Tesla's Holiday Update has made the most wonderful time of year the hap-happiest season of all. Adding to the parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting and caroling out in the snow have been significant advancements to the user interface, the apps and the farts. So, in the spirit of reflection, let's look back at the last five years of updates courtesy of Santa Musk and the Tesla Elves.
2018
The 2018 update was significant because it was the first to go to the Model 3. Yes, it's hard to believe the Model 3 was celebrating its first Christmas five years ago. This update brought the browser, calendar and energy app to the 3, plus much more to the rest of the lineup.
Navigate on Autopilot made its first appearance in Beta. It suggests lane changes and monitors surrounding traffic to make adjustments to ensure you don't get stuck behind slower traffic. Autosteer and Auto Lane Change were also combined in a beta feature. If you were around when these features were first introduced, you know exactly how far they've come. Plus, Blindspot Warning was introduced. You can see how these are now utilized with today's vehicles, combining the technology as the company works towards Full Self Driving.
The Model 3 wipers control early on
CNET cars
Another significant advancement in how Tesla operates came with increased regenerative braking. Tesla continues to lead the EV market in regenerative braking, and this update allowed more kinetic energy to return power to the battery.
2019
There was more fun in 2019, with the addition of the Tesla Theater, a new arcade game (Cuphead) and more media options. But, first, carrying over from 2018, yet another piece in the Autopilot collection was unveiled with Smart Summon, allowing users to have their Tesla come to them.
The Model 3 UI has seen many changes over the last five years
BusinessInsider
The Theater brought Netflix into Tesla, of course, when in park, so those waiting for their spouse to finish Christmas shopping could sit back and binge-watch their favorite shows. Nothing to watch? Tesla has you covered with Caraoke. This road trip favorite was also launched in 2019 alongside the inclusion of Spotify in the US market.
2020
In 2020, Tesla stuffed three new games down the chimney and into cars worldwide. The games were Cat Quest, the Battle of Polytopia and Solitaire. Is anyone else happy Steam was added in 2022?
While the entertainment addition wasn't at the same level as the previous year, made several UI improvements with driver visualization improvements, scheduled departure upgrades, Boombox and improvements to Emissions Testing Mode and Text messaging.
2021
2021 was a magical year allowing users access to the side camera to act as a blind spot camera. This welcome improvement caught Tesla up to the legacy automakers in that regard. From a usability standpoint, the company made the app launcher customizable and simplified controls so drivers can focus on navigation and primary controls, although there were some UI changes that needed to be gradually rolled back or reworked.
Three more video games were added, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Battle for Polytopia (Multiplayer) and Sudoku. Did I mention I'm happy Steam was introduced in 2022?
Since the update came out in December, its fitting cold weather improvements and automated seat heaters were included. Tesla also introduced the ability for seat heaters to be automated based on the desired cabin temperature. The Car Wash Mode was added, and perhaps one of the most used features, Sentry Mode Live Camera Access.
2022
That brings us to 2022. The year Steam was put inside the newer Model S and Model X cars, giving users the ability to access more than 50,000 high-end, high-resolution games. Apple Music, MyQ garage door opener, and Zoom were also wrapped up and put under the tree.
Tesla's incredibly generous gifting continues to have hearts glowing over the holidays. Just 12 months until the next big update. Let us know what's on your wishlist and be sure to stay on the nice list!
A Look Back at the Model 3's Interface
Take a look at the Model 3's interface and its early reviews back in 2018.
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In a recent interview at the Qatar Economic Forum, Elon Musk answered questions covering a wide array of topics. During this interview, he provided some insights into Tesla, its roadmap for autonomy, his commitment to the company, and then delved into SpaceX and xAI.
It was an interesting interview, run by an interviewer who was ready to pick at Elon’s faults, but nonetheless, he came out standing strong and with a clear focus. Let’s take a look at everything discussed during the interview.
Tesla
One of the key items addressed by Elon during this interview was Tesla’s global presence and markets. Elon noted and agreed that Europe is currently Tesla’s weakest market, but even so, sales for Tesla continue to perform well within expectations for this year. He attributed much of the decline in sales to the ramp of the Model Y, but also linked some to his public persona - but more on that later.
What’s key here is that Elon noted that Tesla has built a global core customer base that is faithful to the brand and excited to see what’s next at every turn, which means that Tesla is in good shape, even with some regions seeing reduced sales.
Covering autonomy, Tesla’s focus remains on the advancement of autonomous driving in the near and long term. The upcoming launch of the Robotaxi network in Austin is an important near-term milestone and represents a critical phase for Tesla. If the launch goes as planned, Tesla plans to expand to additional regions and roll out Unsupervised FSD to customers.
Elon as CEO
Regarding his own role, Elon confirmed that he intends to remain at the head of Tesla as CEO for the foreseeable future, barring any unforeseen circumstances. He also mentioned that this commitment is tied to ensuring he has sufficient voting control to prevent potential ousting by activist investors rather than being primarily about his compensation package.
Tesla has been making moves to prevent further activist investors from filing suits against the company, with the latest step being to re-incorporate in Texas and adopting a new company policy that prevents shareholder lawsuits from those that own less than 3% of the company.
The interview also touched on some of the more challenging aspects that Elon has been exposed to recently. He acknowledged that some recent negative events and narratives surrounding Tesla have taken a personal toll on him, as well as a toll on the company. While he didn’t go into specifics, Elon acknowledged at the Q1 2025 Earnings Call that Tesla has suffered brand damage as a result of his work with the current US administration and that his reduced role at D.O.G.E. should help to reduce further damage.
SpaceX
Shifting the sights from the roads to the skies, SpaceX’s core business remains firmly centered on a few key aspects. That is rocketry, Starlink, and Starlink’s terminals. Elon did note that there is a potential to take Starlink public, but he isn’t in any immediate rush, given the continued and increasing growth of the Starlink user base worldwide. Starlink would need to further expand and provide additional services, like the upcoming Direct-to-Cell, before an IPO would be considered.
The next space-based topic was Starship. Starship is the cornerstone of SpaceX’s plans to colonize Mars, and the full reusability of Starship is SpaceX’s next step in achieving that goal. Once Starship becomes fully reusable, the cost of access to space, the Moon, and Mars will become drastically lowered, enabling further movement towards the greater mission of making humans a multi-planetary species.
xAI and AGI
The conversation also took a turn into the fields of AI. Elon has expressed views that many well-established industries are overregulated while new and upcoming industries, like AI, are grossly underregulated. Once again, Elon is advocating for some level of government oversight or regulation to ensure the responsible development of AI technologies.
This is due to the potential risks that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) could pose to humans and society as a whole. AGI is a focus for many AI companies who are pursuing truly generalized artificial intelligence that can understand and learn on its own. However, AGI also invokes thoughts of Skynet - the AI built by Cyberdyne Systems in the Terminator franchise.
Preventing and regulating the development of AGI to ensure that it stays within the bounds of human control will be key, and that forms the basis of Elon’s concerns with the rapid rate of advancement of AI today. In particular, Elon mentioned his critical views of OpenAI’s shift from a non-profit, open-source model to a for-profit, closed-source model that is searching for AGI.
Neuralink
Elon also touched on Neuralink just briefly. He highlighted that the company and its engineers are working on new advancements aimed at restoring capabilities, including sight, for individuals with specific medical conditions. Neuralink is already providing real humans who previously lacked the ability to communicate or interact with the world in an easier way.
The interview was pretty broad and covered Elon’s entire spectrum of companies - maybe just stopping short of touching on The Boring Company. You can check out the interview for yourself below.
Tesla’s long-anticipated refresh of the Model S and Model X is drawing closer, and we’re finally getting a clearer look at what to expect. Although the update is relatively minor, it does help freshen up the look of the Model S and Model X since their redesign in 2021.
While the camouflage made the grill-like opening at the front of the vehicle hard to spot, it was evident something was there. However, new photos shared by The Kilowatts show that Tesla is covering up this opening with a material that has a carbon fiber finish, at least on the Plaid variant.
While we were hoping for more drastic changes, such as a grill-less look with a light bar, similar to the new Model Y, it looks like that won’t happen with this refresh.
The limited design changes suggest Tesla may be trying to limit tooling and manufacturing changes for these lower-volume vehicles. While the headlights already support adaptive beams, they remained unchanged from the current Model S and Model X.
Our best look at the new front bumper camera on the upcoming Model S
klwtts/X
Rear Diffuser
klwtts/X
Tesla has also updated the rear diffuser, though it’s unclear if this will be exclusive to the Plaid version. While the refreshed Model Y moved its rear camera up into the rear trim piece, the Model S keeps it in the same location as the previous generation.
Ambient Lighting Arrives
For the first time, we’re getting a look at the refreshed interior — and there’s one noticeable addition: ambient lighting. This feature, which is now available on all of Tesla’s other vehicles, is finally making its way to the Model S and Model X. The implementation appears closer in style to the Model Y, with lighting running along the door panels but stopping about halfway down before continuing on the rear doors.
While ambient lighting is primarily aesthetic, Tesla has been expanding its use for more dynamic and interactive features.
Recent Ambient Lighting Additions
Over the last year, Tesla has made the ambient lighting feature more useful by integrating it with other Tesla vehicles. For example, Santa Mode and Rainbow Road easter eggs will now take advantage of the ambient lighting, with Santa Mode cycling the colors between red and green for a Christmas flair [videos], while Rainbow Road cycles the colors of the rainbow.
Tesla has also added other little additions, such as turning the ambient lighting red when Service Mode is active in the vehicle. They have also added additional options in recent updates to ambient lighting, such as the ability to choose the brightness of the lights and choose whether they'll always remain on or only come on at night.
New Exterior Color
klwtts/X
The refreshed Model X was also spotted in a new exterior color, similar but not identical to the Glacier Blue available on the new Model Y outside North America.
Launch Timeline
Although Tesla hasn’t officially said anything about a new Model S besides that, it’ll receive some “love” later this year. The Kilowatts noted that Tesla doesn’t have any Model S or X vehicles in their Fremont outbound lot, making it seem like these models could be announced any day now.
While the updates are relatively minor in terms of body redesign, the addition of the front bumper camera and ambient lighting are very welcome additions.
Stay tuned to see if there are any additional changes to these vehicles.
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