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Tesla puts a ‘dummy’ camera in its new vehicles

electrek.co

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Re: Tesla puts a ‘dummy’ camera in its new vehicles

#51

Post by bdcravens »

giobox wrote: post #21
Hippocrates wrote: post #18

Knowing the Tesla owner community quite well, I suspect Tesla was hoping nobody would find out it’s a dummy and complain that the newer cars are inferior to the older ones (like they did with the radar and ultrasonic sensors)

Knowing how car parts work quite well, I suspect nobody wanted to pay the large costs in retooling the mount and heated window they already manufacture in the millions of units. This kinda thing happens all the time. The best/worst example I've seen recently is the Jaguar V6 which is still inside a V8 engine block, so the company could use same mounting parts etc: > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmcXCwW5U3M

Wouldn't they just put in a plastic cover like every other manufacturer that has holes and ports not used by every model?

Re: Tesla puts a ‘dummy’ camera in its new vehicles

#52

Post by giobox »

bdcravens wrote: post #51
giobox wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Knowing how car parts work quite well, I suspect nobody wanted to pay the large costs in retooling the mount and heated window they already manufacture in the millions of units. This kinda thing happens all the time. The best/worst example I've seen recently is the Jaguar V6 which is still inside a V8 engine block, so the company could use same mounting parts etc: > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmcXCwW5U3M

Wouldn't they just put in a plastic cover like every other manufacturer that has holes and ports not used by every model?

The fake camera effectively is a blanking plate/cover - without the fake camera, there would be a visible hole in the mount at the top of the windscreen.

Re: Tesla puts a ‘dummy’ camera in its new vehicles

#53

Post by jstarfish »

IncRnd wrote: post #38
recursive wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many cars have fake exhaust tips. I see them all the time. Search for "fake exhaust". It looks like most of them come from the factory.

Those are for a different purpose. Many car aficionados have historically changed their exhaust system to achieve better performance. The fake exhaust pipes are to make the car appear performant and powerful.

I assumed they were talking about (specifically) fake dual exhausts, where the second pipe is not actually connected to anything.

Re: Tesla puts a ‘dummy’ camera in its new vehicles

#54

Post by IncRnd »

jstarfish wrote: post #53
IncRnd wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those are for a different purpose. Many car aficionados have historically changed their exhaust system to achieve better performance. The fake exhaust pipes are to make the car appear performant and powerful.

I assumed they were talking about (specifically) fake dual exhausts, where the second pipe is not actually connected to anything.

That's what I wrote, "The fake exhaust pipes are to make the car appear performant and powerful."

Re: Tesla puts a ‘dummy’ camera in its new vehicles

#55

Post by TheHappyOddish »

strifey wrote: post #13
xeromal wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cars do that pretty often. EVs for instance often have fake grilles for no reason.

A car grille is a much more prominent and expected visual feature of a car, though. This small, tucked away yet realistic-looking camera doesn't seem to fit the same reasoning for me. That said, it wouldn't be entirely surprising if some designer "couldn't stop noticing it missing" or something along those lines.

The 3 cameras are prominent and expected on Teslas though? The reasoning seems sound.
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