The updated Tesla app which we saw has now started becoming available to users. It looks to be rolling out first to iOS, but we expect an Android release to follow very soon (Update: Android version has started rolling out as well!).
What’s New
The app has been redesigned, but the core functionality and layout remain largely the same. There are a couple bigger functionality changes which we’ll start off with.
First, you’ll now be able to send commands to your car immediately, instead of having to wait until the car wakes up. The days of waiting for your vehicle to wake up before you can turn on the HVAC are gone.
The other big functionality change is just as nice if you have multiple Teslas. If you’re lucky enough to own more than one Tesla, you can now unlock any Tesla using your phone key. Previously, you could only unlock the vehicle that was selected in the app.
Other changes in the app are more subtle, but we’ll discuss them below.
You still have a rendering of the car at the very top, followed by some quick action buttons and some categories underneath that. However, the car renderings are now completely 3D and you’ll get fluid 3D transitions as you navigate the app and go into various menus. The battery icon at the top is now much smaller, gray and justified left.
Charging
The Charging section has been removed. Charging information will now be displayed only when your car is plugged in. Upon plugging in your Tesla, you’ll be presented with options to unlock the charge port and start charging. There’ll now be a nice animation of electricity running through the cable when your vehicle is charging. The time remaining, amperage and mi/hr are now displayed near the top of the app, below the battery icon.
A nice addition is that when picking your charge limit in percentage, you can now easily jump to round percentages, such as 70, 80, 90, etc. If your vehicle is charging, it’ll show you an estimate of how many miles it will charge up to.
You can now also view Supercharging history right within the app, instead of having to view it in the car or on Tesla’s website.
Controls
The Controls panel now features a large view of the car with buttons to open the frunk, trunk, charge port and unlock the vehicle. The speed limit, valet mode and sentry mode settings have been moved to a new category labeled Security. The Vent button has been moved to the Climate section.
Climate
In the Climate section things look very similar. You can now view the interior of the vehicle a little better and there’s a new fluid animation when the air vents are blowing. The exterior temperature is also displayed in addition to the interior temperature.
Upgrades
The upgrades section also received a facelift and now includes more information. There are now two sections, Software Upgrades, which feature the Buy and Subscribe sections we’re familiar with and a new Accessories section which offers Tesla accessories specific to your model.
Security
The new security section, in addition to having features that were previously available in other sections will also provide tips for how to improve your phone key experience. For example, if you have Bluetooth turned off, or location services for the app disabled, it’ll point out that unlocking your vehicle can be more reliable if you have those options enabled.
Widgets
With the introduction of the 4.0 release, Tesla has also released Widgets. For iOS there’s a 2x2 widget and a 4x2 widget. Both widget sizes feature the same information, which is the name of the car, battery percentage, location (or charging information), unlock status, an image of the vehicle and the time the information was last updated.
Overall, the app is much smoother and sleeker than the previous version. Some fonts are a little small such as the car information at the very bottom of the app, but this is a great update that we’re sure Tesla will continue to tweak and build upon.
Update:Elon has now confirmed that Bioweapon Defense Mode is coming to the Tesla app as well.
Back in 2023, Tesla put together a rather unique Supercharger site idea - one with a CyberCanopy. This canopy is intended to provide solar power for Supercharging, helping to reduce the impact on the local grid while also providing a futuristic and Cybertruck-themed location that would set it apart.
Unfortunately, the plans never moved beyond the filing stage. Instead, Tesla opened a standard-looking Supercharger at the same Canton, Massachusetts location. However, the site is still well-situated just off the highway and benefits from natural tree cover in the parking area.
However, Tesla is at it again with a concept for another CyberCanopy with RGB lighting. Thanks to MarkoRP for spotting this. No April Fool’s this time.
We want to build a few Superchargers cool enough to be worthy of the trip itself. - Max de Zegher
CyberCanopy 2
This second Supercharger with CyberCanopy is set for Roswell, New Mexico, at the Whataburger in town. Featuring just eight stalls, this will be one of Tesla’s smaller Supercharger sites, but for what it lacks in size, it makes up for it in uniqueness. The charging stalls are covered from the rain by a futuristic, Cybertruck-themed canopy, which will have solar panels installed on the top of it.
According to the plans, the CyberCanopy boasts 20.88kW of solar panels on its roof, providing shelter from the elements while also providing some power back to the grid.
