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 U.S. and Europe, and perform better in pedestrian automatic emergency braking (AEB) intervention.

In 2022 we took the next step in Tesla Vision by removing ultrasonic sensors (USS) from Model 3 and Model Y for most global markets, followed by all Model S and Model X in 2023.

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

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

• Dumb Summon: manually moves your vehicle forward or in reverse via the Tesla app.
• Actually Smart Summon: navigates your vehicle to your location or location of your choice via the Tesla app.

Once these features achieve performance parity to vehicles equipped with USS, vision-based vehicles will have these features 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.

Last updated December 5, 2024