Photo: @Z38ER via Twitter | Edited
Tesla Autowiper has been the source of frustration for many owners who reported that they usually start when it's sunny and remain off when it's raining. In reply to a complaining customer, Elon Musk apologized but offered no hope that the issues would soon be fixed.
Every car model has its own problems, but it's unprecedented that people talk that much about the steering wheel or the wipers as with Tesla EVs. Arguably the most technologically advanced electric cars on the planet, Teslas suffer from issues that other car owners don't even think are possible. I have been writing more articles than I can count on the Tesla Model S/X yoke, which solves no problem but annoyed many people. As far as I can tell, no other car owners from any model have been complaining about the steering wheel in the past century.
The same goes for the wipers, which have been working as advertised on billions of vehicles, except for Teslas. The seemingly simple technology was thought to be bulletproof until Tesla proved otherwise. The problem stems from Tesla's implementation of automatic wipers, which differs from other carmakers. While most cars use ultrasonic or optic sensors to register raindrops falling on the windshield, Tesla believes it can do better with its Autopilot cameras.
The problem is that cameras are prone to optical illusions, which inadvertently trigger the wipers to start at full speed on a dry windshield, unlike specialized sensors. Oftentimes, especially in misty weather, the same cameras might fail to start the wipers, something that Tesla owners have complained about for years. Tesla offers a manual setting, but engaging Autopilot switches the Autowipers to the automatic setting. Many Tesla owners reported that they avoid using Autopilot when it's raining for this reason.
In 2019, Elon Musk promised that deep learning would solve this problem once the Autowipers switch to neural nets. Tesla CEO even said Tesla would trademark the "Deep Rain" name for this feature. However, as reported earlier, the Deep Rain feature appears to have been shelved with the FSD Beta 11.4.2 release. The deprecation has been revealed by Tesla hacker Green (@greentheonly) and comes as Tesla deployed the Autowipers V4 with the new FSD Beta build.
Tesla owners still complain about the Autowipers and one of them has requested Musk to introduce an option to cancel wipes while on Autopilot. That would work for dry wiping, but it's unclear how it would solve the problems of the wipers not engaging in the rain. Musk promptly responded with what sounded like an apology: "Sorry, this is one of the last neural nets to be updated to surround video (from single camera, single frame)."
What Musk really meant is still unclear. Some understood that the update is still new, and that's why it misbehaves, although people have complained for years. Others, myself included, think that Musk said this is a low-priority task, hence the last to be updated to surround video in an unspecified future. In this case, owners will have to get used to the Autowipers' quirks because they're here to stay.
The same goes for the wipers, which have been working as advertised on billions of vehicles, except for Teslas. The seemingly simple technology was thought to be bulletproof until Tesla proved otherwise. The problem stems from Tesla's implementation of automatic wipers, which differs from other carmakers. While most cars use ultrasonic or optic sensors to register raindrops falling on the windshield, Tesla believes it can do better with its Autopilot cameras.
The problem is that cameras are prone to optical illusions, which inadvertently trigger the wipers to start at full speed on a dry windshield, unlike specialized sensors. Oftentimes, especially in misty weather, the same cameras might fail to start the wipers, something that Tesla owners have complained about for years. Tesla offers a manual setting, but engaging Autopilot switches the Autowipers to the automatic setting. Many Tesla owners reported that they avoid using Autopilot when it's raining for this reason.
In 2019, Elon Musk promised that deep learning would solve this problem once the Autowipers switch to neural nets. Tesla CEO even said Tesla would trademark the "Deep Rain" name for this feature. However, as reported earlier, the Deep Rain feature appears to have been shelved with the FSD Beta 11.4.2 release. The deprecation has been revealed by Tesla hacker Green (@greentheonly) and comes as Tesla deployed the Autowipers V4 with the new FSD Beta build.
Tesla owners still complain about the Autowipers and one of them has requested Musk to introduce an option to cancel wipes while on Autopilot. That would work for dry wiping, but it's unclear how it would solve the problems of the wipers not engaging in the rain. Musk promptly responded with what sounded like an apology: "Sorry, this is one of the last neural nets to be updated to surround video (from single camera, single frame)."
What Musk really meant is still unclear. Some understood that the update is still new, and that's why it misbehaves, although people have complained for years. Others, myself included, think that Musk said this is a low-priority task, hence the last to be updated to surround video in an unspecified future. In this case, owners will have to get used to the Autowipers' quirks because they're here to stay.
Sorry, this is one of the last neural nets to be updated to surround video (from single camera, single frame)
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 29, 2023
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