Using parking sensors

[Larry]

Got my S in late Sept with Parking Sensors. They've been working fine that I was aware of but I just noticed that when I am in reverse the front sensors don't work. They work fine when in drive. I don't recall this being an issue until the last week or so. It's particularly irritating when backing out of my garage or parallel parking. The manual says they should work in drive or reverse. Anyone with sensors have the same issue or do I need to contact service? Maybe it changed at the latest update. Seems odd I wouldn't have noticed this from the beginning but honestly can't remember if its been this way the whole time or not.
Thanks
Larry

 

[jcaspar]

Parking sensors only work in the direction you are going. Has been that way from day one.

 

[ecarfan]

?..when I am in reverse the front sensors don't work. They work fine when in drive. I don't recall this being an issue until the last week or so. It's particularly irritating when backing out of my garage or parallel parking. The manual says they should work in drive or reverse.

The manual is correct, it just doesn't spell out the fact that the sensors work in the direction the car is traveling. I am unclear on why it is necessary for the front sensors to work when the car is moving in reverse, and vice versa.

When I am in "R" I have no interest in getting information from the front sensors, they won't help me while backing up.

 

[Larry]

Front sensors working in reverse would be helpful when backing up and parallel parking to check how close the front end is when swinging in. Also when backing out of the garage I could get a reading on how close the front corner is as I have a fairly big turn in the driveway. Must be some technical reason this doesn't happen I guess but it would be a plus.

 

[astrotoy]

I got my parking sensors aftermarket in the spring, after getting my car in February. For me and my wife, it was a necessary condition that we could get them. I definitely got spoiled with my Lexus LS460 and the parking sensors. Would have liked to have the visuals on the screen, but with both sound and visuals at the front and rear, it is good enough. I like that all the sensors are on both in forward and reverse. When I am backing out of a tight parking space, I use the front sensors as a sort of Braille to "feel" out the location of the car or wall next to me, so I don't turn into the car or wall. Like the Lexus, the Tesla is a pretty big and wide car. I'm not used to driving 18 wheelers so the Tesla is a challenge in tight parking spots.

 

[4SUPER9]

... I am unclear on why it is necessary for the front sensors to work when the car is moving in reverse, and vice versa.

When I am in "R" I have no interest in getting information from the front sensors, they won't help me while backing up.

Are you so sure about that? That's exactly what the folks at the service center said when I pointed that out. When I explained, they completely agreed with me.

Try parallel parking. When backing into a spot, the driver cuts the wheel to bring the front of the car in. How far are you from the vehicle in front of you? The only way to tell (besides experience and intuition) is to put the car back into D and activate the front sensors.

How about when backing out of a spot in a parking garage? Who actually backs straight out only? No, when backing out of a spot, the driver turns the vehicle into the lot. As such, the front of the car swings out. This is actually a common source of damage by hitting other vehicles or pillars.

The front ones should, without question, be on when in reverse. The rear sensors are displayed on an entire half of the center display. I see no reason why the dash display has to also show the rear sensors and not the front.

 

[Larry]

I let Fremont service know and he sounded surprised they didn't work in reverse. Told him to put it in the suggestion box so we will see if that does any good in an update.

 

[PatP]

Are you so sure about that? That's exactly what the folks at the service center said when I pointed that out. When I explained, they completely agreed with me.

Try parallel parking. When backing into a spot, the driver cuts the wheel to bring the front of the car in. How far are you from the vehicle in front of you? The only way to tell (besides experience and intuition) is to put the car back into D and activate the front sensors.

How about when backing out of a spot in a parking garage? Who actually backs straight out only? No, when backing out of a spot, the driver turns the vehicle into the lot. As such, the front of the car swings out. This is actually a common source of damage by hitting other vehicles or pillars.

The front ones should, without question, be on when in reverse. The rear sensors are displayed on an entire half of the center display. I see no reason why the dash display has to also show the rear sensors and not the front.

Totally required! Lucky they can make software updates over the air. That's the beauty of it.

 

[4SUPER9]

I let Fremont service know and he sounded surprised they didn't work in reverse. Told him to put it in the suggestion box so we will see if that does any good in an update.

I sent a letter to Ownership last week. They forwarded it to their software team. They're probably flooded with suggestions and requests (some of them great, others ridiculous I'm sure). Please, if we want this fixed, keep bringing it to their attention. This should be a relatively easy fix (what do I know?) and really would optimize these sensors for us.

 

[ecarfan]

Try parallel parking. When backing into a spot, the driver cuts the wheel to bring the front of the car in. How far are you from the vehicle in front of you? The only way to tell (besides experience and intuition) is to put the car back into D and activate the front sensors.
How about when backing out of a spot in a parking garage? Who actually backs straight out only? No, when backing out of a spot, the driver turns the vehicle into the lot. As such, the front of the car swings out. This is actually a common source of damage by hitting other vehicles or pillars.

You are absolutely right, and my apologies. I've only had my S for a bit over a month and haven't had many times where I had to squeeze into a tight spot. All the sensors should be on at low speeds. I will re-check how my Sensors work tomorrow.

Thanks for setting me straight!

 

[4SUPER9]

You are absolutely right, and my apologies. I've only had my S for a bit over a month and haven't had many times where I had to squeeze into a tight spot. All the sensors should be on at low speeds. I will re-check how my Sensors work tomorrow.

Thanks for setting me straight!

No worries! Your initial response is the exact same response that everyone says, until they put it to use.
I have not figured out a use for the rear sensors to be on while in drive, so I think we can live without those. My feeling is that whenever in reverse, all sensors should activate, regardless of speed.

 

[ecarfan]

And I just tested my parking sensors in my S85 and found the same thing you and others are saying: when in reverse the front sensors don't work and when in drive the rear sensors don't work at low speeds when they should. Yes, all the sensors should work at low speeds regardless of the gear selected.

The good news is that I am sure this can be fixed in the firmware and I'm confident that a future OTA will do that. But m not holding my breath as to when that might happen. Tesla is still a small company and they've got a lot on their plate. Sudden success means there are a lot of things that need to be done to keep the momentum going!

 

[Sad]

One situation where rear sensors should not work while in drive is when, at a stop, someone slows down behind you. I personally don't want the car to warn me, at each traffic light, that someone else is coming to a stop behind me. In reverse however, I agree and strongly support the points above, all sensors should be on, I almost got caught once or twice.

 

[JPP]

In my old Lexus GS450h and my wife's current LS460, the park sensors work at all 4 corners all the time. So if you are backing out of a space or garage, and start to turn in a way that brings your right front bumper/corner too close to the jamb or adjacent car, the sensors give both an audio and visual alert. Really useful, and a feature that TM should implement in rev. 2 of the firmware/software.

 

[msentesy]

I got my parking sensors aftermarket in the spring, after getting my car in February. For me and my wife, it was a necessary condition that we could get them. I definitely got spoiled with my Lexus LS460 and the parking sensors. Would have liked to have the visuals on the screen, but with both sound and visuals at the front and rear, it is good enough. I like that all the sensors are on both in forward and reverse. When I am backing out of a tight parking space, I use the front sensors as a sort of Braille to "feel" out the location of the car or wall next to me, so I don't turn into the car or wall. Like the Lexus, the Tesla is a pretty big and wide car. I'm not used to driving 18 wheelers so the Tesla is a challenge in tight parking spots.

I'd be really interested to hear what you installed and how you installed them. It would be nice to add blind spot monitoring.

 

[KalJoMoS]

Did you know that you quoted eight years old discussion?