilot is ten times safer than the average vehicle. Even without Autopilot engaged, Teslas are 2.5 times safer than the average vehicle. Also, Tesla has received several safety accolades and five-star crash reports. The company also improved the function of the seatbelt and is adding a better hazard light system.
Like many of us, von Holzhausen saw the astonishing images of the horrific crash in northern California over the holidays. A Model Y plunged 250 feet off a cliff, rolling to a rocky beach. Fire responders called it a miracle when all four occupants survived. In fact, the children were unharmed, and two adults were treated for minor injuries. It was later determined the driver intended to crash the vehicle and was charged with attempted murder. "Even when somebody wasn't looking out for their family, Tesla was," said von Holzhausen.
Examples of Tesla's Safety
Rhys Samson shared his story on Twitter of his family walking away from this crash
@samsonusmc
That crash got a lot of coverage, but it caused many Tesla owners to share grim pictures of crashed Teslas, but the occupants survived. Twitter user, @cybrtrkguy posted several crash images, @TeslaShawn responded with a picture of his mangled Model X and posted: I survived head on drunk driver. While @samsonusmc shared a picture of a Model 3 that was t-boned, he posted: This is why I own @Tesla. My family walked away with just scratches from this.
Elon Musk has repeatedly stated that he believes full self-driving, autonomous vehicles will save countless people from injury and death on our roadways. He's right, but Tesla is already saving lives, and the company is still improving and producing better and safer vehicles.
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest Tesla news, upcoming features and software updates.
Sentry Mode is an invaluable tool for owners - capable of keeping the vehicle safe and secure even when you’re not around. This is especially true in recent times, with the misguided and unfortunate incidents surrounding Tesla ownership, including damage to Tesla vehicles, showrooms, and Superchargers.
B-pillar Camera Recording and Dashcam Viewer
With the 2025 Spring Update on 2025.14, Tesla is expanding Sentry Mode’s functionality for certain vehicles with some much-needed changes. Sentry Mode and Dashcam can now record footage from the vehicle’s B-pillar cameras. These cameras are located on the side pillars of the vehicle, between the front and rear doors.
This adds two crucially needed viewpoints, making Tesla’s Sentry Mode a truly 360-degree security system. These cameras also provide the best angles for capturing license plates when parked, so they will be greatly appreciated by owners in the event of an incident.
These vehicles are also receiving an improved Dashcam Viewer, which now displays the six camera feeds along the bottom and allows users to jump back or forward in the video in 15-second increments. Tesla also added a little popup in the top-right corner that lets users jump to the next video.
However, to the disappointment of many owners, not all vehicles are receiving these updates due to the additional processing power needed.
Limited to Hardware 4 Vehicles, Ryzen Isn’t Enough
We have confirmed that Tesla is only adding the additional camera recording and improved Dashcam Viewer on hardware 4 (HW4 / AI4) vehicles. The newer hardware presumably has the additional processing power and bandwidth needed to handle recording and saving the two additional video streams during Sentry Mode and Dashcam.
For the time being, owners of HW3 vehicles are not receiving this feature. This includes all vehicles with HW3, even those with AMD Ryzen infotainment systems. If you’re not sure whether your vehicle has HW3 or HW4, you can refer to our FSD hardware guide.
While there’s no doubt that recording two additional camera streams would be more computationally intensive, we hope that Tesla adds the improved Dashcam Viewer to HW3 vehicles in a future update.
Cybertruck Also Missing Improved Sentry Mode
Surprisingly, and most confusing for many - is the fact that the Cybertruck is also not receiving the improved Dashcam Viewer and B-pillar camera recording with this update. This struck us as odd, especially since the Cybertruck is currently the only vehicle with the improved, more efficient version of Sentry Mode.
Every Cybertruck is equipped with HW4 and AMD Ryzen infotainment units, so this clearly isn’t a hardware restriction. It’s possible the more efficient Sentry Mode is playing a role here due to the infrastructure changes. However, we expect Tesla to address this in a future update and eventually release these features for the Cybertruck as well.
