I’m a big lover of the Tesla range, not just the cars but the Tesla Powerwall and even the Solar Roof Tiles. This company is really shaking the whole auto industry up and I love watching the effects it has with other manufacturers.
So with one of the recent firmware updates, Tesla allows you to use the built in cameras as a dashcam feature. But set up is not clear and there doesn’t seem to be anything in the setup menu. But I am here to help you get started.
Firstly, you will need the following: A Good Quality USB Drive, I would highly recommend the SanDisk UltraFit 32gb drive. Its durable and small so doesn’t protrude too much from the Tesla’s USB socket. You will also need access to a Windows PC or a Mac and a bit of time to make sure you get these instructions correct.
The next job is to format the USB drive in the correct format. You can right click on the drive in Windows and Format the drive, it must be FAT32. On the Mac, you need to use Disk Utility and “Erase” the drive and make sure it’s set to MS-DOS FAT.
Once this is done, go into the drive and in the root you need to create a folder with the following case sensitive name: TeslaCam
Ok, so then you need to safely eject the USB drive from your Mac or PC and head to your car.
Insert the USB drive into any of the front USB ports whilst the car is off. Then turn the car on and wait a few minutes whilst your Tesla initialises the drive.
If successful a new icon appears at the top of the screen, it should be a camera icon with a red dot within, to show that the system is recording.
To save a clip to your USB drive from your Tesla, just tap the camera icon and the icon changes to a download symbol until you then get the camera back with a green tick.
If you want to turn off the dashcam reason (I can’t see why you would unless you are up to no good) then hold the dashcam icon for a few seconds until an X appears on the camera.
Thats it! Then when you see any plonkers on the road, don’t forget to tap the camera icon, download them when you get home and upload them to YouTube for everyone to enjoy.
