Tesla rolls out vision-based park assist, but it could still use some work
Tesla has released a new software update activating its vision-based park assist feature, and videos are starting to roll in showing it in action.
In October of last year, Tesla abruptly decided to stop including ultrasonic sensors on Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. These ultrasonic sensors were used for short-range objects detection, particularly during low-speed maneuvers, like parking, to help drivers know how far they are from objects outside the car.
Tesla said at the time that it planned to move to a fully vision-based parking system, using the myriad cameras around its cars to estimate distances and provide park assist functions, without the added complexity of these additional ultrasonic sensors.
Since then, these vehicles have been delivered without sensors, but with no driver aids to help in parking. For these cars, Park Assist, Autopark, Summon, and Smart Summon would not be available until a software update came along to enable them.
Now, just under six months later, these software efforts have finally borne fruit as Tesla has started rolling out vision-based park assist in its 2023.6.9 update. It should be available on cars now or soon, so check for software updates if you’ve been waiting for this feature.
The update notes state:
Tesla Vision Park Assist provides visual and audio alerts of surrounding objects. This feature uses the occupancy network to predict high-definition outlines of objects 360 degrees around the car.
Note: Tesla Vision Park Assist is for guidance purposes onlv and is not a substitute for an aware driver. Please be attentive and avoid obstacles as required.
The update does not seem to activate Autopark, Summon, or Smart Summon, yet merely brings back the lost functionality showing drivers how far they are from various objects while parking their car.
Videos have started to surface on social media showing drivers testing out the new functions in their garages and driveways, and results so far seem… a little inconsistent.
It seems to work reasonably well in some situations, showing roughly similar graphics as the vehicles with sensors, but with the added benefit of detecting objects all around the vehicle, instead of just in front or behind. One driver found the measurements to be quite accurate in a well-lit and straightforward parking lot:
Though the lines are quite wiggly, significantly more so than they are when using ultrasonics.
In other situations, the system still seems like it needs work. Here, a driver pulls between two cars and toward a trash can, before the system deactivates and states “park assist unavailable” when he gets close enough to actually need it. Then, he gets out to compare the car’s 26-inch approximation with reality, and eyeballing the distance, thinks that it’s closer to “three and a half, four feet”:
And here, another driver tries to use it with a bike rack attached to the rear of his Tesla, and the system continually detects the rack as an obstruction, repeatedly telling him to stop even though there’s plenty of room behind the car:
Electrek’s Take
Well, it’s clear that the system still needs some work. Which, frankly, is not unexpected when it comes to Tesla’s history with similar things.
A couple years ago the company abruptly removed radar from its cars, moving to a fully camera-based system for its driver assist features (which it’s now reversing course on). At the time, this led to temporary limitations for new owners of non-radar cars, who had to wait for software updates to re-add those features.
The same has happened here with ultrasonics, which caught several customers by surprise. Tesla has sold a lot of cars in the last six months, and I know of at least one who hadn’t heard the news of the missing ultrasonic sensors and was quite annoyed to realize he had just bought a vehicle without a relatively standard modern feature that he had expected his brand-new high-tech $53,000 car would have.
Tesla owners have gotten used to similar things happening, and often give the company slack because actions like these are balanced out by the benefit of over-the-air updates, which improve cars and add features over time.
But this is such a basic and expected feature on modern vehicles, and it has been estimated that these sensors cost about $114 per car. That’s a significant cost but certainly not a massive one, but we’re six months in and so far we’ve only seen one of the four missing features reactivated for the cars in question.
Further, the feature just doesn’t look ready for prime time yet. A feature like this doesn’t need to work 50% of the time, or even 99% of the time – it needs to work 100% of the time because any dings or scratches don’t just go away the next time you park, they stay there for good. If drivers are going to rely on it, and use it in place of their eyes, it needs to be reliable. And if drivers aren’t going to use it in place of their eyes – as Tesla currently recommends that they don’t – then why don’t they just use… their eyes? What’s the point of the sensor if it’s just replicating what your eyes see?
One benefit of ultrasonics is to provide additional confirmation of distance through something other than vision. As in the first embedded video above, the driver could already estimate distances with his eyes, but the ultrasonics would give him additional information that he doesn’t have visually. If the car is just estimating visually the same way the driver does that, then it’s not giving any new information.
This doesn’t mean the system can’t improve. Surely it can and it will have access to more advantageous angles than the driver’s eyes do, and be able to look all around the car at once instead of only in one direction at a time (as it already can). And in certain situations, it already seems to do a good job. But for now, the visualization doesn’t seem a lot better than eyeballing, which is disappointing six months after the feature was unceremoniously eliminated. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another six months for underwhelming results from Autopark, Summon, and Smart Summon.
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File this under “wishful thinking” if you want, but a fresh trademark filing for the Buick Electra name could mean that the storied nameplate is set for a return to US shores.
GM Authority reports that Buick parent company General Motors has renewed its trademark for the Buick Electra name in the US in a filing from 09DEC2025 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and received an assigned serial number 99538079. The application carries a Goods and Services of, “Motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles.”
Electra a nameplate that holds a long history with the near-luxe Buick brand and has generally been believed to be one that’s especially relevant to Buick’s electrification strategy in the US. That’s a notion that seems especially true when you consider the following two facts:
- the Buick Electra nameplate is already featured on a number of hugely successful GM products being sold in the ultra-competitive Chinese market
- 2027 is the fortieth anniversary of the Buick Grand National, and GM’s marketers are way too smart to let that moment slide
It’s worth noting, of course, that this most recent renewal for the Buick Electra trademark is a long, long way from a confirmation of a new all-electric Buick for the US market and even further from a confirmation that we’re getting the hot, sexy Electra GM sells in China. If anything, it’s likely just a matter of course legal thing that GM needs to protect its IP in China while, at the same time, preventing some kind of disastrous Sierra Mist scenario from playing out at home (which– yeah, I get that it’s not true, but you got the idea).
