What is Tesla Premium Connectivity and What's included

By Nuno Cristovao

Tesla vehicles receive constant updates to improve functionality, add features, improve reliability and even add games. Teslas will also send you notifications on your phone when your car alarm goes off, if you left your car unlocked, or if the charge level is critically low.

Tesla's Premium Connectivity

What is Premium Connectivity?

All Teslas come standard with WiFi and cellular modems. When connecting to WiFi either through your home's network or through a hotspot, most features in your Tesla are free to use. However when utilizing your car's cellular connection some features are limited to Tesla's premium connectivity package.

Cost of Premium Connectivity?

Tesla's Premium Connectivity package currently costs $10/month per car in the US. Cars sold before June 30, 2018 include free premium connectivity.

As of February 2022, Tesla has also added a yearly plan for Premium Connectivity in the US. The price of the annual plan is $99/year. You can subscribe to the monthly or the yearly plan by using the Tesla app. In the Tesla app go to the Upgrades section and then tap Manage. If you currently subscribe to the monthly plan, you can also switch to yearly in this same section.

What is included for free, without Premium Connectivity?

The most important data features are included for free in your Tesla, such as phone notifications, software updates, updated navigation maps and even optimal navigation routing that takes live traffic into account.

What does Premium Connectivity include?

The features that require premium connectivity have mostly to do with entertainment while parked or driving. Keep in mind that all entertainment features are available to you if you're connected to WiFi or a hotspot.

Entertainment features that require premium connectivity include music streaming, such as Slacker and Spotify. It also includes video streaming services while parked such as Netflix, Disney+, YouTube and a few others. Keep in mind that some of those services still require a subscription. For example, YouTube is available for free, but Netflix requires a paid subscription. Tesla's premium connectivity simply lets you use the car's data connection to stream those services.

Additional services included in Premium Connectivity are:

  • Internet browser - Browse the web to look up restaurants, destinations or other information. It can be used by the passenger while driving.
  • Caraoke - Tesla's version of Karaoke which features hundreds of songs and displays the lyrics on the screen.
  • Satellite view maps - This displays satellite imagery in your navigation instead of just the terrain view with streets.
  • Live traffic visualizations - Traffic visualizations will show you which roads are congested and where traffic jams are located by coloring in the roads in various colors. The traffic view can be turned on or off by tapping the Live Traffic icon on the right side of the maps.
  • Traffic Along Route - With Premium Connectivity, your route will be colored in various colors to highlight the areas with traffic.
  • Traffic Lights and Speed Camera Icons - Traffic lights, stop signs, speed camera locations and other icons are displayed on the map.
  • Traffic in Trip Progress Bar - The vehicle's trip progress bar will show you an overview of the traffic along your entire trip.
  • Sentry Mode Videos in the App - If your video has Sentry Mode armed and there is an event, the Tesla app will notify you with a notification of the event and a one-minute video clip. The video clips can also be viewed in the app.
  • Sentry Mode Live Access - You can view the live feed of most cameras on the vehicle within the app. Simply make sure Sentry Mode is activated and go to Security and tap on live view.
  • Average Speed Zones - If your region uses average speed zones, your Tesla will now display when the speed zone started, how much longer until it ends and your average speed.
  • Zoom - You can connect to meetings with the Zoom app (AMD Ryzen processor vehiciles only)
  • Steam - You can download and play some Steam games on Model S and Model X vehicles that have access to Steam.
Feature Included WiFi / Hotspot Premium
Navigation
Phone Notifications
Ability to Use Tesla App
Best Route Considers Traffic
Show Live Traffic
Satellite-View Maps
Video Streaming
Caraoke
Music Streaming
Internet Browser
Sentry Mode Live Access
Sentry Mode Videos in App
Traffic & Speed Camera Icons
Average Speed Zone Support
Traffic in Trip Progress Bar
Zoom*
Steam*

*These features are only available in some vehicles. Steam requires a 2021+ Model S or Model X with 16GB of ram or more, but it's not available on every model. Zoom is only available on vehicles with the AMD Ryzen processor.

Can I share my phone's data (hotspot) with my Tesla?

Yes, with software update 2021.24 and later, you can now choose to share your phone's data connection with your Tesla. It'll get you access to most of the features included with premium connectivity such as music streaming, internet browsing and you'll be able to use all of them while driving.

However there are two features that aren't available without Tesla's premium connectivity, even if you're using your phone as a hotspot. They include the live traffic visualization and the satellite imagery in maps.

Those two features aren't included when on WiFi or using a hotspot because they cost Tesla more than just the data to get them to you. Google provides Tesla both of those features for a fee. Tesla is simply including those fees they pay Google in their premium connectivity package price. So Tesla decides to not provide these features unless you're paying for the premium package.

Find out more about the remain connected to WiFi while in drive.

