18-year-old who bought wrecked Tesla Model 3 uncovered shocking hidden feature when moving it out of the garage
- This teenager found a hidden feature on his wrecked Tesla
- The car is a 2018 Tesla Model 3 with ultrasonic sensors
- After disconnecting the sensors, the teen noticed a hidden feature
Published on Oct 18, 2024 at 2:10 PM (UTC+4)
by Nalin Rawat
Last updated on Oct 22, 2024 at 11:02 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
An 18-year-old teen named Winston bought a wrecked Tesla Model 3 for $15,000 and found a hidden feature during its restoration.
He spent $10,000 on its restoration and uncovered the hidden feature while moving it out of his garage.
The teenager was repairing the car’s front section when he noticed that the Tesla was still detecting other cars.
It was certainly surprising since he had disconnected all the front ultrasonic sensors from the car.
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Teen discovers hidden feature in Tesla Model 3
Despite its ultrasonic sensors being completely unplugged, Winston’s Tesla Model 3 was seemingly using the dashboard camera along with Tesla Vision to accurately detect nearby objects and cars.
This means that its Tesla Vision system, which relies on cameras, took over the role of the ultrasonic sensors.
It should be noted that older Tesla Model 3 cars used to come with both ultrasonic sensors and cameras.
However, most Tesla cars made after 2022 nixed the ultrasonic sensors and now rely purely on Tesla Vision.
Thankfully, it seems that the Winston’s Tesla Model 3 is an older version and comes with both features.
Tesla had removed the sensors to save money and relied purely on software and camera vision for the new AI-powered self-driving.
Luckily for Winston, when he disconnected the sensors of the car it automatically switched to Tesla Vision.
Rebuilding a wrecked Tesla
It should be noted that the car was also involved in a T-bone collision, wrecking the front of the car.
So Winston was quite happy to discover that the EV could still detect cars in the front even without the sensors.
Unfortunately, it only worked when the car was in reverse.
Otherwise, the restoration of the wrecked Tesla Model 3 would’ve been a tad bit easier.
Winston covered the cameras with tape to confirm this theory and it proved to be right.
The car was no longer detecting anything in the front.
He had also not updated the software of the car which might have also something to do with it.
Nalin started his career by working with various national newspapers in India. He has also worked as a writer/editor for many popular websites, while still pursuing his journalism and mass communication degree. Working as a digital nomad has allowed him to inform and educate through his work. When he is not writing, you can find him playing video games or travelling the mountains on his bike.
