Tesla has added Chinese communication app WeChat to its vehicles in China. They also added handwriting recognition, among other features.
Tesla’s version 2022.44.30.8 update in China added a host of features, which included Apple Music, a microcredit program, MangoTV, and a handwriting keyboard, according to IT House.
WeChat
In China, WeChat is the go-to app for everything from calling and video chatting with friends and family to purchasing goods, sharing your location, and playing video games. The application is owned and developed by Tencent Technology, a major technology and entertainment company based in Shenzhen.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said in a podcast with Tesla Owners Silicon Valley that WeChat’s integrations are amazing and that “you can live on WeChat” in China, and the rest of the world doesn’t have anything remotely close to WeChat’s capabilities.
“We don’t have anything like WeChat outside of China,” Musk said at the time. “So, how about if we just copy WeChat?”
Musk has hinted at transitioning Twitter to being a similar all-in-one platform. “Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app,” Musk wrote on Twitter last year.
Handwriting Recognition
Tesla adds WeChat and handwriting recognition to its vehicles in China
Xiaote
In addition to WeChat, Tesla also added a new keyboard type to Teslas in China. Users now have the option of handwriting directly on the screen, which the keyboard will then translate into the closest Chinese character.
The feature appears to work by giving you a space to draw your character, it will then display an array of matching characters that you can select from.
For script-based languages, this makes text input much easier because of the large number of characters in the language.
We may see Tesla add handwriting recognition support in more languages such as Japanese in a future update. However, there likely isn't a need for such a keyboard in most regions that have much smaller alphabets.
Video of New Features
Microcredit program
IT House briefly explained what this WeChat integration means in Tesla (translated from Chinese): “In addition, this update also [adds] the online microcredit program to the vehicle, allowing the vehicle to offer more services.”
Tesla’s making headway in China
In October of last year, a survey conducted by 12365Auto out of China about EV reliability listed Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3 vehicles as two of the most reliable electric vehicles on the Chinese market. The study found that there were an average 19.2 complaints per 10,000 EVs in China.
The data, which was shared on Twitter by @Moneyball_R, showed that the Model Y received only 2.22 complaints, with the Model 3 trailing slightly behind at 2.7 complaints.
Tesla has begun to reach out to customers in the United States and is offering demo drives of the Cybertruck on an invite-only basis. @brandonhd on X shared the first invite image, and it looks like it's going out quite quickly to multiple locations that have Cybertrucks on display.
Up until now, display vehicles have been for just that – looking, but no touching. Some Tesla delivery centers and showrooms have also allowed viewers to take a seat inside and open it up, but most are still locked away behind the velvet rope.
It’s exciting to see that Tesla has begun to demo them – and it can only be so long until demo drives open up to everyone.
Advisor-led Demo
This Demo Drive is led by a Tesla Advisor – while you’re driving, the advisor will be in the passenger seat, walking you through the experience. They’ll explain steer-by-wire, off-road controls, and will introduce new-to-Tesla buyers to all the features that are currently available.
The list of locations so far for demo drives appears to be fairly limited, but we will hopefully see demo drives roll out throughout the United States, and eventually Canada too. Here is the current list of city/state locations that have seen demo drive invites.
Actually Smart Summon, the successor to Tesla’s Smart Summon feature, has been confirmed to be coming as soon as next month as per Elon Musk. Colloquially known as “ASS”, Actually Smart Summon is supposed to improve on the regular Smart Summon capabilities, which have historically used ultrasonic sensors (USS) to navigate parking lots.
We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon, and we’re quite excited about what other features will be unlocked once it finally shows up at our doorstep.
Vision-based Improvements
ASS is supposed to bring Smart Summon to vehicles that don’t have USS – using Tesla Vision. Most recently, Tesla has brought Autopark to vehicles without USS, and Vision-based Autopark has been a huge success. It is faster, more reliable, and smoother than the older USS-based solution. It can also park and maneuver in tighter locations.
Today, Smart Summon is sometimes useful at best, usually a party trick, or downright dangerous at worst. It’s excellent and best used in straight lines, where you have a clear line of sight of the vehicle, and can stop it if doesn’t see an obstacle.
I used Smart Summon today, just before writing this article – my 2022 Model Y (with USS) – did manage to show up just fine – in a straight-line location from where I was parked, after exiting the parking spot fairly cleanly. However, I’ve previously used Smart Summon and have had the vehicle turn towards obstacles, such as cart returns or curbs. Overall, it’s a sometimes-useful feature that has a lot of drawbacks right now.
Smart Summon is also restricted to a certain distance – and it's pretty small. The max distance is shorter than most parking lots, being only about 215 ft (65m). If you’re lucky enough to park close, it's very useful to bring your car right to you.
Actually Smart Summon
ASS will bring FSD V12-like capabilities to Smart Summon – the vehicle will primarily use Vision to drive toward you (or the location you’ve indicated). ASS has been supposed to be coming since about September 2022 and has seen many delays – we’re almost at the 2-year point today.
We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon being able to bring the vehicle – safely – right to you. ASS is also one of the key steps towards bringing some other cool features that Elon Musk has previously mentioned – Park Seek and Banish Autopark.
We’re also hopeful that Actually Smart Summon will increase the maximum range a vehicle can be summoned, because the current range is fairly small. Alongside Park Seek and Banish Autopark, we’re closing in on a Robotaxi-based future.
Park Seek and Banish Autopark
When the FSD v12.4 showed up, Elon also mentioned that going forward, vehicles would automatically park themselves when arriving in a parking lot – Park Seek – and that if you got out of the car at the entrance to a business, you could get it to automatically park itself in the parking lot – Banish Autopark. These are two features that are needed for Robotaxi to work – which itself is delayed to October 10th of this year. We’re looking quite forward to them – as in combination with Actually Smart Summon, Tesla has reached the cusp of vehicle autonomy.
A vehicle that arrives, driverless, at the location you’re at, then drives somewhere, parks itself there, and waits for you – is the definition of a Robotaxi.
While we’re likely to have to wait for Banish Autopark and Park Seek just a bit longer, Actually Smart Summon being around the corner is exciting! Gone will be the days of having to run out to your car when you forgot your umbrella – your car will just come right to you instead.
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