Watch a Tesla Model 3 test Goodyear's new airless tires

By Nuno Cristovao

Tires are one of the most important safety features of any vehicle. Tire manufacturers have made big improvements in the past with how tires are created and the compounds they use. Tires today last longer and are safer than ever before.

Tesla running on airless tires
Goodyear's new airless tires
InsideEVs.com

It looks like the next big thing may now be airless tires. By removing air from the tire, manufacturers reduce another road hazard caused by under or over inflating tires. They also reduce the cost and inconvenience that a flat tire causes.

Goodyear is removing air from the tire and replacing it with an internal fill pattern that adds structure and rigidity to the tire.

The internal structure of the tire increases durability and performance when compared to a standard air tire, although it does come with its own drawbacks as well.

These airless tires won't be ready for several years, as Goodyear and Michelin aren't planning on having them available to the public before 2030, but it's interesting to see the future of tires.

The current tires are limited to much slower speeds than we're used to driving, although they could have specific use case in the near future.

Goodyear says they have tested their tires at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour and used the tires in a “maneuverability” course at speeds as high as 55 MPH.

Although the tires are shown off without any sidewalls, presumably for attention, a production version of the tire would likely include sidewalls.

Adding sidewalls to the tire would prevent debris from getting in-between the inner webbing and alter the way the tire reacts to the road.

It's clear these tires are not ready for everyday cars yet, but they're shaping up to be the tire of the future. Who wouldn't want a tire that lasts longer and is more reliable?

Tesla Holiday Update Wishlist - Tesla App Edition

By Karan Singh
@niccruzpatane

So, with Halloween all squared away, the next big holiday coming up is Christmas. Each year, Tesla releases a big Holiday update packed with features. Last year’s update included some awesome features, including alternate routes, the Vision upgrade for Park Assist, Speed Cameras and Traffic Light icons, and the Automatic Blind Spot indicator, among others.

We already know that update 2024.44 - the Holiday Update Branch - is coming with Blind Spot Monitoring while Parked, Supercharger Improvements, and more. But, we’ve got a ton of good ideas that we hope will make the list, so put down your pumpkin spice, and grab your egg nog. It’s the holidays, and it’ll be Cybertruck’s first Christmas, so let’s celebrate!

Apple Watch App

First up—the Apple Watch app. This has been a highly requested feature over the past couple of years, and it looks like Tesla is listening. Tesla has apparently already begun development to support the Apple Watch in app update 4.38, so we’re expecting this to arrive as part of the big Holiday update. We’d love to see an equivalent app for Android-based watches, too.

Phone Left on Charger Alert

It’s easy to forget your phone inside of the vehicle, especially if it’s on the phone dock. A simple app alert that a phone has been left in the vehicle would be really useful. Tesla could potentially even tell the difference between a driver’s phone and a passenger’s phone, depending on the vehicle’s profile being used or which doors were open and closed.

Either way, just receiving an app notification if a phone is left in the car would be really useful, especially since your phone is your car key.

Light Show Support

Tesla Lightshows are great, but they could be made even better with Tesla app support. At the very least, it’d be great to be able to start/schedule or stop a light show from the app.

To really make light shows shine, Tesla could add the ability to create a light show directly from the app. Right now creating a light show involves using the open-source app xLights on a computer, so a simplified version of it running in the app would make it accessible to a lot more users.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Perform a synchronized light show with multiple Tesla vehicles…and a new song 🎶<br><br>Rolling out now in this year’s holiday update <a href="https://t.co/XqBUy5GxhN">pic.twitter.com/XqBUy5GxhN</a></p>— Tesla (@Tesla) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tesla/status/1737904802820919387?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Precondition Battery Button

Similar to an in-vehicle preconditioning button for 3rd party chargers, the Tesla App should also have a button to precondition the battery. This will make it easy for users, especially those who don’t have home charging – to get their vehicles ready for DC Fast Charging before departing.

Garage Door Controls

Tesla owners with HomeLink can control their garage doors directly from the vehicle. However, the Tesla app currently only allows users to open the first programmed garage door and doesn’t give the user access to any of the other programmed doors. Adding the option to choose which garage door to open via the HomeLink button would be a valuable addition—especially useful when paired with Actually Smart Summon.

Drive Stats

While Tesla already records and displays charging sessions in the app’s Charge Stats section, it’d be really helpful if Tesla also added the ability to record drives. That way, you could easily track how much your vehicle was driven on a particular day, week, or over the course of the year.

If you have any other suggestions, let us know in our forums. Who knows, some Tesla product managers may even be listening.

Tesla Adds Interest-Free Payment Plan to Tesla Shop - FSD Payment Plan Next?

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla has added payment plan options to its shop items for the first time. They’ve partnered with Klarna, a deferred payment provider, to spread the cost of items across multiple payments. For now, this appears to be limited to the Tesla Shop in the United States—no support for other regions quite yet.

Payment Options

Klarna’s primary payment option allows buyers to get 0% APR for 6 weeks, with 4 payments. The payment schedule is essentially one payment every two weeks for whichever product you buy - enabling you to buy now, and pay later with 0% financing.

For example, the payment schedule for the $420 Wall Connector is evenly divided into four portions. Of course, you’d also have to pay for shipping and taxes, both of which will be included in your first payment.

Payment 1

Payment 2

Payment 3

Payment 4

Amount

$105

$105

$105

$105

Payment Due

Day of Purchase

Week 2

Week 4

Week 6

For some of Tesla’s more expensive Shop options - like the Cybertent, this could be a fantastic means for some owners to pick up something more expensive without having to worry about interest charges on their credit card.

Klarna also offers some other payment schedules, which do have interest. While these are far more expensive and are more like credit cards, they still provide buyers a means to buy now and pay over time. These are all open loans as well, so you can pay them down at a faster rate, thereby reducing the overall interest.

Payment Schedule

Payment Rate

Interest Rate

6 Weeks

Biweekly

0%

6 Months

Monthly

7.99% to 33.99%

12 Months

Monthly

7.99% to 33.99%

FSD Payment Options?

We’d love to see an equivalent payment option available for Tesla’s FSD purchase, which is currently $8,000, even if it's bought after the vehicle purchase. The high upfront cost is likely one reason why Tesla’s FSD subscription is so popular.

It’s likely that purchasing FSD is much more popular at the time of vehicle purchase, as owners can roll the cost of FSD into their financing rather than paying the full $8,000 later on.

IPO Filing

Interestingly enough, along with today’s news that Klarna is working with Tesla, Klarna has also filed for an IPO in the United States. It is one of the first financial tech (FinTech) companies to file for an IPO in 2025 and, interestingly, one of the first European companies to conduct an IPO in the United States.

For those who trade in the financial sector, this will be one to watch—Klarna was valued at around $46 billion in 2021 and is now valued at approximately $15 billion. Partnering with a large and well-known brand like Tesla could uplift Klarna, but that’s all financial speculation.

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