One of Tesla’s latest features included in the 2021.24.4 release is Car Wash Mode. The feature was initially available for all Model 3 and Model Y vehicles and it has more recently been added to the redesigned Model S and Model X. Unfortunately, it’s not available for the older Model S or Model X models.
For the most part, this feature doesn't add anything new. You could already turn off most of these car wash related features manually, but using Car Wash Mode makes it much easier. It also provides a useful status of each feature that is relevant during a car wash so that you can use it as a checklist.
Car Wash Mode can help prevent damage to cars for many owners when using automatic car washes. For example, it’ll lock your charge port door to prevent it from opening when a brush pushes against it. It also disables your wipers, preventing them from coming on and getting tangled or caught in a car wash’s felt strips.
After arriving at a car wash, you can enable Car Wash Mode by going to Car Controls > Service > Car Wash Mode. The car will immediately perform a variety of things for you to get your car ready.
Your vehicle will automatically close your windows and other things to prevent water from getting into the car. This includes the charge port, windows and if your car is equipped with an automatic trunk, it’ll close the trunk for you as well.
It does quite a bit more than just close your windows for you though. It’ll disable your wipers, lock the charge port door, turn off Sentry Mode, disable walk-away door locking and even disable the parking sensor chimes to prevent unwanted beeping during the car wash.
For automatic car washes that use conveyor belts, you will need to put your Tesla into neutral. Now, if you’ve never done that before, it’s not very obvious how to do it in a Tesla.
It requires you to have your foot on the brake pedal while pushing the gear stalk up or down and holding it for a second. Car Wash Mode now makes it very easy to get your car into Neutral. There’s an “Enable Free Roll” button that you can easily tap in Car Wash Mode. You'll need to be in drive and have your foot on the brake pedal for the button to be enabled. No need to mess with the gear stalk anymore.
One of the nicest features of Car Wash Mode is the great overview it gives you of your car and all of its features that are relevant during an automatic car wash.
It’ll display a list of each feature and give you a red or green status light to alert you of any issues. For example, if you left your trunk open, it would show a red light and display “Trunk: Open.”
It’s sort of a car wash checklist with a live status for each feature. It’ll even show you the status of the climate system, which you likely want to turn off or set to recirculating while in the car wash.
On the Car Wash Mode screen, you also have easy access to Screen Clean Mode and the ability to fold your mirrors if needed.
You can exit Car Wash Mode by tapping the exit button or simply by putting your car into Drive and going above 10 MPH.
Car Wash Mode is a nice addition that certainly doesn’t do anything you couldn’t do before, but it sure makes it easier and more enjoyable.
Last night, Tesla released software update 2024.45.25.15, which includes FSD V12.6.1. This update adds support for all HW3 vehicles, including the Model 3 and Model Y. We’re excited to see the continued support for HW3 owners.
FSD V12.6.1
V12.6.1 is now going wide, according to Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI. This update is going to the Model 3 and Model Y for the first time - as only the Model S and Model X were included in FSD V12.6.
V12.6 is a big step forward for HW3 - it includes End-to-End on Highway, Improved City Streets Behavior, and Smoother and More Accurate Tracking - all contributing towards a better, smoother, and more comfortable build of FSD. You can read our comparison between FSD V12.6 and V13.2.2 here.
In short, FSD V12.6 performs considerably closer to V13 than V12.5.4.2 - which is a massive improvement. It performs as well as the Cybertruck version of FSD V13, which is still missing a few features when compared to other HW4 vehicles, but it’s a great sign for HW3. A lot of the improvements can be pointed to in the improvements to lane selection and decision-making - the vehicle tends to hesitate far less on V12.6, meaning the ride is a lot smoother. Many early V12.6 testers mentioned that it felt more like V13-mini than anything else.
Legacy Model S & X
We haven’t seen this update hit any legacy Model S and Model X vehicles just yet. We’re not sure whether Ashok’s statement of “generally” applies here - but it should. If you do get the update, please let us know.
Legacy Model S and Model X vehicles are still on an older FSD build and potentially won’t see another FSD update for a little while longer. While they do have the same FSD hardware as other vehicles, there are enough hardware differences that require a build specifically for these vehicles.
FSD V12.6.1 is going out now to the redesigned Model S and X with HW3 and all Model 3 and Model Y vehicles with HW3. The initial wave went out last night, and we expect to see more later today or tomorrow. If this release ends up going “wide,” we should see much larger waves go out next week.
Tesla has issued a recall for some vehicles due to issues linked to a revision of the Hardware 4 (HW4) computer that was introduced this past November. This recall affects all vehicles with the revised hardware except for the Cybertruck, as it uses a slightly modified version of the HW4 system.
Many vehicle owners have reported a complete failure of their Autopilot computer, which not only leaves the vehicle without FSD and Autopilot but also disables many of the active safety features that make a Tesla what it is.
Let’s take a look at this recall - because the recall is partially physical and partially a software recall.
HW4 Failure
Tesla has identified the failure and flagged it to the U.S. NHTSA (but not Transport Canada or Euro NCAP at the time of publishing) as a recall.
Tesla mentions that the vehicle’s FSD computer circuit board may short circuit, resulting in the loss of the rearview camera image. The recall itself is focused on the rearview camera - as not having a functional rearview camera breaks a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. However, it does impact more than just the rearview camera.
As previously mentioned, users have experienced the full loss of Autopilot and FSD on these vehicles, as well as reduced traction control and removal of safety features such as automatic emergency braking, collision avoidance assist, and forward collision warnings.
While the vehicle remains driveable, it is not necessarily a good idea to drive the vehicle with many of these features, especially with the reduced traction control noted by many people. We’ve already noted that while Tesla has been sending tow trucks to pick up some vehicles, it is also prompting owners to drive the vehicle to their service center in some cases.
Remedy
Unlike most of Tesla’s recalls, this one isn’t entirely an OTA recall, owing to the fact that people have already experienced circuit board shorts and are already waiting for replacements.
The software portion of the recall has already been mostly completed for any vehicles with Tesla software update 2024.45.25.3 or greater. However, a significant portion of the tracked fleet remains on update 2024.44.25.2 (approximately 20%), so we recommend updating your HW4 vehicle whenever you receive the notification.
On the hardware side, Tesla is immediately identifying and replacing hardware that has had circuit board failure. Tesla is also reaching out to customers who have expressed intermittent issues with Autopilot features, active safety features, or vehicle cameras that don't display correctly. If you have experienced any of these issues in a late 2024 vehicle, we recommend submitting a service ticket with Tesla to ensure that your vehicle isn’t affected by this recall.
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