Tesla Holiday Update coming soon. Here's what may be included

December 6, 2021

By Nuno Cristovao

Tesla has historically had a major release almost every year. Some years they release a holiday update that contains exciting new features. Previous holiday updates have included a new user interface, new games, Boombox, Tesla theater and more.

Tesla to deliver 2021 Holiday Update

It's an exciting time of the holiday for most people and Tesla is giving us a little extra to look forward to.

Last year Tesla had a holiday update, but ran into several issues and ended up splitting the holiday update into two parts. The first part was version 2020.48.25 and it was released on December 24th.

Coming soon. Lot of cool stuff.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 6, 2021

The holiday update included new games such as Cat Quest, The Battle of Polytopia and Solitaire. Tesla also refreshed the UI, made car visualizations larger and moved the wipers and rear camera buttons to the main navigation bar.

Although some owners weren't a fan of the larger visualization area because it reduced the width available for other apps like music and the web browser, it did give Tesla room to display more visualizations. The visualizations in FSD play an important role in helping the driver understand what the car can see and react to.

On Christmas day Tesla continued the holiday update and released another update, 2020.48.26, which included the Boombox feature.

Unfortunately, part two of the holiday update never officially came. Speculation is that Tesla became swamped with the new Model S software and ran out of time to develop part two of the holiday update.

It's likely that some of the updates that were slated for part two of the holiday update were released separately throughout the year.

Features such as Waypoints, which was recently released in 2021.40.5 could likely have been part of the holiday update. The TIDAL streaming service, Disney+, Car Wash Mode, the ability to disable mirror auto dimming and hotspot support all sound very much like they could have been part of the holiday update.

Unfortunately, Tesla never announced whether these features were originally part of the holiday update or why they weren't released in December of 2020.

Holiday Update 2021

Elon has now said on Twitter that Tesla is planning another holiday update this year, but doesn't give any details on what's in it. Sure, lots of us may be bitter because part two of the last holiday update never officially happened, but it's good to know Tesla is planning for new features this month.

Elon tweeted that the next holiday update is "Coming soon. Lot of cool stuff." Although this message leaves a lot to the imagination, it's fun to speculate what could be included in this update.

We took a look through our Upcoming Features section, which lists every feature that Elon has commented on and we put together a list of possible features that could be included in this year's holiday update.

Share Car through Tesla App

The share your car feature was recently discovered in the new Tesla app's source code. The feature will allow you to share access to your car with someone else for a specified time. Think of it as sharing virtual car keys, complete with an expiration date. Find out how sharing car access will work.

Vehicle Sync

Vehicle Sync will allow you to share your Tesla settings with other Teslas you own or rent. Vehicle Sync will automatically set your preferences such as stopping mode, auto high beams, temperature units and more automatically when you get into a new Tesla. Read more about how Vehicle Sync will work.

Improved Parking Chimes

This feature was recommended to Elon on Twitter and Elon responded and seemed quite fond of the idea. The feature would greatly improve the usefulness of Tesla's parking chime alerts. Instead of the parking sensors generating a generic beeping sound, the volume and direction of the sound would be based on the proximity and location of the object to the parking sensors. So if you were backing up in your Tesla and approaching an object such as a parking lot light pole, you'd hear the parking chime coming from the rear speakers. The closer you would get to the object, the louder the alert would be. Find out more details on the improved parking chimes idea.

Auto Shift

The new Model S and Model X support Auto Shift, which lets your car automatically shift into forward or reverse when coming out of park. Elon has said previously that Auto Shift will not be limited to the new Model S and X, but will also be come to the Model 3 and Model Y. Find out more about Auto Shift coming to other models.

Passenger Seat Presets

Similar to how there are driver profiles that save a driver's preferences, passenger presets would save a passenger's preferences such as seat position and possibly merge the driver's favorite music stations with the passenger's favorites. Read more about passenger seat presets.

