No sooner than the feds released a final rule on requiring rear visibility tech to be offered as standard on all cars sold in the U.S. by 2018, and Tesla, together with the 12-member Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) asking for permission to substitute conventional side- and rear-view mirrors with high-tech cameras.
After giving a thumbs up to NHTSA on its decision, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (Auto Alliance), which includes the BMW Group, Chrysler Group LLC, Ford, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz USA, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen Group and Volvo Cars North America, issued the following statement:
“Today, the Alliance is petitioning NHTSA to allow automakers to use cameras as an option to the conventional side-view and rearview mirrors. Today’s mirrors provide a robust and simple means to view the surrounding areas of a vehicle. Cameras will open opportunities for additional design flexibility and innovation. This idea has been in development since the 1990s, when the U.S. Department of Energy partnered with automakers to produce an energy-efficient concept car with cameras instead of side-view mirrors.”
According to an Autonews report, Tesla and the Alliance claim that replacing side mirrors with cameras will have major benefits in aerodynamics, and consequently, fuel consumption, without affecting safety.
“In light of future greenhouse gas and corporate average fuel economy requirements beginning in 2017,” says the petition, “camera-based systems represent an opportunity to increase vehicle fuel efficiency through improved aerodynamics by eliminating externally mounted mirrors.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been a huge proponent of camera-based systems, and has tried to push the idea to U.S. regulators, but admits it’s a tough sale.
“You can argue with them, but not with much success,” Musk told Fresh Dialogues back in February of 2013, according to Autonews. “You can actually get these things changed, but it takes ages. Like one of the things we’re trying to get is: Why should you have side mirrors if you could have, say, tiny video cameras and have them display the image inside the car?”
By John Halas
PHOTO GALLERY
