Earlier this year Elon Musk said that Tesla will be moving car profile settings to the cloud. Any Tesla will automatically adjust to you, Musk said.
We saw the first signs of profile syncing back in version 2021.40. In this update, Tesla had references to a new feature called "Cloud Profiles," and mentioned vehicle syncing for individual driver profiles.
In 2021.40 we got a sneak peek at the UI for Cloud Profiles and how it may function.
Then in late December, Twitter @Kristennetten asked Elon if she updated her home address in her profile, whether the address would also update in her car. Elon explicitly said that this was a feature that was coming in the future.
The feature has yet to become available, but with the release of 2022.8.2, we're now seeing some additional changes related to Cloud Profiles in the car's firmware.
According to Tesla enthusiast @greentheonly, Tesla has added additional code to the 2022.8 release related to cloud profiles.
There's now a new Account Link (Beta) section according to Greentheonly, which will let you link a Tesla account to a specific vehicle profile.
Once your Tesla account is linked to a car profile, that car's profile will automatically appear in any other Teslas under your account.
These vehicles could be rentals or owned by you. As long as they show up in your Tesla app then your car profile will become available on that vehicle.
Looks like cloud accounts are getting a boost. There's now "Account Link (Beta)" where you can link/unlink a car profile to online account, and you can set a recovery pin too. When you unlink a profile from account, it disappears from all other cars except current
Some of us have multiple profiles for different use cases. Some popular profile options are to create one for driving in the snow with lower regenerative braking and less acceleration.
Sometimes owners like to create a different profile whether they're driving with a thick jacket on or high heels, or even a profile for driving a more related state.
It's not clear whether Tesla will allow you to sync multiple profiles to a single Tesla account, or if you'll be limited to one.
In the car's Profiles menu, there will be a new option under each profile that will let you choose whether that profile is linked to your Tesla account.
Having your car profile sync to multiple vehicles will be especially useful when renting a Tesla. It'll provide a consistent experience across vehicles and it'll save you time from having to adjust preferences such as your seat, mirrors, music preferences, and more.
This could be important for certain settings such as 'Stopping Mode'.
When you first get in the car, you may expect it to behave like your own Tesla and if the Stopping Mode is set to something else like roll, it could cause you to roll unexpectedly.
If you rent a Tesla or use one as a loaner, it'll feel almost magical being able to get in it and have it automatically adjust to you.
Your Autopilot and navigation settings are also saved to your profile and those would carry over to other vehicles as well.
Seat and mirror positions are saved for each driver as well, however, we only expect these settings to carry over if the Tesla models are the same. For example, your seat position wouldn't carry over from a Model 3 to a Model X, but it would be from a Model 3 to a Model 3 or maybe even a Model Y.
Tesla will also include options for you to unlink your vehicle profile from your Tesla account, which will cause the profile to disappear from other vehicles that it's synced to.
It's not clear when Tesla will launch Cloud Profiles, but it looks like it has been in development for a while now and with the recent findings in the public build of 2022.8.2, we may see this feature in the near future.
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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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