Face Recognition

Tesla filed a patent that would use face recognition to set driver profiles. Instead of setting your driver or passenger profile based on which phone was closest to the car, or having to manually select your profile, Tesla could offer simple face recognition that would automatically set your profile for you. This will make a lot more sense when Tesla introduces passenger profiles, as Tesla would likely want to avoid cluttering up the UI with driver and passenger profile buttons. Find out more about face recognition in Teslas.

Apple Music

After Waypoints, this is the most asked for feature in a Tesla. Tesla recently released TIDAL and in the past Tesla has had source code that hinted at additional music services, such as Apple Music. The truth about music services is that the trend will continue and if Tesla adds Apple Music today, then users will ask for Panda, Amazon Music or SiriusXM streaming capabilities. Tesla is full of talented engineers. They're hopefully working on a solution that will generalize music streaming in a Tesla and make it easier to add additional music services. Adding Apple Music capability to Teslas could be 'The Gift' many are hoping for this holiday season. Find out more about Tesla adding additional music services such as Apple Music.

Render Teslas on Display

The ability to identify and display other Teslas on the screen could be just the kind of feature Tesla would incorporate into a holiday update. With the advancements Tesla has made in object recognition, Tesla can pull this off if they choose to. Read more about displaying Teslas on the screen.

Some of these features may show up in this year's holiday update, but like Santa, Tesla always has some surprises up their sleeve as well.

Last year Tesla released the holiday update close to Christmas and since Tesla does staggered roll outs, some owners did not receive the update until after the holidays.

Who knows exatly what's in store for us this year, but we're getting close and it's possible we may see the first sign of this year's holiday update soon. Check out our Upcoming Features section to read about all the features that Tesla may be looking into developing.

Update: We now have more information on the upcoming Holiday Update that may arrive as soon as Tuesday and possibly feature a 'Dancing Mode' for the Model 3 and Model Y.

Update 2: It's confirmed that a Light Show feature is coming to not only the Model 3 and Model Y, but also the Model S. You can view all the known Holiday Update features here.

Update 3: Tesla released many new features in the 2021 Holiday Update. The holiday update was released with version 2021.44.25.

Tesla Q1 Update on Optimus, Batteries, and Tesla Energy

May 1, 2025

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

The 2025 Q1 Earnings Call gave us the opportunity to learn about a lot of things, from Unsupervised FSD, to the Robotaxi program, to the update on the more affordable model. There was a lot of news to unpack, but there’s still more.

In this article, we’ll cover Tesla’s updates on Optimus, batteries, and Tesla Energy.

Optimus

Tesla has been working away on their humanoid robot and continues to make progress in software and hardware.

First, Tesla is preparing the Fremont factory for the Optimus pilot production line, which is scheduled for completion later this year. Once it is, wider deployments of Optimus for internal use within Tesla’s facilities are expected as well. Tesla aims to have several thousand Optimus units working in its North American factories by the end of the year once the pilot production line is operational.

Tesla’s goals for production remain extremely lofty - 1 million units per year by 2030. However, they could face some challenges when ramping production.

Key components like the shoulder actuators use specialized permanent and rare-earth magnets, which are currently sourced from China. Due to recent Chinese restrictions on the overseas sale of these magnets, Tesla is seeking an exemption or alternative suppliers. They have not yet looked into modifying the shoulder actuator but will likely do so if they cannot obtain the necessary materials.

Batteries

Batteries are another item that Tesla’s teams have been working on behind the scenes for years now. The second generation of the 4680 - the Cybercell - has been IRA-compliant for some time now. This means that the Cybertruck is eligible for the US Federal EV rebate.

Tesla also achieved the lowest cost-per-kWh of any of its cells with the 4680 battery - and it is potentially one of the cheapest cells being manufactured by any vehicle battery manufacturer at this point. With dry-cathode still being worked on, Tesla may be able to squeeze more optimizations and cost efficiencies from the 4680 cells.

Additionally, Tesla is progressing with its plans for lithium refining and cathode production in the US, both of which are scheduled to commence in 2025. While the company says they’re no longer supply-constrained for non-LFP vehicle batteries, on-shoring production and sourcing critical minerals from nations outside of China will be key.