Given the Cybertruck’s high visibility and its status as a frequent target for both positive and negative attention, many owners hoped that the Cybertruck would be one of the vehicles to receive this feature.
Adaptive Headlights
Tesla finally started rolling out its adaptive headlights in North America. While the new Model Y already came with the feature when it was released last month, other vehicles with matrix headlights are now receiving the feature in the Spring Update.
All vehicles with matrix headlights are receiving this feature, which includes the new and old Model 3, first-gen Model Y, and the new Model S and Model X.
If you’re not sure if your vehicle includes matrix headlights, check out our guide. What’s interesting here is that older vehicles that were retrofitted with matrix headlights due to an accident or user replacement are also receiving the adaptive headlights feature.
Legacy Model S & Model X
As with most updates, the older legacy Model S and Model X are not receiving all the features included in this update. Unfortunately, some of the features, which include the Blind Spot Camera on the instrument cluster, Save Trunk Height Based on Location and Keep Accessory Power On are limited to the new Model S and X.
Legacy S and X models will receive the Alternative Trip Plans feature, Avoid Highways (Requires Intel MCU) and the Keyboard Languages feature.
These vehicles are also receiving all the vehicles in the Minor Updates section except for the visualization showing how far the door is opened, which is exclusive to the Cybertruck. These additions include improved music search results, contact photos in the phone app, automatic connecting to hotspots, the ability to show third-party chargers, view Supercharger amenities, and various improvements to music services.
While many users will be disappointed not to receive the B-pillar camera recording and Dashcam Viewer improvements, it’s important to remember that Tesla typically does a great job at bringing features to older vehicles, at least with the Model 3 and Model Y. If a feature isn’t added, it’s usually due to a hardware limitation.
Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, recently took to X and opened the floor for user input. There, he asked the community for features and improvements they’d like to see to make Teslas better heading into 2026.
This post generated thousands of suggestions - and we recapped the best of them. There were also a few that Lars responded to, giving owners hope for some much-requested future changes, so let’s take a look at what may be coming
Today, lumbar support is one of the few items that is not saved in the Tesla profile. That means if you have multiple drivers who use the same vehicle, you’re often left adjusting this setting manually, as it retains the setting that was last used. One community member suggested saving your lumbar setting to your profile just like Tesla does for other seat settings.
Lars said making this change seems doable, but it’ll take some engineering magic. The lumbar support isn’t tied to an absolute sensor like the other seat settings. This suggests that Tesla does not have an exact value to save, as it does with other seat functions, but Lars believes Tesla can find a way to save lumbar preferences. Tesla could potentially time how long the motor runs to get to the user’s lumbar setting and save this value.
With that said, it seems the vehicle engineering team may take a look at this one, and we may see it included in a future update.
Model 3 Signal Stalk Retrofit
The move away from traditional stalks in favor of the steering wheel buttons on the Refreshed Model 3 has been a point of debate. While the author is squarely in the camp of steering wheel buttons (at least with the Cybertruck), many dissent and say that the buttons on the Refreshed 3 aren’t as satisfying or easy to use.
Many other drivers also prefer the tactile feel and muscle memory of a physical stalk for signaling. Tesla appears to favor stalks, as they retained the turn signal stalk with the new Model Y. There are also rumors that Tesla is going to reintroduce the turn signal stalk to the Model 3.
If Tesla adds stalks back to the new Model 3, current 2024+ Model 3 owners are still left without stalks. However, a user suggested adding stalks as a retrofit option. Lars said that he would try to consider a retrofitted signal stalk for the Refreshed Model 3, similar to the simplified version in the Refreshed Model Y.
While less definitive than the lumbar support response, it appears that Tesla may at least consider offering a stalk retrofit for the new Model 3. If you’re a lover of signal stalks and can’t wait for Tesla to get an official one - we recommend the Enhauto S3XY Stalks, which are customizable and feel very close to Tesla’s original fit and finish.
With that said, it’s nice to see Tesla incorporating more community feedback into its vehicle design these days. Perhaps one day, they’ll address the infamous auto wipers. They have gotten better, but they’re still not as reliable as what’s available in most other vehicles. With that said, we look forward to the changes that will emerge from these recent conversations.
