Saw this mounted on a Tesla model 3 on the streets of SF.
Probably testing the possibilities of replacing the mirrors with cameras
What exactly are you wondering? Those cameras help with lane changes and during parking. Teslas have had those for years.
Test mule maybe
OP is asking about the external camera mounted under the mirror itself, which isn't standard.
You must not see the enormous camera on the side mirrors which are not on any stock model 3.
Not referring to the fender camera. Right under the mirror.
Looks like an E-con Sturdecam. GMSL 2.0 connected designed for industry and automotive.
They cannot replace both by cams maybe one only because of the law if I remember correctly
Elon will just “persuade” them to change the law.
There are plenty of markets that already allow this. Europe, UK, Aus/NZ. So cars from Shanghai or Berlin could remove mirrors even if cars in the US still have them. An easy ~5% range gain.
Rest of the world doesn’t have this silly rule so it may not be an about you Americans for once. Plenty of vehicles here in the uk running camera only mirrors. Looks awesome. Some mixed results though with rain and dirt
The nice thing with the current side cameras is that they are crystal clear even when it’s raining.
Yeah, the repeater cameras are nicely self-cleaning, good aerodynamic solution there. Unlike the reversing camera, at least on the model 3 it's completely hopeless after driving in the rain, or even light mist.
Do mirrors really reduce range by ~5%? That seems really high.
Side view mirrors are basically tiny air-brakes. They are a non-insignificant percentage of the vehicles frontal area. There’s a bit of research out there, and it would obviously change based on the vehicle design, but [this paper](https://lindseyresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/NHTSA-2019-0082-1985-Effect_of_Size_and_Shape_of_Side_Mirrors_on_the_Dr.pdf) shows a 4.9% reduction in drag in their analysis. What that ends up translating in terms of real-world range is more complicated to calculate, but a 2-5% range increase seems possible, especially with the giant side view mirrors on the Model Y.
What I'd find cool would be if they could make the mirrors one-way see-through and then place the camera behind the mirror *inside* the mirror housing. Wondering if it's even possible though since I haven't seen anyone do it.
This isn't as crazy as it sounds. Elon is in charge of the Government body that will 100% cut funding to NASA. Don't see why he can't do this.
The real-world range effect would naturally be significantly less so probably not near 5%.
It’s not crazy because it’s exactly why he’s forced himself in to US politics.
Not sure why they would keep the mirror housing if that’d be the whole point of going to cameras
Funny thing is, when Mercedes did their Vision EQXX prototype (the one where they tried to maximise efficiency), they eventually opted to not remove the mirrors, since the camera system and display would require more energy than what they gained from removing the mirrors. Of course, Tesla would probably be running those cameras anyway for AP and similar, but I found it interesting nevertheless.
Look again, I'm pretty sure this is the only Tesla with that camera mounted there.
If US laws require side mirrors but I don’t know if they specify a minimum size, so maybe they could make the mirrors 1-2” in size, just big enough to stick the camera behind it?
I think you can’t sell them with no mirrors but it is entirely legal in all 50 states to remove them afterwards. At least that’s what the Tesla guy on yt said
Is that so the remote operators will be able to see?
In Europe, Audi and several other brands offered cars with cameras instead of sidemirrors. Here is a marketing video from Audi in german https://youtu.be/yijKKXij2Dc?si=3hXJ12o9SFzxaVOU
Did it have MFG plates? Could be a different company testing.
Well that “Government body” has to become a real department first…
this guy techs
Well that’s a sentence for you, apparently
If not a manufacturer car I would guess it's a license plate reader and the car is doing parking enforcement.
I had a stroke reading that.
HW5 probably replaces fender repeaters with cameras under the mirrors.
It can easily be turned into a bi-partisan initiative to align the NHTSA’s regulations with the EU, which does allow for cameras I believe.
Maybe we'll finally get fully functioning matrix headlights
Guess who’s best friend just got elected
That’s a TEMU special
No way a camera system like that would consume more than a few dozen watts.
But to be fair - this camera system would be running -all- the time; while drag from the mirrors would scale based on speed. I agree, though; this would be an insignificant amount of power to run. We're talking on the magnitude of watts, not tens of watts.
True, the savings would be constant rather than dependent on a variable. Still, yes, insignificant — I really have no clue how it would take that much to operate it
A long google and chatgpt session and I couldn't find exact numbers on Sony's IMX sensors. https://www.e-consystems.com/raspberry-pi-4/high-quality-mipi-csi-camera-faq.asp#:\~:text=of%20the%20camera%3F-,The%20power%20consumption%20of%20the%20camera,0.4W%20to%201.4W. This one used in the rPI uses 0.4w to 1.4w. Its likely a similar sized sensor (and honestly; probably consumes more than a Sony IMX). So the sensor/camera itself? Insignificant. And if they use the multiple inputs on the FSD computer to run the extra cameras (meaning the cameras don't need its own image processing units); that's pretty much the ONLY power usage its going to need. Maybe a camera heater...? To defrost? That'll consume a lot.
Because then you could have regular mirrors, for people who prefer them or don't trust cameras, and you could have cameras, for people who see the benefits and want to use them. You could also just use both, one on the screen and one actually there + it'd be useful for dashcam footage to show, in court for example, what the driver actually could and couldn't see through their regular mirrors.
You’re looking at it through the perspective of a consumer but you should be looking at it through teslas perspective. For Tesla it makes no sense to do both.
Why do you think I'm looking through the consumers perspective? Because I work at Tesla and want to implement it for financial reasons? Look back on the specific wording of my first message. It's not edited. I literally said "What *I'd* find cool...". I was never speaking for the viability from Teslas POV, I was just pointing out that it would be a cool thing to a have. Merely a concept.
It’s simply not practical to have both systems. That’s my point, is it cool? I guess.
I hope so. Mirroring EUs regs would make things much simpler.
Lake of 360 parking view cameras like all other brand.. Maybe he just wants to keep his rear rims alive!
What would this show that the side camera's don't already?
Maybe tesla is planning on replacing the mirrors with visualisation only at some point in the future?
They're already requested the change from the NHTSA, it seems inevitable it will be allowed.. the only question is when
[Not likely anytime soon sadly.](https://www.wired.com/2014/04/tesla-auto-alliance-mirrors/) I would love to get an extra 50-100 miles on an 1000 mile Aptera. .
Glad I’m not the only one.
You'd think, but Sentry mode depletes the battery pretty quick too.
but sentry mode is always on, and yes it uses 250-300w but it is constantly analyzing (over two computers) the frames of all cameras at like a thousand frames a second
Could it be that these are just dashcam side cameras, on a customer owned vehicle? https://preview.redd.it/1wo6th8atc3e1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0d65f1ef7b264de8eae1e66f736db69e8e956e22
That is a optional security camera, TESLA cameras don't stick out like that. I think the owner wanted additional security that is visible to any would be thieves or vandals. Below is a TESLA photo showing the locations of the 10 cameras. https://preview.redd.it/jc9vo4a36h3e1.png?width=760&format=png&auto=webp&s=f6635c6bff6505360034672fb84aba43e479f35e
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