Update August 2020 - Car Left Open Notifications

At times it seems as though Tesla is reading my mind. On a recent trip we stopped for some food and my daughter left the rear door part way latched. I happen to glace at my app in the store and noticed that and had to go back to close it. A week later this update drops and I was ecstatic.

Notification on Tesla app for Door left open

For the late August update, 3 new features:

DIY Paint Protection Film - Rear Bumper and Rocker Panels

I have always used Xpel paint protection film (PPF) on my cars for the front bumper and partial hood. My GT-R has 3M stuff because 12 years ago, Xpel was not as common. The good side is that bugs in summer, rock chips all year round and salt chips in winter do not damage the front of the car, especially highway driving.

The Xpel PPF is also self healing, which has been good over the years. The one down side is that it increases the cost of repair. Having a bumper to bumper accident that requires work on the bumper adds an extra cost to the repair. The film need to be removed and new one reapplied and many times insurance will not cover the extra costs.

A buddy of mine owned the only Xpel certified shop in town and he recently sold it and moved, so I decided to try my DIY skills. The two areas of concern for me were the top of the rear bumper on which I saw a scuff mark from loading/removing my bike into the trunk and the rear rocker panels for which Tesla is offering a DIY kit on their accessory site. 

DIY Xpel PPF cut and applied to top of rear bumper

Backup Camera with Side View Added

When non-Tesla owners ask why I like my Tesla so much, this simple feature says it all. My car gets better, more useful and smarter with every update almost every month. Software > Hardware. With the June 2020 Update, Tesla added the ability for the side cameras (referred to as repeaters) be added wit the backup camera.

All I had to do was shift to reverse and swipe the image from the backup camera on screen up, and viola, the left and right side are visible. So handy when backing up into a spot for charging, also useful in my garage and bonus - the image is visible with the camera option while the car is moving forward, which assists in tight maneuvers. Bravo Tesla.

Using side repeaters to help with parking

Thank you for Autopilot speed limit adjustment on local roads

At some point Tesla decided that on local roads, that are not official highways, they would limit autopilot speed to the speed limit. I really didn't care about neighborhood roads as I drive at the speed limit, but on many county roads with speed limits of 55 or 60 mph, traffic usually moves at +5-8mph. Using autopilot is convenient because these tend to be many miles long, but it caused lots of unsafe overtakes by other drivers having to cross the dashed yellow line.

With the latest update as of August 1st, 2020, I was so pleased to see that speed limit for autopilot can be set to +-5mph. I usually have it set to +3mph relative speed...enough not to piss of drivers and also not too much to get pulled over.

Here are the update release notes. Small but useful features.

Autopilot speed +5mph on local roads