The Tesla Model S competes against other EVs like VW's ID.Buzz to find out which vehicle can travel the furthest in extreme conditions
Motor.no
The Northern tundra of Norway played host to an electrifying showdown as Motor Magazine pitted the latest and greatest electric vehicles against each other in a grueling test of winter endurance. With bone-chilling temperatures, only the bravest and most efficient cars could cross the finish line. However, the Tesla Model S was the clear winner when the dust and snowflakes settled.
This sleek electric sedan not only braved the frigid temperatures but also shattered the previous winter range record, reaching a whopping 530 kilometers (329 miles) on a single charge. While other vehicles struggled to maintain their range, the Model S powered on, proving once and for all that electric cars can handle anything Mother Nature throws their way. It's worth mentioning that the Model S had a slight disadvantage from the get-go - due to a technical issue, the battery could only be charged to 98%.
How the Rest of the Field Fared
As expected, the harsh winter weather took a toll on the other cars in the test. Most cars stopped much earlier than expected, but the Model S saw one of the lowest range deviations at just 16%. The Model X Plaid was second with 444 kilometers (276 miles) and an 18% deviation. Meanwhile, the Toyota bZ4X had the most considerable discrepancy, with a deviation of over 35% and just 323 kilometers (201 miles) driven. Oddly enough, Toyota did not provide its all-wheel drive version of the bZ4X. Subaru's Solterra, the twin to the bZ4X, also did not offer an all-wheel drive edition.
China Emerges as the Driving Force in the Electric Car Industry
The winter range test also saw a significant number of cars from China, with 12 of the test cars hailing from the country. From the affordable MG4 and BYD Atto to the luxury SUV Voyah Free, Chinese electric cars are making a big splash in the industry. These cars prove development in the electric car industry is moving fast, and China is at the forefront.
Winter is no friend to electric cars. Electric heaters and heat pumps work overtime, snow drifts make the roads unpredictable, and drivers are left counting down the miles until they need to reach a charging station. This test provides a real-world look at how electric cars perform in harsh winter weather, and it's clear that the Tesla Model S is one of the best in the business.
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The latest Tesla update 2024.14 is full of exciting features, including a fresh design, an updated media player, full-screen visualizations, and so much more. This number of features in this update rivals holiday updates when Tesla usually releases the biggest features of the year.
Below you’ll find photos and videos of each of the major new features in this Tesla update.
High Fidelity Autopark
With update 2024.14.5, we're seeing the Park Assist Upgrade which creates 3D versions of the vehicle’s environment in real-time added to vehicles with ultrasonic sensors (USS) for the first time.
Vehicles without USS received this feature as part of the 2023 holiday update.
One of the biggest upgrades of Tesla OS v12 is the new visuals while parked. This feature is available on the Model 3 and Model Y with the AMD-powered infotainment center.
While parked the vehicle is displayed beautifully front and center, while also displaying a snippet of the map in the top right corner. At the bottom of the screen, you have the ‘Navigate To’ module and the media player.
Tesla says the new media player is also part of the visual upgrade in v12, and therefore will only be available on AMD vehicles, however, we think it may become available on Intel-based vehicles in the future.
The new media player makes commonly used actions easily accessible instead of having to expand the media player. Options such as shuffle, repeat, and search are now one tap away, instead of having to expand the media player to access these features.
The new media player is a vast improvement. It now features a more obvious progress bar, and a translucent background, letting the vehicle visualizations shine through. For a full run-down of the new media player, including its new minimized version and a video of the player in action, check out our in-depth look at Tesla’s new audio player.
Tesla's new media payer on the Model 3 and Model Y
Full-Screen Visualization
Full-screen visualizations are no longer tied to FSD and are now available outside of North America for the time. The visualizations themselves are also improved but don’t display the full plethora of visualizations available with FSD. More vehicles are now visualized and additional features such as turn signals are now displayed.
The full-screen visualization view, which is accessible by dragging the edge of the visualization to the right, offers several improvements over the FSD version available in North America. The new media player and navigate to box will now always be present centered on the screen. A small view of the navigation maps is also displayed in the corner, similar to the visualization while parked.
Although full-screen visualizations are available on Intel-based vehicles with FSD in North America, Tesla marked this feature as AMD Ryzen-specific, although that could change in the future.
