A Visual Look at Tesla’s 2025 Spring Update Features

April 24, 2025

By Karan Singh

@niccruzpatane on X

Tesla’s 2025 Spring Update has arrived and is now going out in larger waves. Although this update isn’t as large as last year’s Spring Update, there are several exciting features in this year’s Spring Update.

In this article, we’ll take our first look into some of the newest features.

Custom Trunk Height per Location

Elon Musk Biography by Walter Isaacson

Pre-order Elon Musk's biography by Walter Isaacson. Available now for pre-order on Amazon in hard cover or Kindle formats.

The trunk height for Model Ys, Model 3s with automatic trunks, and the 2021+ Model S and Model X will now be customizable by location. While you could previously apply a maximum general height, you can now also apply a height at a given location.

This is especially helpful if you don’t want the vehicle to open the trunk all the way in your garage, but would like it to open all the way elsewhere.

To set it, you can manually adjust the liftgate to your preferred height when at the location and then press and hold the trunk close button until you hear a chime. Alternatively, you can open the liftgate with the on-screen controls and then press the pause button and have it remember this height.

If you have a Cybertruck, the process is similar to save the frunk height.

B-Pillar Sentry & Dashcam

The new B-Pillar options are displayed at the bottom of the dashcam viewer.

Not a Tesla App

For newer hardware 4 vehicles, Sentry Mode and Dashcam will now also record video from the B-pillar cameras on your vehicle. This brings the total number of cameras recorded to six, up from just four. This also means that the vehicle is now covered practically in 360 degrees. The only cameras not recorded are the alternative front camera, the front bumper camera (on the new Model Y and Cybertruck for now), and the interior camera.

While most of the other cameras wouldn’t provide much improvements in terms of security, adding the interior camera would be a really nice addition. However, we imagine there are privacy reasons why Tesla isn’t adding this one.

You can check out the new angles in the improved Dashcam viewer under “Left Pillar” and “Right Pillar”, which are located at the far right.

For AI3 vehicles and the Cybertruck, this feature isn’t available, however, we expect it to be added to the Cybertruck soon.

Dashcam Viewer

New Dashcam Viewer in a short Video: pic.twitter.com/Fs1lgMuAGk
— Max Bracco (@max_bracco) April 15, 2025

The Dashcam and Sentry Mode Viewer have received an improved interface to go along with the new B-pillar camera recording. However, like the new cameras, this feature is only currently available on HW4 vehicles. While the B-pillar camera records are unlikely to arrive on HW3 vehicles due to technical constraints, we may see this improved Dashcam Viewer arrive on other vehicles in the future.

The new viewer now displays all the cameras along the bottom, rather than having one at each corner.

Tesla has also added a jump back or forward 15-second button; however, the recent improvement to adjust the playback speed from 0.5x, 1x, and 2x appears to have been removed.

There’s also a new button at the top right corner of the video, which lets you easily jump to the next video clip.

Reverse Camera

The new angle is a little bit wider than the original.

Not a Tesla App

For HW4 vehicles, Tesla has also improved the visible angle of the rearview camera. Tesla’s cameras actually capture angles slightly wider than the ones displayed in the vehicle UI and the Tesla app - so it’s nice to see them increasing the viewing area.

These same vehicles have now also been updated to have the fender cameras displayed at the top of the Camera app instead of the bottom.

Adaptive Headlights for North America

Overnight, your Tesla gets better with a OTA update.

Tesla Adaptive Headlights in action on a Legacy Tesla Model Y.

Now available in the US with Software Update 2025.14.1 pic.twitter.com/ZtITiZLNQw
— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) April 22, 2025

Adaptive headlights have finally been enabled for vehicles with matrix headlights in North America with this Spring Update. You can check them out in action below. If you’re unsure whether your vehicle includes matrix headlights, our guide can help.

Model S / X Turn Signal Cameras

These optionally placed repeater turn signal camera images are a huge improvement!

@niccruzpatane on X

Tesla Model 3 Door Handle Wrap Kit (Matte Black and others)

Complete set of 4 Tesla Model 3 door handle vinyl wraps. Each wrap is custom cut with precision for a perfect fit. Get it on Amazon.

The Model S and Model X have received some much-requested love from Tesla. The blind spot camera feature, which displays the fender cameras on screen when the turn signal is active, is being moved to the instrument cluster.

Until now, the feature has shown the cameras on the infotainment display, much like the Model 3 and Model Y. If you prefer to keep them on the main display, you can adjust it under Controls > Display > Automatic Blind Spot Camera.

New Navigation Options

With the 2025 Spring Update, you can now customize your route to have fewer stops, the best amenities, or just a fastest overall route.