That said, I want to believe.
Electrek’s Take
I’m a huge fan of GM, GM’s EVs, and the way Mary Barra has managed the General over the past several years. I also think a big, sexy sedan is sorely missing from GM’s lineup, and the fast, flashy electric sedan formula might play better at the Buick store than at the Cadillac brand.
Combine that with an overwhelming desire to see a new-age Buick Grand National parked in my garage next Christmas and you can see that I’m not to be trusted. So, what say you? Head on down to the comments and let us know what you think of an American Electra revival just in time for the 2027 model year.
SOURCE | IMAGES: GM Authority; GM.
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Heavy equipment giants Caterpillar have signed an agreement with Vale that will see the company dramatically expand its fleet of autonomous haul trucks deployed at iron ore operations in the Carajás region of Brazil over the next three years.
Vale’s Northern System mining operation currently has 14 CAT, 320-ton autonomous haul trucks in service. With this new deal, sold by Caterpillar’s Brazilian dealer, Sotreq, the autonomous haul truck fleet will expand to some ninety (!) of the massive, self-driving trucks by 2028. The big yellow trucks will be operated by CAT®, MineStar™ Command for hauling, and ship with a payload capacity of between 240 to an almost unimaginable 400 (!!) tons.
“We’re proud to introduce Cat Command for hauling at Vale’s Carajás site,” says Marc Cameron, Senior Vice President at Caterpillar. “By equipping Vale’s haul trucks with our autonomous technology, we will be delivering scalable solutions that meet their needs across a mixed fleet.”
CAT says this new deal represents, “a transformational leap,” citing the fact that autonomous trucks remove workers from hazardous areas and enable safer and more inclusive environments for mine employees – and more efficient operations for Vale.
That fact is backed by results from other Vale operations that have deployed large numbers of autonomous vehicles, which saw gains of up to 15% in operational performance and a 7.5% reduction in fuel use (more with electric drive), contributing to the reduction of the company’s carbon emissions. And, because this is end-stage capitalism 2025, they’re crediting AI for discovering those efficiencies.
“By integrating autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, and advanced data analysis, we are modernizing our mining operations in the Northern Corridor, becoming a global benchmark in smart mining, promoting the transformation of the industry, and connecting us to international best practices,” says Rafael Bittar, Vale Vice President, Technical.
The trucks will be delivered over the next three years, and are expected to be in full operation and up to speed by 2030.
Electrek’s Take
As I’ve said before, EVs and mining to together like peanut butter and jelly. In confined spaces, the carbon emissions and ear-splitting noise made by conventional, ICE-powered mining equipment can create dangerous circumstances that can lead to serious injuries (or worse), and that’s just going to make it even harder for a mining operation to keep people working and minerals coming out of the ground.
By working with companies like Caterpillar to prove that forward-looking electric equipment can do the job as well as well as (if not better than) their internal combustion counterparts, Vale will go a long way towards converting what’s left of the ICE faithful.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Vale, Caterpillar.
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Electric medium-duty startups Motive and Workhorse have logged millions of miles across their customer fleets — and by joining forces, they’re out to prove, once and for all, that electric vehicles can get the job done.
Following shareholder votes last month, Ohio-based Workhorse and San Francisco-based Motive are merging to form one of the largest commercial electric vehicle and last-mile delivery telematics solutions companies in the industry.
The all-stock transaction, announced last week, values the combined company at approximately $105 million and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to Workhorse shareholder approval.
Under the terms of the agreement, Motiv’s controlling investor will become the majority owner with approximately 62.5% of the combined company, while Workhorse shareholders will maintain a significant equity stake of approximately 26.5%.
The move is intended to combine Workhorse’ manufacturing capabilities and nationwide dealer network with Motiv’s proven product portfolio and existing fleet relationships to serve the growing $23 billion medium-duty truck segment with a full range of Class 4-6 electric vehicles that plays to the strengths of both companies while, at the same time, proving them with economies of scale they’ll need to survive the next wave of fake “the EV market is dead” headlines.
“Bringing together two leading OEMs in the medium-duty space strengthens our ability to reduce the cost of electric trucks and make the total cost of ownership even more compelling,” said Scott Griffith, CEO of Motiv, who will lead the combined company. “We believe this is a coming-of-age moment — not just for Motiv and Workhorse, but for the industry as a whole.”
The companies anticipate a minimum of $20 million in cost synergies by the end of 2026 through reductions in redundant R&D, G&A, and facility costs (and, of course, the associated layoffs).
Workhorse’s Union City facility has the capacity to eventually produce up to 5,000 trucks per year — a significant manufacturing scale for the merged operation and light years ahead of what Motiv’s existing facilities can crank out.
“This transaction represents a significant milestone for Workhorse, our customers, our stakeholders and our shareholders,” Rick Dauch, CEO of Workhorse and advisor to the new, combined company told FreightWaves. “We believe Motiv is the right partner to support the advancement of our combined product roadmap and capture new growth opportunities.”
The new, combined electric box van company will being life with 10 of the largest medium-duty fleets in North America as existing customers, and hopes to expand their line of offerings into the electric bus and RV markets in the years to come.
Electrek’s Take
Workhorse and Motive can spin this merger however they like — but this move is as much about survival in the new, incentive-lite era of Trump 2 than it is about anything else. That doesn’t mean it’s not a smart move, as each of the parts of this new whole has eliminated a very strong competitor while, at the same time, gaining all at least some of their best features.
As cynical as I am about corporate consolidation and layoffs (especially during the holidays), I can’t help but think this could be a winning move.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Workhorse; via FreightWaves.
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