Making my model Y safer

I just wanted to share 2 things I added to the car that are working very well for me to make things a bit safer.

1. A rearview mirror fed by a camera over the license plate. This was actually a built in feature of the Venza I sold to get this car. Tesla's mirror was a huge disappointment. Fair warning: It's made for people towing trailers or large vehicles. I had a great collision shop with Tesla experience install it, and they had to drill a hole to get the wire through to mount the camera above the license plate. Now I can SEE behind me WAY better than before.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. A mini screen with information I need to have right in front of my eyes. I was finding looking at the main screen distracting and this solved the problem. Once again, Toyota had Tesla beat on this too, with a heads-up display right on the windshield. This item was also installed by my buddies at Brighton Collision in Rochester, NY. A really great place.
   
   
   

BIG improvements. Highly recommended.

 

[Richard__G]

Can you elaborate more on night time? I would imagine any sort of cameras would be completed blinded by headlights so i'm interested to see how it would perform at night. Any nighttime photo to share?

Some photos of the mirror at night:

Worst case, some jerk with his brights on, on my ass at a red light:

On the road:

At a stop sign on residential street showing them brake lights

 

[Richard__G]

I appreciate the rearview mirror/camera recommendation - perfect for my track car with a big wing obstructing the rear view!

DUDE, I looked at your website. RAD!! I had no idea those types of vehicles even existed.

Thanks! I'm gonna go play!

 

[Dirty Yana]

With all due respect to y'all. The stock rear view mirror SUCKED. It was tiny and dark and barely useful.

Having to distract my eyes from the road to get speed, time, etc., also sucked.

It's one thing to be a Tesla purist, I prefer to make things better. That's just how I roll.

I say this with all due respect to everyone who has helped me so much on the forum. I really appreciate and value this community, but in this case, I will have to agree to disagree.

• It's great at night.
• It has a switch to change the display from rear to front or to a split view of both, side by side.
• The angle of view (higher or lower) can be adjusted by swiping in the screen.
• It has a micro card to record the forward view I think,, but I've not really looked at that.

Looks great. The Tesla rear view mirror is not for everyone. I have to place an aftermarket JDM wide rear view mirror and now can see everything from the backseat and blind spots from the rear. Keep on upgrading as you must. This what makes your Tesla apart from everyone else.

 

[Ratm68]

Some photos of the mirror at night:

Worst case, some jerk with his brights on, on my ass at a red light:

View attachment 998819

On the road:

View attachment 998823

View attachment 998820

View attachment 998821

At a stop sign on residential street showing them brake lights
View attachment 998822

Thanks, indeed they do look quite good at night!

 

[ken_neth]

In a model 3 it isn't that the mirror is too small it's that the view through the rear window is very narrow/small, made so by the interior of the car.
Also, the car's camera app gives us use of the wide angle backup camera. The wide angle will not give an accurate view behind the car on a roadway as it makes judging distances nearly impossible.
I think what Richard has brought us would improve things for M3 owners at least. I have only an M3 so don't speak of the other models.

 

[Richard__G]

Thanks, indeed they do look quite good at night!

I'm happy with it, what else can I say. Works for me.

 

[ram1nath]

I just wanted to share 2 things I added to the car that are working very well for me to make things a bit safer.

1. A rearview mirror fed by a camera over the license plate. This was actually a built in feature of the Venza I sold to get this car. Tesla's mirror was a huge disappointment. Fair warning: It's made for people towing trailers or large vehicles. I had a great collision shop with Tesla experience install it, and they had to drill a hole to get the wire through to mount the camera above the license plate. Now I can SEE behind me WAY better than before.
   
   View attachment 997719 View attachment 997718
   
   
2. A mini screen with information I need to have right in front of my eyes. I was finding looking at the main screen distracting and this solved the problem. Once again, Toyota had Tesla beat on this too, with a heads-up display right on the windshield. This item was also installed by my buddies at Brighton Collision in Rochester, NY. A really great place.
   
   View attachment 997724

BIG improvements. Highly recommended.

I think these are great upgrades, tbh dont think its fair you need to justify these...to each their own, i suppose...yes, Tesla intended absolute minimalism - it works in some & not in others...i think its cool we have the tech we can get to make car more usable for us,,

glad you got someone who can install this rearview camera mirror...this one is a bit tricky to self install

 

[Richard__G]

I think these are great upgrades, tbh dont think its fair you need to justify these...to each their own, i suppose...yes, Tesla intended absolute minimalism - it works in some & not in others...i think its cool we have the tech we can get to make car more usable for us,,

glad you got someone who can install this rearview camera mirror...this one is a bit tricky to self install

Thanks very much for your comments. Yeah, I was a bit surprised at some of the reactions.

Also, I know my limitations, it was indeed tricky and the folks who installed it did a great job.

 

[hyp36rmax]

This thread got me rolling. So much chatter hate from the purist.

First of all NOTHING wrong with making personal improvements for your own car. Second The factory setup is the ideal design Tesla team THINKS works well for most people, doesn’t mean it will.