LFP batteries continue to be supplied-constrained - namely for the Tesla Energy division. LFP batteries and their materials are sourced from China. Due to tariffs and limited exports, Tesla is can’t obtain enough and is considering potentially building an LFP production facility in North America.

Energy

Tesla’s energy division is still experiencing some of the highest growth of any of its divisions. Year over year, Tesla saw a 154% increase in energy storage deployments, including both Megapack and Powerwall - for a total of 10.4 GWh deployed in just Q1 2025. While deliveries in energy storage remain volatile due to the nature of Megapack installations, Tesla expects growth to continue rapidly in this segment.

Tesla also deployed 1GWh of Powerwall 3 residential storage this quarter, marking its strongest quarter. Powerwall 3 has received positive feedback from customers, many of whom appreciate its new capabilities with its built-in inverter for solar.

Megapack is continuing to see demand increases, currently highlighted by utility-scale Megapack systems, as well as data centers requiring stable power delivery. Megafactory Shanghai is also online now and producing Megapacks - with an annual production capacity of 20GWh today and up to 40GWh in the future. The site has also produced over 100 Megapacks this quarter, which are all awaiting delivery.

There was a lot of interesting news from Tesla’s Q1 2025 Earnings Call, covering everything from FSD and Robotaxi - to the less glamorous but equally important Megapack and Powerwall.

Tesla Introduces AI-Powered Phone Support for Tesla Insurance, Reducing Wait Times and Cutting Costs

May 1, 2025

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Tesla is heavily leaning into artificial intelligence, and its insurance offering is just another example of how it’s improving its product or lowering costs by leveraging AI.

Tesla recently started offering an insurance discount in select states when drivers use FSD for at least 50% of their drives and now it’s introducing an AI to help handle customer claims.

Tesla has developed an in-house voiced AI agent that can assist customers in handling simple support requests for Tesla Insurance.

Although Tesla Insurance is currently available in just 12 U.S. states, its voice AI assistant is accessible via phone across all supported states.

What the AI is Doing

For customers calling in from those states, the new AI agent provides a unique way to address the most common support calls. And it’s not just answering common questions but actually making requested changes to the owner’s account.

Policy Changes

The first key item is that it automates policy changes. Simple policy updates, including adjusting your deductible or coverage limits, are now done via AI. For policyholders who are simply looking to make quick changes and don’t have any questions, this makes the process a lot quicker by not having to wait for a representative. Tesla isn’t eliminating representatives, but this could reduce the number of representatives required or reduce wait times.

Continue Where You Left Off

The second item here, highlighted by Raj Jegannathan from Tesla’s internal IT team, is that Tesla’s AI agent is able to offer summaries of the user’s last interaction with Tesla Insurance. It will summarize your last interaction and provide assistance on that particular topic if you need to continue it. That means that you don’t have to wait for a human to review your file - the AI will kick off right where you left off.

Tesla appears to be focused on improving efficiency and making support more accessible. While actual items like claims are left up to humans due to their inherently complex nature, this helps free up employees to handle more complex items. While there’s no doubt Tesla will continue to develop this AI like they do everything else, we may soon see it take on even more tasks.

More AI

This isn’t the first AI agent that Tesla has demoed - there is now a chat-based AI sales agent available on the front page of Tesla’s website, which is able to answer common questions on Tesla vehicles.

Tesla has also been improving their AI support tool available in the Tesla App is able to provide feedback on common issues and also guide users towards either solving the problem or placing a support request.

Tesla has recently updated this AI to offer personalized support, allowing you to ask questions such as ‘What are my vehicle service alerts?’ or ‘Does my vehicle have a heat pump?’

Tesla’s strategy here is to influence the cost-heavy areas associated with having humans address simple requests and instead leverage AI, which can offer instant answers and reduce support costs.

Roll Out to More States

While this new AI is currently limited to just 12 states, it is likely to follow Tesla Insurance’s expansion. Insurance seems to have been at a bit of a standstill lately. Tesla continues to improve features such as the improvements to Safety Score V2.2, but we haven’t seen Tesla roll out support to new states since it added Minnesota in November of 2022.

Tesla may be looking to lower costs and refine the experience before it expands to additional states.