Tesla pushed version 4.14.1 of its mobile app yesterday. The update was only expected to be bug fixes, but a deeper dive into the code revealed that the referral program is getting some welcomed attention.
The Tesla App Updates (iOS) Twitter account dug into the code and found that Tesla is giving its referral program some much-needed upgrades. According to Tesla App Updates, the upcoming referral program updates may allow users to redeem referral points/credit for merchandise, accessories, or Supercharger miles.
“Okay one string that may provide some insight,” writes Tesla App Updates (iOS) on Twitter. “‘referral_share_sheet_refer_text’: ‘Use my referral link to purchase a Tesla product and get free credits you can redeem for awards like Supercharging miles, merchandise and accessories.’”
This would be a welcomed improvement to Tesla’s referral program. Last year, Tesla removed the 1,000 free Supercharging miles referral rewards. In its current form, referrers and purchasers will receive $300 for Solar Roof and Solar Panels upon activation. When the program was offering free Supercharging miles, both the referrer and purchaser would receive 1,000 miles for free.
Tesla’s mobile app code suggests that referrers will be able to use their credits to purchase certain items, although there is no way to know what items will be eligible for purchase.
“From the strings it looks like you will be able to visit a digital shop and use your referral credits to get certain items,” writes Tesla App Updates (iOS). “We are going to examine the actual code later to see if there is a way to pull these items being offered, but no promises.”
Many Tesla owners pushed their referral codes quite heavily in social media content, YouTube videos, blog posts, and more. For those Tesla influencers that rose to the top, like Andy Slye and It’s Kim Java (formerly Like Tesla), received unprecedented miles of free Supercharging and other benefits, like free Founders Edition Roadsters.
Slye frequently discussed the inconsistencies in Tesla’s referral program, such as not being able to share his 1 million Supercharging miles with other Tesla owners, or the program being limited to receiving rewards for certain vehicle model orders.
On Dec 4, 2018 I became the world's top Tesla referrer with over 200 referrals.
Tesla ended their referral program not too long after I became the top referrer, but they brought it back in 2019 with some revised rules. https://t.co/BcB0DfXIBB
In addition to offering free Supercharging miles for each referral, Tesla had a “Secret Tier.” Once achieved with 55 referrals, the referrer would receive a free Founders Edition Roadster, which costs $250,000 and is still waiting to go into production. This was limited to two Roadsters per referrer, and Tesla is no longer offering this perk.
How Andy Slye Earned Two Roadsters
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One of the upcoming features of the 2024 Tesla Holiday Update is the ability for Tesla owners to make custom wraps for their vehicles. The wraps will be displayed in the vehicle’s visualizations and in the Tesla app. You’ll also be able to select one of the wraps Tesla has provided if you prefer not to make or download your own.
This feature will roll out to the Cybertruck next week with the Holiday update, but it will be available for other models in the future as well.
Making your own wrap is super easy and takes just a few minutes. It doesn’t even require any special tools or software because Tesla provided a template.
Making a Custom Wrap
We’ll walk you through the steps to create your custom wrap. All you’ll need is an image editing program and an image editing program.
Download the Template
Tesla has all the details on their Github repository for Custom Wraps, but you can simply download the template below and open it in your favorite image editor like Adobe Photoshop, GIMP or even Windows Paint on Windows 11. Any software that supports layers will work.
Image Editor
Open the template in your image editor and create a new layer on top of it. You’ll want to edit on this new layer, not on the template layer, which we’ll hide later.
The template, in all its glory.
Not a Tesla App
Create the Wrap
Go ahead and work your artistic magic—here, we’ve taken a graffiti rendition of Not A Tesla App and our logo and placed it within the template's bounds.
Flex those creative muscles!
Not a Tesla App
Hide the Template
Go ahead and hide the template layer - you can also delete the layer if you want. This standalone image doesn’t look like much, but this is what we need for the final step.
Looks a bit simple right?
Not a Tesla App
Export
You’ll want to export the image with transparency - so it needs to be a .png file. You'll be good to go as long as it's the same dimensions as the template. We’ve gone ahead and exported our custom NATA wrap here - feel free to download it and let us know how it looks once you get the 2024.44.25 update.
The completed product.
Not a Tesla App
A couple of technical limitations:
The image must be 1024x768 pixels.
File Size max is 1MB.
You can’t use any special characters in the file name, and it must be shorter than 30 characters.
PNG is the only acceptable file format
You can load up to 10 images on your USB drive
Add Wrap to USB Drive
The last, and easiest step. Grab your USB drive, and create a folder called “Wraps” at the root level of the drive. Place your images in there, and you’re all set.
Load a Custom Wrap
Not a Tesla App
After placing the images on your USB drive and inserting it in your vehicle, you can then open Toybox > Paint Shop, and tap on Wrap. From there select your wrap from the custom list of images.
Tesla’s upcoming Holiday update introduces exciting new personalization features, giving you even more ways to customize your vehicle.
Building on the existing Colorizer feature, which lets you change the car’s color, the update will allow you to add a custom wrap and a license plate to the vehicle’s visualization. Both of these features will affect the vehicle's visualization on the screen and in the Tesla app.
While these features were originally announced to be exclusive to the Cybertruck, Tesla has now clarified and said that they will be available for other models in a future update. We expect them to be introduced for the Model 3 (new and old), Model Y, and the redesigned Model S and Model X.
Wrap & license plate customization coming to other models in future updates
Tesla announced custom wrap visualizations as part of the 2024 Holiday update for the Cybertruck. They’ve provided a template and instructions on how to design your own custom wrap and also included a few in-house designs, including the “unhinged” Doge wrap, the Cybertruck Graffiti wraps from the Baja Off-Road testing, and the Release Candidate wraps, amongst plenty of other simple ones. In all, it looks like Tesla will be providing 27 designs.
However, making your own wrap is actually very simple, and we’ll be providing instructions on how to create your own. Once these arrive for other vehicles, the instructions will likely be the same.
License Plate Visualization
Not a Tesla App
You’ll also be able to create custom license plates to show on your vehicle visualization. You’ll be able to choose custom text, and then also include a background - with plain colors, a stock image, or upload your own image.
If you have custom plates in real life, this is your chance to make your visualization perfectly match your vehicle.
Release for Other Models
Tesla hasn’t provided a timeline but said the feature would arrive in “future updates” in their post on X. It seems that it won’t be arriving with the upcoming Holiday update for all vehicles but will instead make its way to the S3XY lineup over the next few months.
We expect it to arrive sometime in early 2025. We’re super excited to see these come to more vehicles, so in the meantime, show us your best custom Cybertruck wrap on social media or our forums.
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