Tesla has shown off what may be part of Tesla's v11 software. This morning Tesla posted a video to weibo.cn that shows off new features that will be available in China as part of the 20214.5 release.
Tesla highlights three major new features that will be available in the Chinese market. However, they may not necessarily be available to everyone outside of China. For example, we don't believe the updates to QQ Music would be available outside of China, much like some entertainment apps that are exclusive to certain markets.
TikTok
The first major feature that Tesla shows off is the addition of the entertainment app TikTok. The app will be added alongside the other apps currently available in the market and maintains the features popular in the mobile app such as 'Following' and 'For You' tabs, the ability to favorite and view comments on the videos. Although it's unclear whether they will allow you to comment on videos.
The layout of the app is particularly interesting as the design appears to take a cue from the Model S/X redesign videos we've seen recently where there is a black navigation bar on the left side.
QQ Music Lyrics
The second feature the video goes into is QQ Music. QQ Music is a streaming service in China and it has been available since 2019 on Tesla vehicles. With this update they're adding karaoke-like support to the service where users will be able to view song lyrics as the song plays in a very similar fashion to Caraoke.
Improved Voice Recognition
Speech recognition improvements are being highlighted as much improved in 2021.4.5 as well. The voice commands in the vehicle are great but you often have to phrase them in a very specific way to get them to work. It looks like Tesla has tried to improve their understanding of commands in this release.
In the video Tesla shows examples of a driver issuing commands like navigate to, calling someone or playing songs but in various new ways. It's not clear whether these improvements are specific to Mandarin Chinese or will be available more widely.
As Tesla is showing off the new commands and particularly the call command, we can see a slightly new call interface. When calling someone through the voice interface, it appears that the call will be automatically placed after a certain time. A progress bar "count down" will appear on top and a 'Cancel' button at the top giving the user a chance to cancel the command before the call is automatically dialed.
Tesla shows off these three major features as part of 2021.4.5, but there may be other improvements as well. These features are targeted specifically targeted the Chinese market and would not include other features that be only be available in the U.S. or other markets.
The full video is below for those interested in watching.
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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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