By Emergency Braking, I’m not talking about Tesla’s built in Collision Avoidance. This Emergency Brake can be used when parking on a hill or other steep incline - OR - if you are driving and your brake pedal is failing.
Parking on a Hill
Like all cars, when parking on a hill it is advised to turn your steering wheel so if your car was to accidentally roll, it would roll away from traffic and not into traffic. It is also advised to enable your Emergency Brake. When you put your car in Park, it stops the rear wheels from turning. That may not be good enough on snow and ice or an incline. When you push on the end of the PRND stock, you put your car in Park. If you push and hold, it will also engage the Emergency Brakes making it even harder for your car to roll. When the Emergency Brakes are applied the ((P)) icon will be displayed. When ready to drive, just do as normal and put car in “R” or “D”.
Driving and car not slowing or stopping
Push on the Park button while car is moving, and brakes will be applied. Like going down a hill too fast. An Emergency.
Hear are two YouTube videos that will help explain.
How to use the e-brake when parking:
How to use the e-brake while driving:
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest Tesla news, upcoming features and software updates.
Tesla’s Service Mode, a feature that allows both users and technicians to diagnose and view vehicle information, has had several features added to it recently. Chief among them for everyday Tesla owners is a health meter for your vehicle’s Cabin Filter.
Cabin Filter Health
The update displays a “Cabin Filter Health” UI in the HVAC section of Service Mode. This health readout is shown as a percentage of health, with a lower number indicating that the cabin filter needs to be replaced. However, we’ve also seen some users report they had a value over 100%. The health meter is intended to provide an approximation of the useful life of your Cabin Air filter.
Tesla likely approximates the health of the cabin filter based on the filter's age and how many hours the HVAC system has been used. It may also consider the fan speed of the HVAC system to account for higher airflow through the filter.
When to Replace
In general, Tesla recommends replacing the Cabin Air Filter every 2 years, and that the HEPA filter, for vehicles with access to Bio-Weapon Defence Mode, be replaced every 3 years, but this can vary depending on usage and the amount of debris going into the cabin.
Tesla is one of the few manufacturers, if not the only one, that runs air continuously through the cabin filter, regardless if it’s coming in from the outside or inside the vehicle when the recirculating air option is on. This helps the air inside the vehicle to become cleaner as it continues to be filtered.
How to Replace
The Cabin and HEPA Air filter replacement procedure is straightforward and could be a DIY task. Tesla provides instructions on a model-by-model basis on how to replace them, but in general, the basic steps are below.
The filter replacements can differ based on model year as well. High-voltage connections are also passing through the HVAC module, so extra caution is needed. We recommend reading your vehicle’s specific instructions before proceeding. They will advise against touching any electrical connections.
Basic Replacement Instructions
1. Turn off Climate Control
2. Remove the passenger-side floor mat and move the seat fully back.
3. Use a pry tool to release the clips that hold the right-side front footwell cover to the instrument panel, and then disconnect the two electrical connectors inside.
4. Working from top-to-bottom, use a trim tool to release the right-side panel from the center console.
5. A single T20 screw secures the cabin filter cover, remove the screw and cover.
6. Fold the 2 tabs securing the filter away, and then pull the upper and lower filters out.
7. Ensure that the arrows on the new filters face towards the rear of the vehicle, and install them.
8. Proceed through steps 6-1 in reverse to reassemble.
Once again, these steps vary by vehicle configuration, model year, and do not apply to legacy vehicles without a heat pump.
Tesla’s Autowipers have been a long-standing issue for customers, as well as Tesla’s engineers. Elon Musk has often mentioned that improvements to Autowipers have been around the corner for years, but they appear to have taken a rain check.
Tesla owners often complain that their wipers are running against a completely dry windshield on a sunny day, or not running at all in light rain. Moderate to heavy rain performance seems to be improved for the most recent update to Auto Wipers.
In our test, we cover the vehicle's windshield with Post-It notes to find out what the vehicle’s cameras can see.
We cover the windshield in Post-It notes
Not a Tesla App
The Water Problem
Tesla vehicles lack a rain sensor. This is a result of Tesla’s strategy to rely upon Tesla Vision to replace all sensors – which they’ve successfully used most recently to replace the ultrasonic parking sensors (USS) on their vehicles. Tesla believes that vision is the solution to achieving all self-driving capabilities, and this includes the elimination of extraneous sensors such as USS and radar.
Of course, many other vehicles employ simple rain sensors that do function fairly well, and effectively detect the presence of water on the windshield. So, what’s stopping Tesla Vision from doing the same thing?
The problem isn’t Tesla’s detection methods, it’s the view of the windshield Tesla has. Water droplets are small and the three front cameras only capture a small portion of the entire windshield, making it difficult for them to capture and acknowledge the fact that there is water on the windshield that needs to be wiped away. This is in addition to the fact that the cameras are focused further away, to drive and navigate the vehicle effectively, rendering the visuals close to the camera blurry – leaving a rather technical challenge.
Our Test
The car's wide-angle camera
Not a Tesla App
Even Tesla’s front-facing, wide-angle camera can barely see the yellow Post-In notes in our test, let alone the blue Post-It notes spread through the windshield. Tesla’s other front-facing camera, the “main” camera, see only see a trace of the Post-Its along the bottom. In reality, Tesla has no idea what’s on the vehicle's windshield and can only make assumptions based on a few square inches near the top of the windshield.
