Tesla has launched its ‘holiday update’ and allows owners to turn their cars into a boombox, as well as some other improvements.
As we have reported in recent weeks, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is triggering an update of the ‘fire’ holiday to be sent over the air to the Tesla fleet before the end of 2020.
Earlier this week, we reported that it included 3 new car video games, but now we have the release notes complete with all the details.
Arguably, the main new feature of the update (2020.48.25)) is this’Boomboxmode ‘, which allows you to play sounds through the vehicle’s external speakers.
Tesla writes in the release notes:
“Turn your car into a boombox and entertain a crowd with your media player when parked. You can also customize the sound your car makes when you press the horn, drive or when your car is moving with Summon. Select an option from the drop-down menu or insert your own USB device and save up to five custom sounds. “
This is something that Musk has been proving for some time after Tesla added a pedestrian warning system to the Model 3 in accordance with regulatory requirements for quiet vehicles in the U.S. and Europe.
Last year, Tesla released an update to the Model 3 for an audible tone to play when the vehicle is moving slowly (up to 19 mph) in reverse or in reverse.
After being forced to add such a system, which is controversial among electric vehicle owners, Tesla decided to build this new feature using the speakers.
The new update also includes’Driving visualization improvements‘:
The steering view has been updated and now offers a larger view to allow drivers to see more details of the road’s surroundings. The next curve will now appear above the view if the list of navigation curves is covered by another application.
In addition, the selected items have been moved slightly, but will continue to look and behave the same. Some notable differences include the following:
– Quick access to the backup camera and wipers has changed to the bottom bar
– The indicator lights have been moved to the side of the touch screen
The set speed of the autopilot, the availability of the autopilot and the detected speed limit are now displayed next to the driving speed.
These changes can be seen in the image shown above and you can see more details in a video at the bottom.
Tesla also made improvements to ‘Scheduled departure‘in the new software update.
The automaker wrote in the release notes:
The Scheduled Start can now precondition the battery and the cab, even when the car is off. To account for different utility tariff plans, you can now set the time your off-peak tariffs end to save on billing costs. To access, touch PROGRAMMING on the temperature control or on the charging panel when parked.
With the new update, Tesla also did ‘Supercharger screen improvements‘:
The supercharger pins on the touchscreen will now display the number of slots available at loading locations. Quickly search for nearby amenities by tapping a convenience icon on the Supercharger pop-up screen.
Tesla also removed the clickable ‘T’ logo that contained vehicle information and software updates, but you can now access them under ‘Controls> Software’.
Finally, the way Tesla displays the release notes has been changed to a single page listing all the different changes, which owners can click to get the details of each change.
Every day, Tesla on Youtube took an hour-long live walkthrough of all the features in the new update, if you want to see what the changes look like:
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