RGB Lighting
At nighttime, the Supercharger will make a big statement. Tesla intends to light the long edges of the canopy, which will not only look amazing, but it’ll actually make finding the Supercharger easier in a large parking lot.
The lighting coming off the edge of the canopy reminds us a lot of the lightbar on the Cybertruck and now the new Model Y. It’s definitely the direction Tesla is moving for all their models, so expect all future models to have it, including the new Roadster and the next-gen model.
Tesla’s Max de Zegher also took to X after the plans for the new Supercharger were found and shared the image above. He stated that Tesla wants to build a few cool Superchargers that will be worth stopping at, even if they’re out of the way a little bit. So it seems like this isn’t just a concept, but an idea that Tesla wants to expand to several areas around the country or world.
We want to build a few Superchargers cool enough to be worthy of the trip itself. Wish we could have kept it under wraps for longer, but submittal was needed for Planning Approval. We can't hide anything from @MarcoRPi1! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/X2WaKDd408
This particular site doesn't have a Megapack or other form of energy storage, unlike the upcoming Harris Ranch Supercharger site in California. That means that Tesla won’t be storing the solar energy gained from this site, but instead will be either offsetting the immediate grid impact or serving energy back to the grid when the site isn’t actively charging.
Tesla will likely be incorporating V4 Superchargers, including both V4 posts and the new, more powerful V4 Cabinets, as the permit states that Tesla will be redesigning the site internally before beginning construction. For Cybertruck owners, 500kW charging may be around the corner.
We’re hoping Tesla continues to deploy these kinds of Supercharger sites around the world - they make a stylistic statement about Tesla’s futurism, like the Shell gas station that was upcycled into a Supercharger site earlier this year in Spain.
They also make a big impact for ownership because it is a far more comfortable charging experience when you stop at a site that’s shaded from the elements - and one that’s better for the environment with offset emissions.
It was a rainy April 1st when a news-searching author went on a delve into the depths of April Fools to find fact from falsehood. And while we found a lot of fantastic jokes, we also found some good ideas.
So, with a shoutout to MarcoRP on X, whose April Fool’s Joke gave us a good run for our money for a couple of minutes, we thought to ourselves - what would a Cybercab Charging Station / Cleaning Hub really look like?
Cybercab Wireless Charging Sites
Now, before continuing, we’d like to point out that the image up top is a joke from Marco - it isn’t an accurate or real site map submission from Tesla. However, it gave us the impetus to think critically about what is required for a Robotaxi fleet, based primarily on the Cybercab, to be able to service a city.
Requirements
Tesla will likely need to charge a small fleet of Cybercabs at a single time and in a single place. That means that the site needs to be large enough to cover a major metro area while also still being compact enough to not cost too much money to build out.
In addition, we need to factor in charge times. The Cybercab is likely to launch with a battery around 50 kWh, which will result in a range of approximately 300 miles. With that much range, the average Cybercab may not need to charge more than once or at all during daytime shifts, so instead, most of the vehicles will charge overnight.
MarcoRP
Math and Charge Times
The overnight charging means that most of these vehicles could be charged slowly. When we did some back-of-the-napkin math last year, we determined that Tesla’s wireless charger will likely peak around 17 kW (for comparison, Tesla’s Wall Connector at 32 amps charges at about 7 kW). If we scale Tesla’s wireless charger down slightly to 10 kW, accounting for some energy loss and the potential size of the site, that means a Cybercab will be able to charge in about 5 hours.
Tesla’s upcoming V4 Supercharger unit can currently handle 1.5MW per cabinet, but this slower-speed charging is A/C, not DC, which means there is a step-down loss of about 3-5%. Let’s make that a comfortable 10% for any other overages, but we can estimate around 1.35MW of power. That 1.3MW will easily handle charging up to 100 Cybercabs at once - all wirelessly, using Tesla’s unique beam-forming and beam-steering technology to keep efficiency high at every single stall.
Within about 5 hours, a whole fleet of 100 Cybercabs could be charged overnight when electricity rates are cheaper and still be out in time for the morning commute.
While this is all just hypothetical, it really does make sense that Tesla will be establishing these sites that won’t require much space or a ton of energy.
Tesla recently curtained off a large section of the parking garage at Giga Texas, as well as some of their chargers on the eastern end of the facility, leading us to believe they may just be testing this at scale internally.
There’s a lot to look forward to with Tesla’s V4 Supercharger deployment coming this year and with Robotaxi launching in just a couple of months.
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