Tesla is set to introduce restricted driver profiles in an upcoming update, aiming to improve safety for teenage drivers. Tesla hacker @greentheonly, also known as Green, recently decompiled the 2024.14.3 update, revealing the change.
Restricted Driver Profiles
Over the years, many people have asked Tesla to bring in restricted driver profiles, similar to Tesla’s currently existing Valet Mode. Valet Mode already serves to restrict the car’s maximum speed, reduces acceleration, and disables the use of Autopilot and FSD. The new restricted profiles will let you apply certain restrictions to driver profiles without the full-fledged restrictions of Valet Mode which also limits HomeLink, GPS history and more.
What Restricted Profiles Could Do
From Green’s post on X, restricted driving profiles will display “training wheels” next to the profile, indicating their usage for new drivers. The ability to add a maximum speed and enforced chill mode are expected to be part of the feature package.
Other restrictions that could also be implemented could include disabling the use of Autopilot and FSD, or perhaps requiring certain features to remain disabled or enabled, like disabling “Joe Mode”, frunk or glove-box access, summon, and locking Sentry Mode to active.
Given how easy it is to swap profiles on a Tesla, Tesla would need to prevent a user from switching from a restricted profile to a regular profile. Tesla could do this in a variety of ways, such as tying driver profiles to a key card or mobile device and requiring a PIN code to exit the restricted profile, much in the same way they do it in Valet Mode.
Enhanced Safety Implementations
Additional safety measures could include alerts that notify parents or guardians when the vehicle reaches its destination or exceeds set speed limits. Given that a Tesla can automatically call emergency services in a crash, this could be an excellent feature for ensuring the safety and security of young drivers on their own for the first time.
Release Date
Elon Musk has previously mentioned that FSD V12.4 is being rolled out sometime shortly, and given that Green has found this 2024.14.3, it could be coming very soon. The latest Tesla update being rolled out now is 2024.14.6.
