Tesla will reduce the number of sensors on cars when testing autopilot

On TuesdayTesla Inc said  that starting this month the company will remove some ultrasonic sensors from its vehicles. Tesla Inc explains this by saying that the company continues to use only cameras for safety and driver assistance purposes.

As of today, Tesla vehicles have 12 ultrasonic sensors on the front and rear bumpers, and near-range sound sensors are mainly used for parking and detecting nearby objects.

“Reducing the number of sensors on Tesla products won't save new electric vehicle owners a lot of money, because these sensors are pretty cheap,” said Sam Abuelsamid, an analyst at Guidehouse Insights.

Last year, Tesla began phasing out radar sensors due to a shortage of chips.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that Tesla can only achieve full autonomy with cameras, but the company's goal of deploying self-driving taxis has not been achieved.

The automaker is facing increasing scrutiny from regulatory, legal and public bodies regarding its autopilot system.

Tesla has said it will be removing ultrasonic sensors from the Model 3 and Model Y worldwide over the next few months. In 2023, the ultrasonic sensors will also be removed from the Model S and Model X.

Such changes will temporarily limit the functions of automatic parking, but, according to Tesla, will not affect crash safety ratings.

While tech firms and self-driving car makers use various sensors, such as costly lidars, Tesla only relies on cameras and artificial intelligence to help the vehicle recognize its environment.

“The question is how well the cameras recognize the space next to the car. After all, as you know, this space can sometimes be limited,” said Professor Philip Koopman of Carnegie Mellon University.

 “The impact of autopilot on safety is probably negligible. On the other hand, its impact on the safety of the parking process can be significant, he said, adding that parking sensors help people get around obstacles and drive safely.