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Comment by xeromal | Hacker News Reader

Cars do that pretty often. EVs for instance often have fake grilles for no reason.

A car grille is a much more prominent and expected visual feature of a car, though. This small, tucked away yet realistic-looking camera doesn't seem to fit the same reasoning for me. That said, it wouldn't be entirely surprising if some designer "couldn't stop noticing it missing" or something along those lines.

The 3 cameras are prominent and expected on Teslas though? The reasoning seems sound.

This isn't just EVs, it's currently fashionable on ICEs to block the traditionally placed grille, and then add airflow underneath.

Or the late-1980s Ford Taurus. ;)

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/1986-90-ford-taurus

Interestingly:

> In truth, most American cars had been "bottom breathers"--they got their air from below the bumper and beneath the car, rather than from air rushing through the grille and radiator--for years. For the Taurus, Ford stylists merely took the bottom-breather reality to heart, made it work for them, and blocked the nose of their volume-selling sedan. The overall effect instantly made the rest of Detroit's output look old-fashioned in the process.

My guess would be so that eagle-eyed ocd tesla owners don’t freak out over seeming to have fewer cameras in their car than their buddy’s previous model year version.

I’m certain there’s be posts complaining about being short a camera without any understanding of hw4 being better despite having a smaller quantity of cameras.

I bet this is at least part of the reason if not all.

It's still incredibly bizarre to go through the effort of manufacturing a real-looking fake camera instead of using an industry-standard feature-delete panel like the entire rest of the automotive industry.

The fake camera feels like it's trying to mislead people.

It could be but misleading has a few levels. One is misleading that it has a feature that it doesn't (like 100 HP vs 500 HP) and the other is putting something there that a person expects even though it's no longer necessary (like the close door button in an eleveator)

I think it's clearly misleading in-that it is pretending to have an expensive camera but does not.

No brand-new first-time Tesla owner is going to freak out because there's a feature-delete panel somewhere in the vehicle. There's probably others already after-all, they are very standard in most vehicles.

So... who is this for?

If it looked so terrible to remove one camera, then redesign that component to look good again. After all, it's not like they're going back to the old design.

This would be more akin to your brand new laptop having a fake ethernet port... why?

Many cars have fake exhaust tips. I see them all the time. Search for "fake exhaust". It looks like most of them come from the factory.

Those are for a different purpose. Many car aficionados have historically changed their exhaust system to achieve better performance. The fake exhaust pipes are to make the car appear performant and powerful.

It's somewhat similar. Three cameras looks like advanced FSD system.

> make the car appear performant and powerful

Which part is different? The fake camera gives the appearance of a working camera.

In many cases, cars are sold by tickling the interest of people who want performance.

  Tesla's Model S Page: "With a drag coefficient of just .208
  Cd, the lowest on the planet, Model S is built for speed,
  endurance and range. Improved aerodynamics and a wider
  chassis offer more responsive performance so you can take
  corners quicker and with more confidence." [1]

That's even the case with the Telsa Model X.

  Tesla's Model X Page: "With the most power and quickest
  acceleration of any SUV, Model X Plaid is the highest
  performing SUV ever built." [2]

And, for people who want their Tesla to have an exhaust for barreling down the road, there are 3rd party add-ons for that!

  Did you crave the performance of a Tesla electric car but
  miss the sound of a rumbling V8? A UK exhaust manufacturer
  may have the answer: fake external noise. [3] Youtube of
  the sounds from that fake exhaust.[4]

I guess there are some people, though, who see a camera and think of a performance built vehicle.

[1] https://www.tesla.com/models

[2] https://www.tesla.com/modelx

[3] https://www.drive.com.au/news/tesla-electric-cars-now-availa...

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff4XEXYoE5k

I assumed they were talking about (specifically) fake dual exhausts, where the second pipe is not actually connected to anything.

That's what I wrote, "The fake exhaust pipes are to make the car appear performant and powerful."

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