Tesla launched the new Model 3 last week, and while it was packed with new features, one smaller feature has mostly gone under the radar, and that’s the addition of new blind spot indicators.
For all of the tech that is included in Tesla vehicles, one feature missing that is included in almost every other vehicle today as standard equipment is blind spot monitoring, which takes the form of a visual alert, typically an orange or red triangle located in or near the side mirrors. When a vehicle or object is in your blind spot, the alert on the side mirror will become illuminated to easliy let the driver know to take a second look before making a lane change or other maneuver.
To get around not having this feature in their side mirrors, Tesla instead uses the main display to alert drivers. At first this was with coloured lines radiating from the image of the vehicle. More recently Tesla also added a side repeater Blind Spot Camera that appears on the main display when your turn signal is activated.
Despite having these two features, there were many Tesla owners who continued to wonder why Tesla didn’t just implement a traditional blind spot indicator. Apparently they have heard that feedback and made that change with the Model 3 refresh. (h/t: @rudyadam)
The blind spot indicator is a red light located in the A-pillar speaker housing, which as you can see in the video below illuminates when a vehicle passes by (it appears at around 4:40, but should start at that point). There are some instances when it doesn’t light up, but that is to be expected when the vehicles are travelling at a high rate of speed in the opposite direction, and not “sitting” in the blind spot.
Traditional automakers use sensors in the bumpers to detect objects in the blind spot, but we can safely assume that Tesla is instead using the side mounted cameras (side repeaters and B-pillar) to do this instead.
If for whatever reason you don’t want to have the blind spot indicators, there is an option to turn the feature off in the menu.
Model 3 Highland has a new setting for blind spot indicators. From u/casualomlette44 pic.twitter.com/HzvpzA4t3a
— Tesla Trend (@TeslaTrend) September 5, 2023
What do you think of this addition? Was it needed? Or was the blind spot camera enough? Let us know in the comments below.