Tesla Denies WSJ Report Claiming Board is Replacing Elon Musk

By Karan Singh
YouTube/NYT Events

Tesla has issued a strong denial in response to a Wall Street Journal report (Paywall) which claimed that Tesla’s Board of Directors had initiated a search for a new CEO.

In a statement posted directly on Tesla’s X account, Board Chair Robyn Denholm denied the report unequivocally. As per the statement, Tesla’s board did not reach out to recruiting firms in search of a new CEO.

Board Supports Elon

The statement reaffirmed the board’s position on Tesla’s current leadership and that the board is highly confident in Elon’s ability to continue executing Tesla’s plans and future growth.

This confidence behind Elon follows his recent statements made during the Q1 2025 Earnings Call that he would be stepping back from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the coming days and significantly reducing time spent there. Instead, he would be returning to focus on Tesla’s operations and the upcoming deployment of Robotaxi.

Shortly after the denial was posted, Elon Musk also commented on the report, specifically tagging the Wall Street Journal and criticizing their handling of the report.

We’re glad to see Tesla and Elon set the matter straight, but there could have been a better way to spread this message and maybe even prevent the report from WSJ from going out.

We recently published an opinion piece on why Tesla needs its PR team back, and this specific incident is a good example. Relying solely on platforms like X for critical corporate communications - and in this case, late at night (1 AM EST), with limited reach outside the existing follower base seems like an ineffective way of communicating important company information.

We’d love to see Tesla really put some thought into managing its image, as it seems that several recent reports from major financial news organizations have apparently been wrong.

Either way, the board’s stance is clear - there is no active search underway, and Elon has the full backing and support of the board to lead Tesla toward the future.

Tesla Megapack: How Tesla Is Reinventing Global Energy Infrastructure

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla’s Megapack is rapidly becoming a key component in energy storage and grid modernization efforts worldwide. Though often associated with powering AI infrastructure or industrial operations, Megapack’s true strength lies in its ability to stabilize electrical grids during blackouts and brownouts.

In a recent behind-the-scenes reveal, Tesla showcased the impressive scale of Megapack production at its Mega Lathrop facility, along with real-world examples of how these systems are already transforming energy resilience across the globe.

Mega-Scale Megapack

Tesla is operating the largest utility-scale battery manufacturing facility in North America at Mega Lathrop, which has the capacity to produce 10,000 Megapacks annually. Thanks to a highly automated assembly process that uses over 30 welding robots to assemble the core Megapack structure. This is the largest manufacturing fixture Tesla uses— likely to only be matched by future developments at Mega Shanghai.

Tesla uses a highly automated powder coating process, utilizing over 90 robotic paint atomizers to apply more than 140 pounds of powder coat to each Megapack. This process delivers Tesla’s signature white reflective finish, engineered for long-term durability and corrosion resistance that lasts up to 20 years, even in harsh coastal or high-heat environments.

All of Megapack’s power electronics are designed and built in-house. Each Megapack uses 24 battery modules, electrical busing, and thermal management systems to ensure grid reliability and help to maximize energy density. The architecture pairs each inverter with a battery module to maximize energy availability and overall uptime. Plus, before each Megapack ships its way across the world, Tesla performs rigorous on-site quality control to ensure that the installation process is as seamless as possible.

Watch Tesla’s video of the manufacturing process below:

Megapack’s Real-World Impact: Hawaii

The core purpose of Megapack is to make power grids more stable and resilient while also reducing reliance on dirty peak power plants like coal. They achieve this by balancing energy supply and demand in real-time, smoothing out fluctuations from variable renewable sources like solar and wind, which helps to prevent grid shortages.

Hawaii actually provides the most real and down-to-earth example of Megapack’s impact. In mid-2024, the Kapolei Energy Storage facility in Hawaii came online. Hawaii utilized 258 Megapacks with a combined capacity of 565 MWh, successfully replacing the state’s last coal-fired power plant. This single facility can power approximately 20% of Oahu’s peak electricity needs by itself for approximately 4 hours.

The project is more than just removing coal plants, though. It serves as an example of Megapack’s grid integration and grid forming technology. The Kapolei Energy Storage facility can manage grid fluctuations caused by weather changes impacting renewable energy, improving stability and preventing blackouts. Thanks to their rapid inverter response times of under a millisecond, Megapacks participate in complex grid balancing activities, including fast frequency and voltage support, which helps to maintain grid balance throughout the day. Beyond that, Kapolei also allows Hawaii to black-start the grid in case of a major power outage that takes out a large section of the grid.

This functionality would be especially useful in Spain, where black-starting the grid took over eight hours recently and is still disrupting the day-to-day life of people there.

You can check out Megapack’s real-world impact in this video from Tesla below:

Latest Tesla Update

Confirmed by Elon

Take a look at features that Elon Musk has said will be coming soon.

More Tesla News

Tesla Videos

Latest Tesla Update

Confirmed by Elon

Take a look at features that Elon Musk has said will be coming soon.

Subscribe

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter