A Look at Tesla's Holiday Updates

The Model 3 UI in 2018

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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.

Tesla Vehicles are the Cheapest to Maintain and Repair According to Consumer Reports Study

Consumer Reports

Tesla cars are the cheapest to maintain and repair according to a new study by Consumer Reports. Elon Musk commented on the survey on X emphasising that Tesla is “the lowest car to maintain”.

The study, which includes data from thousands of car owners in the US, was recently published and shows that Teslas averaged only $580 in maintenance and repair costs over the first five years of ownership. From years six through ten, the costs increased to $3,455, which brings the total to $4,035 for the first ten years of ownership — the lowest of any vehicle tested. It’s worth noting that the average length of car ownership in the U.S. is about 8 years. 

Buick and Toyota fall right below Tesla (both at $4,900) with Lincoln and Ford closing the top 5 with $5,040 and $5,400 respectively for maintenance and repair costs in a 10-year ownership.

German premium automakers BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz are among the 5 most expensive on the list with 10-year costs reaching $9,500, $9,890 and $10,525, respectively. The trio is only surpassed by the luxury German automaker Porsche with an average cost of $14,090 and Land Rover closes the list at $19,250. 

Car Maintenance

Vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE) require additional maintenance, not only oil changes, but drive belts, transmission oil changes, coolant flushes, and more. Not only that, but ICE cars have more moving parts that decrease the reliability of the vehicle and can cause additional repairs such as transmission issues, clogged fuel filters or injectors, faulty spark plugs and the list goes on and on.

Since electric vehicles use regenerative braking to slow the vehicle down, brake pads also last much longer, sometimes lasting over 100k miles. This reduces wear on the brake pads, and rotors and even reduces brake dust on your wheels.

“EVs are cheaper to maintain, look after, and certainly to service,” says Matt Cleevely, from Cleevely Motors to Wired magazine adding that EVs “have half as many moving parts and require no regular oil changes”.

In Tesla’s case, the automaker suggests Model 3 owners replace the cabin air filter and HEPA filter every three years, check brake fluid every two years, and clean and lubricate the brake calipers every year or 12,500 miles, in areas where the roads are salted during the winter.

Gas Savings

These maintenance savings are only a small part of the reason why electric vehicles are cheaper to use for daily driving. Another large portion of savings comes from fuel costs. Tesla often promotes their vehicles’ gas savings on their website. For example, the Model Y has an estimated gas savings of $6,000 in the U.S. over the first five years of ownership alone. The savings may be even greater in other parts of the world where gas may be more expensive. After taking those savings into account, the world’s best-selling vehicle in 2023 starts at $29,490 after gas savings and the U.S. federal tax credit — and that’s before you include maintenance cost and time savings.

Cheapest cars to maintenance and repair through 10-years of ownership

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Tesla is Creating a Voice Assistant to Replace Voice Commands [Example of Voice]

It looks like Tesla may soon be replacing its archaic voice commands with something much more useful — a voice assistant.

Greentheonly, who often takes deep dives into Tesla software by decompiling the firmware and looking for changes, has now found the early integration of a voice assistant.

Voice Assistant Already Available in China

Tesla has already replaced its voice commands in China with a voice assistant that can not only control certain aspects of the vehicle using more natural language but can also answer common knowledge questions such as the current weather, stock quotes and more (video below).

Available On Intel?

Tesla’s voice assistant in China is available on vehicles with Intel (MCU 2) and AMD processors (MCU 3). If Tesla is utilizing some of the core technology in its upcoming voice assistant in other regions, it will likely also be available to Intel-based infotainment units.

Tesla Creating Own Assistant

According to Green's findings, it looks like Tesla may be rolling its own solution instead of integrating something like Amazon Alexa like Rivian has. Tesla created their own solution in China by using some of their own technology and several existing software solutions. However, some of them are only available in China so they don’t scale to support additional regions.

Grōk

The first thought that comes to mind is Tesla leaning on AI efforts by Grōk and xAI, which could help it support common knowledge questions and search the web for answers. However, that only gets Tesla partly there, as Alexa and Google Assistant already support a large ecosystem, one that may not be available if Tesla creates their own voice assistant. With Tesla’s solution, a driver may be limited to what devices they can control through the voice assistant, at least initially. Either way, just a more natural way to activate certain vehicle solutions will be an improvement over what’s available today. The ability to ask the assistant common questions will be the icing on top.

Wake Word

According to Green, the source code hinted at the voice assistant using a wake word, which would replace the need to press the scroll wheel on the steering wheel. Tesla has begun to use the left scroll wheel button for additional things lately such as wiper controls and a multi-function mode, so this may fit in with their plan.

It’s fun to speculate what the wake word would be or whether Tesla would add the ability to create your own. It could be something as simple as ‘Hey, Tesla’, ‘Grok’, or something more humorous as Tesla has a knack for. Unfortunately, there weren't any hints on what the actual wake word would be, but being able to set a destination, play a specific song or ask the assistant for the weather will be a much-needed improvement.

Supported Models

It's not clear which models Tesla would support a voice assistant, but with the release of software v12 with update 2024.14.3, Tesla is starting to leave more features out of older Intel-based vehicles. While a voice assistant may not necessarily be computationally heavy, it may depend on Tesla's implementation and whether voice commands are transcribed on device or carried over the internet for transcription.

Voice Model

In the software, there are references to Microsoft's text-to-speech technology and specifically to a voice named “Jenny Neutral.”

The “Jenny Neutral” voice seems like an acceptable voice, bringing a natural-sounding voice to Tesla's voice assistant, although it doesn't differ much from what you find on other assistants. You can view an example of Microsoft’s “Jenny Neutral” voice in the video below.

Tesla has been more mindful lately about adding information for unreleased features to its software to help prevent leaks, so by the time something like this is found by Green, it usually doesn't take long before it becomes available, although this could also make for an exciting Christmas present.

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