Tesla's main camera view
Not a Tesla App
Tesla’s third front-facing camera, the “narrow” view, is only available on hardware 3 and it’s just a zoomed-in version of the main camera, which causes it to miss our Post-It notes completely. With hardware 4, Tesla removed the narrow camera and now determines the narrow view by cropping the main camera, which has a higher resolution in hardware 4.
Tesla’s Engineering Magic
Tesla is able to detect drops on the windshield when they land in front of the camera cluster, but again, since the cluster is mounted high above most of the windshield, this can lead to the windshield filling up with water droplets before a wipe is triggered.
They’ve also tried using the vehicle’s other cameras, such as the repeater or B-pillar cameras to detect falling rain – which can help the Autowiper system build confidence that there is water on the windshield. Once it has enough confidence, it triggers a wipe – or changes the wipe modes. However, in reality, it has very little knowledge of what’s actually on the windshield.
Wiping Away Challenges
The transition to entirely vision has left a considerable challenge for Tesla’s very capable engineering teams. The current Autopilot hardware suite lacks a good view of the windshield itself, but it can detect falling rain. Given that Tesla’s software can detect and display other vehicles using turn signals, it is also possible that they could detect other vehicles using wipers or use other cameras to see rain on the vehicle, such as the B-pillar cameras, to increase the system’s confidence that a wipe is required.
However, these solutions are likely to not be perfect, as they don’t provide an accurate representation of what the driver sees in the windshield, but instead an accurate representation of what the vehicle itself can see.
When engaging FSD on a lightly rainy day, your car may drive perfectly, but you’ll have a windshield full of rain when supervising!
Of course, there are many other reasons to run the windshield wipers beyond simple rain – spray and debris from vehicles in front, water falling from trees or being kicked up by deep puddles, or even snow settling on the windshield. Another challenge is bugs – they leave sticky smears at higher speeds when impacting the windshield, causing spots that can impede either vehicle vision or driver vision.
Future Solutions
Tesla likes to avoid solutions that only solve a single problem – such as adding a rain sensor. It is an additional manufacturing complication, adds additional cost to vehicles, and segments Tesla’s vehicles between model years.
On the other hand, cameras have solved many problems over the years – such as Tesla Vision taking over from the USS system that was present on pre-2022 Tesla vehicles. While it did take until FSD V12 for Autopark to become available to vision-only vehicles, the upgraded Vision-based Autopark is a marked improvement over the older USS solution.
Another such problem has been auto-high beams, which were solved with better oncoming vehicle detection and improved AI – which has led to a feature that is much better than its original implementation. This updated implementation has also led to improvements in the use of Matrix headlights – a feature that for now is only available in Europe and China due to legislative issues in the US.
Tesla is most likely going to be pushing another hardware revision – Hardware 5 – in the coming years. Some of the indications of this include the Cybertruck’s bumper camera – which is also expected to arrive in the Model X and Model S in the future.
There is a chance that Tesla may include a forward-facing interior at some point – to solve the fact that Vision is unable to currently see the windshield. However, Tesla also strongly believes they’ll achieve level 4 or 5 of vehicle autonomy in the future, so they could also be banking on autonomy removing the need for good auto wipers.
A Personal Example
If you get into your Tesla on a rainy day or add some drizzle via a watering jug, you can see how Tesla’s Autowipers will not activate unless water is placed directly in front of the camera cluster. You can also spray some water onto the camera housing and take a seat inside and use the camera preview to view what the cameras can see. It’ll provide you with a blurry, limited view of what the cameras see.
We may see further software improvements, but it may be a difficult engineering problem to solve with the limited camera capabilities that currently exist on hardware 3 and hardware 4 vehicles.
TeslaFi logs your drives and charging sessions, letting you keep a log of your vehice's activity. We highly recommend checking them out if you use your car for business trips and would like to keep track of reimbursements, if you like to see how much you spend on charging or if you just love statistics. Visit their site and see everything they have to offer!
Tesla Android Project enables you to run Android apps in your Tesla. The platform is Open Source and you can deploy it on your own Raspberry Pi 4. Consider supporting the initiative by donating or purchasing the Compute Module 4 Bundle that delivers the best experience. Get $20 off by using the code: NotATeslaApp
The official Tesla app only notifies you if your car is broken into. By installing Sentry Pro on your phone, you will be notified for all Sentry Mode events. Stay connected and avoid potential surprises by receiving notifications. Stop constantly checking the cameras to ensure safety. Check only when necessary, save battery and get peace of mind. Get a 7 day free trial here!
Stay organized, connected, and stylish with Cyberbackpack — the #1 backpack, luggage & travel accessories for Tesla owners. We highly recommend checking them out if you commute or travel and would like a backpack or luggage that is sleek, secure and durable. View their products page and see everything they have to offer!
![How Much Does FSD Rely on Map Data? Maybe More Than You Think [Video]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/img/containers/article_images/fsd-beta/fsd-visualization-map-data.jpg/be2a799c6e680943ed51669461e46160.jpg)
