Does anyone have a 3 or Y without ultrasonic sensors?

Does anyone have a 3 or Y without ultrasonic sensors?

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LivLL

Original Poster:

10,839 posts

197 months

Friday 3rd February 2023
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Does anyone have experience driving a 3 or Y new enough to come without the ultrasonic sensors?

With the price drop and easy availability of new inventory stock + low PCP interest rate I'm really tempted with a Model 3 but this has me wondering if I need to wait.

If you have one of the newer ones, how does it work when parking and what does it look like on screen compared to a car with the sensors?

cossey

149 posts

189 months

Saturday 4th February 2023
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for the model Y at least there is no visualisation of anything on the screen.

reversing gets you a good view view from the main camera on the boot and down the side view from the two cameras on the front wings.
Going forwards you get nothing and the steep drop on the bonnet means that it is quite difficult to judge the distance compared to most other cars. the front vision camera is not too badly placed and with some clever software they might be able to get emulation of parking sensors but I suspect it will be another Teslaism where they are never as good as the sensor they replaced (like the auto windscreen wipers). They are supposedly testing the software on cars that still have the sensors as someone found out that even with the sensors unplugged it still still showed as if they were working but there seems to be no timeline for when they will sign it off for the sensorless cars.

They are not small cars in footprint so you will be generally using all the parking space and needing to get quite close. if you can reverse park it is not too bad. Forwards is pretty pathetic.

it is a shame as there is a lot of good stuff about the rest of the car (the powertrain is borderline miraculous)


LivLL

Original Poster:

10,839 posts

197 months

Saturday 4th February 2023
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Thanks Cossey, I was struggling to find the reality on the forums as many of the more enthusiastic Tesla owners who don't actually have cars without sensors have posted that the software has been updated and shown screenshots which then turn out to be photos from cars with sensors.

I understand there's a fairly large dead zone at the front where the camera can't see but though they might just map the distances as the car drives up to obstacles.

Is there anything in the owners manual built into your car about it?

somouk

1,425 posts

198 months

Saturday 4th February 2023
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I've got one without sensors. Not hit anything yet but it did take a fair amount of training to stop and look at the camera instead of listening for a beep when reversing.

The front isn't too bad, my last car (Cupra Formentor) didn't have front sensors either and a massive bonnet so I'm used to being aware of the front of the car.

LivLL

Original Poster:

10,839 posts

197 months

Sunday 5th February 2023
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Thanks folks, I’ll take a break until they sort the software out I think. I’ve had a look at the nearly new used market to get one with the sensors but these cars don’t bear abuse well and most of the late used model 3 seem to have had hard lives with stone chips and trim damage.

Hopefully it’s a feature most folks want back so should come in an update fairly quickly.


somouk

1,425 posts

198 months

Sunday 5th February 2023
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LivLL said:
Thanks folks, I’ll take a break until they sort the software out I think. I’ve had a look at the nearly new used market to get one with the sensors but these cars don’t bear abuse well and most of the late used model 3 seem to have had hard lives with stone chips and trim damage.

Hopefully it’s a feature most folks want back so should come in an update fairly quickly.
Something was meant to arrive in Jan 23 but hasn't. I suspect we'll see it in the bigger Q1 update at some point.

LivLL

Original Poster:

10,839 posts

197 months

Sunday 5th February 2023
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Fingers crossed, this is all it says on the UK Tesla site though

Tesla UK said:
Tesla Vision Update:
Replacing Ultrasonic Sensors with Tesla Vision
Safety is at the core of our design and engineering decisions. In 2021, we began our transition to Tesla Vision by removing radar from Model 3 and Model Y, followed by Model S and Model X in 2022. Today, in most regions around the globe, these vehicles now rely on Tesla Vision, our camera-based Autopilot system.

Since launch, we have continued to make incremental improvements in both feature parity and safety. Compared to radar-equipped vehicles, Model 3 and Model Y with Tesla Vision have either maintained or improved their active safety ratings in the US and Europe, and perform better in pedestrian automatic emergency braking (AEB) intervention.

Today, we are taking the next step in Tesla Vision by removing ultrasonic sensors (USS) from Model 3 and Model Y. We will continue this rollout with Model 3 and Model Y, globally, over the next few months, followed by Model S and Model X throughout 2023.

Along with the removal of USS, we have simultaneously launched our vision-based occupancy network – currently used in Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta – to replace the inputs generated by USS. With today’s software, this approach gives Autopilot high-definition spatial positioning, longer range visibility and ability to identify and differentiate between objects. As with many Tesla features, our occupancy network will continue to improve rapidly over time.

For a short period of time during this transition, Tesla Vision vehicles that are not equipped with USS will be delivered with some features temporarily limited or inactive, including:

Park Assist: alerts you of surrounding objects when the vehicle is traveling <5 mph.
Autopark: automatically maneuvers into parallel or perpendicular parking spaces.
Summon: manually moves your vehicle forward or in reverse via the Tesla app.
Smart Summon: navigates your vehicle to your location or location of your choice via the Tesla app.
In the near future, once these features achieve performance parity to today’s vehicles, they will be restored via a series of over-the-air software updates. All other available Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving capability features will be active at delivery, depending on order configuration.

Given the incremental improvements already achieved with Tesla Vision, and our roadmap of future Autopilot improvements and abilities, we are confident that this is the best strategy for the future of Autopilot and the safety of our customers.
I'm still looking out for a late 2022 3 that has the sensors in the meantime.

z4RRSchris

11,285 posts

179 months

Monday 27th February 2023
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mine doesent have them, its fking annoying at the front

LivLL

Original Poster:

10,839 posts

197 months

Monday 27th February 2023
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I’ve left it for now Chris, price 2nd hand are all over the place and they need to sort of this issue before I’ll look again at buying a new one.