Starting next week, Tesla will deploy its famous end-of-year update on its fleet of electric cars. If certain improvements had been leaked, the manufacturer took the lead and published all of the upcoming changes. Let’s do a check in.
Tesla regularly updates its vehicles remotely, for better or for worse. Indeed, certain updates are rather poorly received by the community of vehicle drivers from Elon Musk’s company, in particular because the functionalities are restricted.
Traditionally, the end of year update is quite geared towards entertainment and adding important features. This year, Tesla seems to have something new that we no longer suspected: a 360-degree view (or almost).
Ho, ho, ho, it’s Christmas in your Tesla
Since the end of 2022, there haven’t been many interesting new features in Tesla vehicle updates. Indeed, if previous years were often marked by the addition of certain very useful functionalities (sentry mode, navigation steps, battery pre-conditioning or even visualization of the side cameras when using a turn signal), Tesla seems to have changed its way of doing things in 2023.
This may be due to its much larger scale – as a reminder, nearly 2,000,000 vehicles will be delivered in 2023, an absolute record – which prevents it from taking certain risks. In any case, the traditional end-of-year update is just around the corner, and with it, finally some new things to get your teeth into.
We have already summarized certain changes that had been announced in advance, but this time, there is no room for doubt: the brand’s X account has published all of the new features that are expected.
The first is ultimately consistent with the dubious humor that we have found on Teslas for several years with certain easter eggs: the possibility of replacing the sound of the horn when locking the vehicle with a noise emanating from the external speaker. Among the proposals, Tesla highlights the cry… of a goat. Notice to amateurs.
For vehicles with a rear screen (Model S and X, and the latest Model 3), games can be played on this screen. Likewise, it is possible to pair a Bluetooth headset so that the sound from this screen no longer disturbs the front passengers.
Apple Podcast makes its appearance, and therefore joins Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and TuneIn within the infotainment available on the central screen.
The Tesla mobile application is enriched witha feature that definitely took far too long to arrive: the route planner with stages. We remember that this functionality arrived on the central screen of vehicles a long time ago, but that from the mobile application, we could only send a single destination.
The visualization of your route on the central screen is enhanced: traffic lights, stop signs and speed cameras are displayed. Be careful though, nothing says that this will be the case in France, but we will be sure to check this when the update is deployed. Note also that the visualization of an object in the blind spot is improved, and the possibility of seeing the side cameras at door level arrives in the mobile application (via sentinel mode).
Without a doubt, the biggest novelty for many will be the 3D visualization of the environment during parking maneuvers. Tesla didn’t give many details, only this: view a 3D reconstruction of your surroundings when you park.
Hopefully it will be more satisfactory than what Tesla Vision offers today, because between the cameras that do not see under certain conditions, and the lack of precision, this is one of the improvements eagerly awaited by most owners. We’re not yet at a 360-degree view in augmented reality, but we’re getting close!