Tesla cars can now scan for potholes to avoid damage

SAN FRANCISCO: Electric vehicle company Tesla has confirmed that its vehicles can now scan for rough roads, like potholes, to help avoid them damaging the vehicles by adjusting the suspension.
In a new 2022.20 software update, the automaker wrote about a new feature of the “Tesla Adaptive Suspension” system, reports the auto-tech website Electrek.

“Tesla Adaptive Suspension will now adjust ride height for an upcoming rough road section. This adjustment may occur at various locations, subject to availability, as the vehicle downloads rough road map data generated by Tesla vehicles,” the company was quoted as saying.

This is the first confirmation of the Tesla vehicle fleet scanning the roads to evaluate its conditions.

For now, it is not about Autopilot, or Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta, navigating around those “rough road sections”, but Tesla adapting the suspension for those conditions, the report said.

This feature is only going to be available in Tesla vehicles with adaptive suspension, like the new Model S and Model X

Back in 2020, CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla Autopilot is eventually going to detect potholes and make mini-maps to remember them and avoid them.

However, currently, Tesla Autopilot is not quite there yet, but it can be now seen as the first confirmation that Tesla’s fleet of vehicles is looking for them or more “rough road sections” in general.