Great quality of life improvement. pic.twitter.com/1KR4hXFVKz
— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) April 21, 2025

Tesla added three new routing options to the Spring Update, which now lets you choose between faster and more frequent charging stops or longer and less frequent stops. The long-awaited avoid highways option is finally included in this update as well.

Fastest: This offers the quickest path to the destination, disregarding any attempts at efficiency or stopping more frequently to perform short charges.

Best Amenities & Fewer Stops: This routing mode minimizes your charge stops in exchange for making them longer, but also allows you to stop near highly rated restaurants, shops, and restrooms for a more relaxing trip.

Avoid Highways: This highly requested feature allows you to keep your navigation routing away from highways unless absolutely necessary to reach your destination. Hurray for the country roads and relaxed driving.

Phone Icon Update

The new contact image is displayed above the phone number and name (censored by user)

@max_bracco on X

Tesla has updated the in-vehicle Phone app to display contact pictures from your phone, along with the name and phone number.

The new contact photos will also appear in the dialog window that opens when you receive an incoming call.

Search Filters for Music

The list of sources is selectable to help fine-tune your search.

Not a Tesla App

When searching for music, the results are now filtered by the music service, rather than displaying all results in a single view.

When you prefer a search, the results will be limited to the currently selected music source. Results for other services will be displayed in separate tabs organized by service. This is a really nice addition, but we’d also love to see an “All” results tab, similar to the previous experience, that lets you view results across various services.

Keep Accessory Power On

Not a Tesla App

Tesla is finally giving users the ability to charge devices with 12V sockets and USB ports when there’s no one in the vehicle. While 12V sockets and USB ports are turned off when the vehicle goes to sleep, many users work around this by enabling Sentry Mode to keep the ports powered.

The good news is that this new feature is even more efficient than before because owners no longer need to keep Sentry Mode on just to keep these ports powered.

To enable power for the USB ports and 12V sockets, navigate to Controls > Charging and scroll down to Keep Accessory Power On. Keep in mind, similar to Sentry Mode, this feature uses additional energy, even if devices aren’t being charged — so use it selectively.

Music Improvements

Tesla has made several other music-related improvements in this update besides the updated search results screen.

Amazon Music: You no longer need a premium subscription to Amazon Music to use the streaming service in the car. Your free account will work just fine.

Experience Tesla Android

Beyond CarPlay & Android Auto: Run Android apps in your Tesla seamlessly. Get $20 off our hardware bundles with code: notateslaapp

Apple Music: Apple Music’s shuffle function has been improved so that it now shuffles the entire playlist of music, instead of just the first 100 results in the playlist.

YouTube Music: The next song in a playlist will now be displayed in the Up Next section. You view this section by tapping on the album artwork in the music player.

Other Improvements

Not a Tesla App

Tesla has made several other improvements. One nice addition, currently limited to the Cybertruck, is that the vehicle's visualization will now display the actual distance a door is open.

Tesla also improved the hotspot feature. If you typically use the hotspot on your phone to connect to the vehicle, this feature will now be automatically enabled each time the vehicle is put into drive.

While Tesla has already shown third-party chargers in Europe, Tesla is now giving users the ability to view them in other regions for the first time. The feature is off by default, but you can go to Controls > Navigation and enable third-party chargers. Tesla explains that your vehicle will not automatically navigate to these chargers, but they will show up in the list of available chargers.

When viewing a Supercharger, Tesla now provides a list of all nearby amenities as well, making it easier to see places nearby.

Not a Tesla App

While this update’s big features are the Sentry Mode and Dashcam Viewer improvements, which don’t apply to everyone, there are a lot of smaller charging and music improvements that make using and charging the vehicle better. Hopefully, we’ll see Grok come in Tesla’s next major update.

Elon Musk Shares His Thoughts on Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI in Interview

May 24, 2025

By Karan Singh

Reuters

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

No Drilling Required Mud Flaps for Tesla Model 3 or Model Y

Custom-designed, no-drill mud flaps for a Tesla Model 3 or Model Y. Get it on Amazon.

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 New Model S and Model X Spotted: New Color & Grill, Ambient Lighting and Front Bumper Camera

May 23, 2025

By Not a Tesla App Staff

klwtts/X

Tesla Uberturbine Wheel Covers

These Uberturbine wheel covers for the Model 3 and Model Y cost a fraction of new wheels and help improve range.

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.

A camouflaged Model S was spotted at the Nürburgring just days ago, revealing new front and rear bumpers along with Tesla’s long-awaited addition: a front bumper camera.

New Grill

klwtts/X

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.