Tesla is about to ship a fix to a big Sentry Mode issue

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Tesla is about to ship a fix to a big Sentry Mode issue that the company has been aiming to solve for the better part of a year.

In February, Tesla said it would work to fix a major issue with its Sentry Mode feature, which records events near the car automatically. The feature has been a major proponent of assisting in cases of vandalism, but has even been used by police departments as they are effectively surveillance cameras.

Tesla Sentry Mode improvements are coming, aiming to solve battery drain

Drew Baglino, the former Vice President of Powertrain for Tesla, said in February that the team was working to reduce Sentry Mode power consumption by roughly 40 percent in a software update.

But this was supposed to ship in Q2.

Now, it is being confirmed that Tesla is shipping out this fix with Software Update 2024.38.4, according to Not a Tesla App, aiming to resolve the issue with battery drain.

The fixing of the battery drain issue will certainly put some owners’ minds at ease, especially as those who have been hesitant to use the feature on a low battery will now rid themselves of any reservations.

However, we have yet to see how much the update has resolved the battery drain issue. It is a brand new bug fix, so it should be seen within the next few days what kind of results have come from the software update.

Sentry Mode has gained quite a reputation as a feature, especially as non-owners have relied on the feature for information.

Tesla Sentry Mode is Oakland PD’s secret weapon against rising crime

In September, a story about the Oakland Police Department using Teslas equipped with Sentry Mode near a crime to help gain information surfaced.

In an affidavit obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, one officer wrote:

“I know that Tesla vehicles contain external surveillance cameras in order to protect their drivers from theft and/or liability in accidents. Based on this information, I respectfully request that a warrant is authorized to seize this vehicle from the La Quinta Inn parking lot so this vehicle’s surveillance footage may be searched via an additional search warrant at a secure location.”

Now, the battery drain fix will help these “mobile surveillance cameras” remain active for longer times. It’s not the only thing Tesla has done to improve Sentry Mode this year.

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Please email me with questions and comments at joey@teslarati.com. I’d love to chat! You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Tesla is about to ship a fix to a big Sentry Mode issue





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Tesla’s FSD Supervised prevented this family from hitting a deer

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Tesla’s Supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) has been the subject of public and regulatory debate over the past few years, though the automaker has recently highlighted an instance in which the software seems to have prevented a serious accident for one family.

On Sunday, X user Manoranjan Haobam shared video footage from their trip in a Tesla in Calgary, Canada, during which the driver did not see a deer approaching while driving 110 km/hr (~68 mph). Fortunately, Tesla’s FSD braked at the last second, seemingly preventing the car from colliding with the animal, and potentially saving the family’s lives.

Haobam details the near-miss below:

“Tesla FSD just saved our family, a deer, and the car! Driving at 110 km/h when a deer suddenly crossed our path—Tesla’s Full Self-Driving instantly detected it, smoothly braked, and prevented what could have been a major accident. Grateful for this life-saving tech!”

Tesla also reposted the video, highlighting that the software avoided the wildlife collision.

Tesla’s Supervised Full Self-Driving, Regulator Scrutiny, Cybercab

The company has regularly stated that it aims to make FSD Supervised safer than a human driver, and it constantly improves the system with software updates, not unlike what it does with its cars overall. The FSD Supervised system is also trained by real-time video footage from those who have it engaged while driving, and it’s this trained AI “neural network” and the vehicle’s suite of cameras that inform the system’s decision-making.

Still, the company provides several warnings to drivers in its cars and manual that they should be prepared to re-gain control of the vehicle. Tesla notes that driver intervention may be required in certain scenarios, especially with regards to narrow roads with oncoming cars, construction zones, or any time drivers are going through more complex intersections.

In its owners manuals, Tesla also warns that FSD Supervised is a “hands-on feature that requires you to pay attention to the road at all times,” adding the following warning for drivers:

Keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times, be mindful of road conditions and surrounding traffic, pay attention to pedestrians and cyclists, and always be prepared to take immediate action (especially around blind corners, crossing intersections, and in narrow driving situations). Failure to follow these instructions could cause damage, serious injury or death. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the limitations of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) and the situations in which it may not work as expected.

Tesla has also been the subject of significant public and regulator scrutiny over the past few years, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) this week opening a preliminary investigation into the company’s social media portrayals of FSD Supervised. The agency has requested more information from the company on certain low-visibility conditions, as well as claiming that the company’s advertisements condone “disengaged driving behavior.”

Tesla releases a quarterly safety report for its Autopilot and FSD Supervised systems, comparing the number of incidents with the systems engaged to the NHTSA average in the U.S. In Q3, Tesla’s vehicles using Autopilot averaged one crash for every 7.08 million miles driven, compared to one crash per every 670,000 recorded in the latest NHTSA data.

The instance also comes exactly a month after Tesla unveiled its Cybercab two-seater robotaxi at an event in Southern California, set to be sold without a steering wheel or pedals. Teslarati was among the first to take a ride in the self-driving taxi, and you can see our full experience in the Cybercab below.

Tesla FSD update makes speed profiles available on more roads

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Tesla’s FSD Supervised prevented this family from hitting a deer





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Tesla FSD update makes speed profiles available on more roads

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Tesla has changed how its speed profiles work for Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised, with the feature now able to be used on more roads than previously allowed.

In FSD version 12.5.6.2, Tesla has adjusted the software to allow speed profiles to be used on any road with a speed limit of 50 or higher, after previous versions only allowed the feature to be used on highways. The news was confirmed this week by Tesla’s Vice President of AI Software Ashok Elluswamy, who confirmed the news on X this week.

The FSD Supervised version was released with Tesla software update 2024.33.30, and in response to one user noticing that they are now able to use speed profiles on city streets, Elluswamy notes that the profiles have now been extended to include more than just highways.

“Speed profiles were extended to 50 mph or higher speed limit roads,” Elluswamy said.

Tesla FSD V13 to implement features required for unsupervised driving: exec

Tesla’s FSD Speed Profiles: now available on more roads

Tesla offers three separate speed profiles, including Chill, Standard, and Hurry, the latter two of which were previously called Average and Assertive modes, respectively. Tesla re-worked its FSD drive modes earlier this year, with Elon Musk in June noting that Tesla would switch the wording of the modes to include Standard and Hurry.

Chill mode will keep drivers in slower lanes and will generally avoid changing lanes to get ahead. On the other end of the spectrum, the Hurry mode offers faster overall driving speed, more regular lane changes to get ahead, and generally sticking to the fast lane. Meanwhile, the Standard mode is somewhere in between, balancing the extra speed offered by the Hurry mode with an overall relaxed approach to lane positioning.

The software is expected to first roll out to vehicles with Tesla’s AI4 computer, though it will also likely roll out to those with the older HW3 equipment in due time. While the FSD speed modes aren’t currently available for roads under 50 mph, we could eventually see the feature add functionality at slower speeds.

Tesla FSD V13 updated release date shared by AI team

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Need accessories for your Tesla? Check out the Teslarati Marketplace:

Tesla FSD update makes speed profiles available on more roads





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