We can talk about factory color, wheels, suspension and brakes all day long and pull up countless threads people swapping those out, what’s up purist?

Anyways, OP these are thoughtful mods. Front screen to retain critical info within your peripheral vision is a solid recommendation from me too. Less time moving your head away from the road the better.

I also agree MY rear view mirror is useless. I added a wider larger JDM Broadway mirror to mine.

 

[hyp36rmax]

I appreciate the rearview mirror/camera recommendation - perfect for my track car with a big wing obstructing the rear view!

I was thinking the same thing building out a track M3, this is almost a requirement with your GT Swan Neck Wing, more so if one is considering removing the rear glass altogether similar to Evasives Time Attack M3.

 

[Richard__G]

I was thinking the same thing building out a track M3, this is almost a requirement with your GT Swan Neck Wing, more so if one is considering removing the rear glass altogether similar to Evasives Time Attack M3.

You guys blow my mind!

 

[Richard__G]

I was thinking the same thing building out a track M3, this is almost a requirement with your GT Swan Neck Wing, more so if one is considering removing the rear glass altogether similar to Evasives Time Attack M3.

An even better one just came out, I think. It's not totally clear, but I think is uses Tesla's rear view camera. Here.

 

[holmesm1]

Seems like it could be a good upgrade as I agree the factory installed mirror is weak. I question as to what would happen if the video feed were to somehow fail? Would you still see a reflected image? If not, how long have you had it installed, and has it ever failed? We know Teslas can be buggy at times, so the failure may or may not be the failure of the newly installed mirror itself. Thanks for your input, ignore the naysayers. I am truly on the fence about this one.

 

[Richard__G]

The video feed is steady and I'm not at all worried about failure This one seems to tap into the Tesla RV camera which might be an even better option.

Without the camera on, the mirror does NOT reflect anything.

 

[MattM24]

I put the same kind of camera mirror setup in my Y a year or two back. I went with the Autovox T9.
If I were to do it again, I would go with an OEM company like Gentex.

I ended up moving the camera from the rear bumper to inside the car at the bottom of the rear windshield. I did this due to a single raindrop blurring the entire rearview when I had the camera on the bumper.
With the camera in the car (and higher up) you get a more natural position and you can use rainx/Aquapel to still see well in the rain.

The only really annoying part about these cameras is the refresh rate of the camera causing LED headlights to look like they are flashing lights in the daytime.

 

[Dracaris]

Looks good. I like that the additional screen seems low and unlikely to block forward visibility. One question regarding the RVM - were they unable to wire that camera into a power source that is only "on" when you're driving the vehicle? I get that we have huge lithium batteries under the car and it won't hurt those, but I'd sure hate to forget to turn off the camera and come back to a dead 12V battery under the hood, which might cause problems.

 

[Richard__G]

I tried an inside camera mount first, but the tinted glass made it WAY too dark. I've experienced the raindrop problem too. ANNOYING. But still far better than the Tesla mirror.

Looks good. I like that the additional screen seems low and unlikely to block forward visibility. One question regarding the RVM - were they unable to wire that camera into a power source that is only "on" when you're driving the vehicle? I get that we have huge lithium batteries under the car and it won't hurt those, but I'd sure hate to forget to turn off the camera and come back to a dead 12V battery under the hood, which might cause problems.

The screen absolutely y does not impact my forward vision and it displays a large clock which is handy too.. It IS powered off the cigarette lighter and will stay on. BUT, it also has an "off" button, so I'm training myself to use that, though I do forget sometimes.

 

[MattM24]

I tried an inside camera mount first, but the tinted glass made it WAY too dark. I've experienced the raindrop problem too. ANNOYING. But still far better than the Tesla mirror.

The screen absolutely y does not impact my forward vision and it displays a large clock which is handy too.. It IS powered off the cigarette lighter and will stay on. BUT, it also has an "off" button, so I'm training myself to use that, though I do forget sometimes.

I built a housing for the camera and felt lined it black, so the only light coming through is from outside the car. Works well. Definitely not as bright as when it was on the bumper, but overall works better for me.

 

[MattM24]

Seems like it could be a good upgrade as I agree the factory installed mirror is weak. I question as to what would happen if the video feed were to somehow fail? Would you still see a reflected image? If not, how long have you had it installed, and has it ever failed? We know Teslas can be buggy at times, so the failure may or may not be the failure of the newly installed mirror itself. Thanks for your input, ignore the naysayers. I am truly on the fence about this one.

If you’re worried about failure, carry one of those wide angle mirrors that snaps over existing mirrors with you or just turn on the Tesla rear camera on the Tesla screen.
Angle the mirror camera towards you and away from the back glass, if you don’t want reflections pointing at you.

 

[Richard__G]

I built a housing for the camera and felt lined it black, so the only light coming through is from outside the car. Works well. Definitely not as bright as when it was on the bumper, but overall works better for me.

Interesting. Does your rear window have tinted glass? That's what killed that approach for me.. The camera image was way too dark.