Here’s a look at the updated driving visualizations that will come standard with Basic Autopilot on every Tesla after the spring update! 👀😎
Tesla has added the Audible audiobook service with update 2024.14. The media player has useful buttons to skip forward and back 15 seconds, as well as adjust the playback speed. Tesla is also expected to launch Amazon Music in the future.
Tesla is adding the Audible audiobook service in update 2024.14
Hands-free Trunk
A pleasant surprise in this update was the ability to open your trunk hands-free. The feature works by having you stand directly behind the vehicle for a couple of seconds, the vehicle will then sound chimes as a warning before opening the trunk for you.
The feature takes advantage of the newer ultrawide band (UWB) protocol, which allows for low energy and extremely high precision location tracking. With UWB, Tesla can accurately tell where the person is in relation to the vehicle and how much they’re moving. The only vehicles that include ultrawide band are the redesigned versions of the Model S and Model X, the new Model 3 and the Cybertruck, however, the feature hasn't been implemented in the Cybertruck in this update.
The video below shows how the hands-free trunk works and tests it out in a variety of cases.
Preview of Sentry Mode
Another long-awaited feature is the ability to view Sentry Mode footage from your phone. In update 2024.14, Tesla will now send you a notification whenever there is a Sentry Mode event. Attached to the notification and accessible through the app is a short video clip of the Sentry Mode event.
Trip Progress
The trip progress bar sees a nice improvement that was previously available in China. Not only can you now see a visual representation of your trip's progress, but the timeline of the trip is also color-coded to show you traffic density along your trip.
This is useful to let you know about potential traffic later on on your trip. The entire module has also been refreshed to have a more modern design. Some information has been moved around such as your ETA and distance to your destination are now the two bits of information at the top of the module.
The progress bar shows traffic along your entire route
@greggertruck
Wiper Controls
Tesla automatic wiper controls have always been problematic, but Tesla is at least now giving us more intuitive wiper controls that let you easily switch the wiper speed.
After this update, there are two new ways to change the wiper speed. You can press the wiper button on the left stalk, or the wiper button on the new Model 3, and then use the left scroll wheel to scroll up and down to adjust the wiper speed. This was available before, but previously required you to tilt the scroll wheel left and right.
You can now also tap the wiper button on the stalk multiple times to go up to the next speed.
Full-Screen Browser
A small, but very useful feature that is buried in the release notes is the internet browser's new "full screen" button. This new feature is only available while you're parked, but it gives you the ability to easily view any website full-screen. This is especially useful when streaming video in your vehicle while parked and not being limited to the choices in Tesla’s Theater app.
Tesla update 2024.14 includes the ability to make the browser full screen.
The rear screen is also receiving a couple of upgrades. The first is that there will now be a status bar along the top of the screen that displays the current time, temperature and estimated time of arrival to your destination so that rear passengers can easily stay up to date on relevant information.
In addition to this new information, Tesla will now turn off the rear screen when there is no one seated in the rear seats, helping improve the vehicle's efficiency.
Vehicles with rear screens will now display the time, temperature and ETA to destination
@greggertruck (edited by Not a Tesla App)
Improved Cybertruck Frunk
The Cybertruck is the first Tesla vehicle to receive an auto closing frunk. While it received some criticism when it was first released around potential dangers when auto closing, Tesla is now addressing this issue with this update. The frunk is now a lot more sensitive to objects that may be in the way, however, as one video shows us, you probably shouldn’t put your finger in it.
New Tesla Cybertruck update claims to make the powered frunk safer. This is 2024.14.3
Otherwise known as the spring Tesla update.
I tested this out BEFORE and AFTER the update to see if there really is a big difference.
Auto Shift is getting two upgrades with this update. The first is a redesign to the feature, which now makes it more compact, leaving additional room for the gear indicator and the media player instead of going from top to bottom on the left side of the screen.
The Model S and Model X are also receiving improvements to the auto shifting functionality. The vehicle will now be able to shift automatically from Drive to Reverse and from Reverse to Drive in some situations, instead of just auto shifting out of Park.
This feature is expected to arrive for the new Model 3 and the Cybertruck in the future as well.
Average Speed Zones UI
Average speed zones, which are used to control speeds over certain periods of roads are now supported in Teslas as well. In countries where this type of speed limit is used, the vehicle will keep track of your average speed and let you know when the average speed zone section started and when it will end.
