Our colleagues at Elektrek report that the Tesla 2022.20 update adds a welcome feature to compatible vehicles. A “Comfort” option now appears in the suspension settings. When active, this option dynamically adjusts the shock absorbers based on a scan of the road.
Enough to soften potholes and other types of road damage that can reduce comfort. But the idea is not only to improve passenger and driver comfort. Damaged roads are a real challenge for fully autonomous driving. As early as 2020, Tesla announced that the Autopilot system would ultimately be able to detect potholes and map them.
Tesla: the latest update will make the suspensions softer
Although this update does not yet offer the long-awaited “big leap” towards fully autonomous driving, we are on an intermediate stage. Concretely, the Tesla Comfort mode draw their scan from their own sensors but also from the scan of other users who have gone through the same path. Tesla thus exploits the sensors of the Autopilot system integrated in millions of Tesla vehicles on the road.
Tesla explains in its release notes: “Tesla’s adaptive suspension will now adapt height to difficult sections in front of the vehicle. This adaptation is likely to occur in a variety of locations, depending on availability, and involves the vehicle downloading a road damage map generated by Tesla vehicles.”
The manufacturer explains in passing how to activate the feature: “The instruments will continue to signal when the suspension has been raised to increase comfort. To enable this feature, go to Controls > Suspension > Adaptive Suspension Damping and select the Comfort or Auto setting.
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A priori the functionality will not be compatible with all Tesla electric cars in circulation. Your car must be equipped with the new adaptive damper system. These are only available on the brand’s latest vehicles, including Model S and Model X. Incidentally, Tesla casually confirms that vehicles on the road are scanning the road network en masse to deliver new features and improve the autonomous driving system.