Pantalla de radares de tramo, donde aparece el límite de velocidad, el promedio de nuestra velocidad y cuanta distancia para salir del tramo.
The Cybertruck has received nine exclusive features in this update, including new lock sounds that are unique to the vehicle.
To use a lock sound, instead of the standard honk when you lock your vehicle, go to the Toybox and navigate to Boombox. You can also create your own custom lock sound by putting it on your USB drive. You can browse our huge list of custom lock sounds to find the perfect one.
In a recent interaction on X, Elon Musk confirmed that the long-standing steering wheel nag, designed to ensure driver attentiveness, would be removed in FSD v12.4.
Musk initially replied to a user on X claiming that FSD v12.4 would fix the steering wheel nag. However, it wasn't clear what Musk meant by fixed until user, Farzad, created another post stating that Musk insinuated that the nag would be removed in FSD v12.4, to which Musk replied with “Yes.”
Tesla's removal of the steering wheel nag isn't surprising, as Tesla's camera-based driver monitoring system in the vehicle can in theory do a much better job monitoring the driver's attentiveness. So before NHTSA has a heart attack with Musk's comment, it's important to understand that Tesla is likely improving cabin camera monitoring in this same update to the point that the steering wheel nag becomes redundant.
How Tesla Uses the Cabin Camera
Tesla uses the cabin camera to detect whether a driver is paying attention to the road by detecting whether their eyes are open, which way their head is facing, and even whether the driver is using their phone.
Thanks to Tesla hacker Greentheonly, we know Tesla uses the vehicle’s interior camera output and AI to determine the likelihood of each scenario they're looking for. For example, Tesla runs neural networks that look at the video feed of the cabin camera and determine whether the driver is looking up at the road, looking off to the side, or looking down.
This Won't be the End of the Steering Wheel Nag
While Musk's statement implies the removal of the steering wheel nag, Tesla will probably retain it as a fallback measure, at least in early iterations of the suspected improved camera-based monitoring system.
The steering wheel nag may still be used when the cabin camera can't confidently determine whether the driver is paying attention. This could be caused by sunglasses, hats, glare, or even driving at night. Newer Teslas include interior infrared lights that help the camera see in the dark, although not all Teslas on the road include infrared lights.
Will It Also Remove It For Basic Autopilot?
While Musk says Tesla will remove the steering wheel nag in FSD v12.4, the need to detect driver attentiveness isn’t unique to FSD. Tesla detects for driver attentiveness in all their Autopilot packages, including Basic Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, and FSD. It’s not clear whether Tesla plans to only remove the nag in FSD, but it looks like Tesla will at least start there and the feature will likely work its way down to Enhance Autopilot and Basic Autopilot as well.
Vehicles Supported
The only Teslas expected to take advantage of the “nag-less” improvements in FSD v12.4 are those with cabin cameras, which include the Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck, and the redesigned Model S and Model X. However, the newest vehicles with infrared lights near the cabin camera will likely benefit the most.
FSD v12.4 Release Date and Features
Elon Musk indicated that FSD v12.4 could start rolling out as early as next week. Musk doesn't usually reveal what's in each FSD update, but he did talk about what we should expect in FSD v12.4, disclosing that the update will largely focus on refining passenger comfort by addressing concerns such as abrupt acceleration and braking.
TeslaFi logs your drives and charging sessions, letting you keep a log of your vehice's activity. We highly recommend checking them out if you use your car for business trips and would like to keep track of reimbursements, if you like to see how much you spend on charging or if you just love statistics. Visit their site and see everything they have to offer!
Tesla Android Project enables you to run Android apps in your Tesla. The platform is Open Source and you can deploy it on your own Raspberry Pi 4. Consider supporting the initiative by donating or purchasing the Compute Module 4 Bundle that delivers the best experience. Get $20 off by using the code: NotATeslaApp
The official Tesla app only notifies you if your car is broken into. By installing Sentry Pro on your phone, you will be notified for all Sentry Mode events. Stay connected and avoid potential surprises by receiving notifications. Stop constantly checking the cameras to ensure safety. Check only when necessary, save battery and get peace of mind. Get a 7 day free trial here!
Stay organized, connected, and stylish with Cyberbackpack — the #1 backpack, luggage & travel accessories for Tesla owners. We highly recommend checking them out if you commute or travel and would like a backpack or luggage that is sleek, secure and durable. View their products page and see everything they have to offer!
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