Tesla has started to roll out its latest update — 2022.40.1
ArsalamiSandwich
Tesla owners who are dog lovers no longer have to decide between Sentry Mode and Dog Mode. That is just one of several enhancements in the latest update — 2022.40.1.
Other improvements include battery preconditioning, driver door unlock and radio station logos, while existing features have launched in new regions.
New Features
Let's start with the Sentry and Dog Mode combo. Both of these features would rate high on items that Tesla owners appreciate about their vehicles. Sentry is a best-in-class security/surveillance system, and Dog Mode keeps the cabin at an appropriate temperature for your pet while you are away.
However, the two systems did not work together because Sentry would constantly be triggered whenever the dog moved inside the vehicle. For those who have dogs that love car rides, this meant not being able to use Sentry to protect your car and your dog. Now both features can be used together for most vehicles. This update silences Sentry Mode alarms while still recording and keeping the temperature safe for your pooch.
Listening to the radio may get more appealing with the addition of radio station logos to the media player.
The radio in a Tesla doesn't get a lot of recognition since competes against music streaming services and other entertainment that have much more engaging screens, but Tesla did a great job with its radio implementation.
The radio will automatically scan for local stations, so you can just tap to get to your favorite station. It also offers a direct input instead of a radio dial and now features radio station icons to make it easier to find your favorite station. With this update the list of radio stations has been changed to a grid to make room for the station name and logo. When playing an FM radio station, the station's logo will also appear in the album artwork area of the music player. (Photo credit to ArsalamiSandwich).
Tesla will now display radio stations logo in the media player
ArsalamiSandwich
Voice directions are now available in Hebrew in the Middle East. Tesla continues to expand the languages offered in its vehicles. It's estimated that 9 million people speak Hebrew worldwide.
Improvements to Existing Features
In an effort to speed up charging times, the thermal system control will now be optimized to match the charging station's power capability. The company has been expanding its vast network of Superchargers, which means there are many variations in the station output. This update means your Tesla won't waste too much energy preparing the battery if you're headed to a slower DC charging station.
Update 2021.44 added the ability to only unlock the driver's door when the handle is pressed to improve safety. However, it wasn't ideal when traveling with passengers as they would have to wait until you get into the vehicle to open the other doors.
With update 2022.40, Tesla did what it does best — improve vehicle features. If you have the Driver Door Unlock Mode feature on, you can now hold and press the interior driver door switch to unlock all vehicle doors and trunk.
If this update Tesla is also adding this feature to the new Model S.
To access Driver Door Unlock Mode, tap Controls > Lock > Driver Door Unlock Mode.
More vehicles and regions now have access to a consistent regenerative braking feel even when it's limited. For example, regenerative braking may not be available when the battery is at a max charge or in certain weather conditions. In May 2022, Tesla sent out an update to many areas and vehicles, allowing the car to behave the same way when it is decelerating with or without regenerative braking. This feature enables drivers to perfect the one-foot driving technique at all times.
With this update, it is now available for some legacy Model S and Model X vehicles.
With winter coming, the Tire Configuration program is now for the Model Y as well. It allows users to reset the learned tire settings after a tire rotation or replacement for an improved driving experience. To reset, tap Controls > Service > Wheel & Tire Configuration > Tires.
Other changes include exterior lighting improvements and Sentry Mode Live Camera Access added to Israel, Supercharger details included in China, and Boombox is now available in Japan. However, Hong Kong went against the trend as it continues to allow fewer features. The dashcam viewer has been removed, the country recently took away Tesla's arcade and Toybox.
As the holiday season kicks off, it’s time to turn our attention to our Christmas list of items we’d love to see in Tesla’s annual Holiday update—a tradition that brings some of the most exciting software features of the year. From game-changing additions to fun surprises, the Holiday update has become the most anticipated update each year.
This year’s update promises to be no exception, with Blind Spot Monitoring While Parked already leaking in an employee release earlier this month.
So, grab your hot cocoa and cozy up—it’s time to see what Tesla might have in store for the most wonderful time of the year.
Smart Voice Assistant
Tesla’s current system is a list of voice commands that, while useful, leaves a lot to be desired when compared to modern voice assistants such as Google Assistant and even Alexa. However, a smart voice assistant based on an LLM that uses AI like xAI’s Grok could be coming this season. Elon previously confirmed that Grok would make its way into Tesla vehicles—and what better time than the Holiday season?
Group Text Support
Today, if you’re in a group chat using RCS or iMessage and use your Tesla messages app to respond, you’ll likely send a direct message to the first person in the group rather than the whole group. What’s even worse is you can’t tell the difference between a message that’s sent directly to you or to a group.
That’s annoying at best, and downright a hassle at worst if you’re driving for a long time and unable to use your phone. It would be a fantastic wish come true if Tesla brought full support for group texts.
Hi-Fi Audio & Dolby Surround Support
Previously, we saw a bug where Apple Music began showing as HiFi for certain tracks in July. We assumed that Tesla would eventually support lossless Hi-Fi audio streaming, but so far, TIDAL remains the only streaming option with high-quality streaming.
Bringing Dolby Atmos support to Tesla vehicles would make even better use of Tesla’s jaw-dropping soundstages. Dolby Atmos delivers an immersive, 360-degree music experience, making it feel like the sound is coming from all around you. This would be the perfect Holiday update feature to make those bells truly jingle.
Tesla has been on a roll with adding music streaming services over the last couple of years. Tesla most recently launched Amazon Music and YouTube Music support. While the biggest players have now been incorporated into Teslas, many users would still love to see Pandora added to the mix.
Adding additional music services means that more users subscribe to Tesla’s Premium Connectivity package, so expect this one to be added as well.
SiriusXM Streaming
While SiriusXM is already available in the Model S and Model X through a satellite receiver, SiriusXM may soon be available to a lot more users. We previously reported on SiriusXM mistakenly publishing a web post revealing a web streaming version of SiriusXM for Teslas, and it has been a few months since then. It's a quick update and seems to have already been partially implemented, given SiriusXM’s website. We could expect this wishlist item to be real, and hopefully soon.
Prime Video
While video streaming integration is much less important than music streaming, it still serves its purpose, especially in vehicles with a rear screen, where videos can be watched while the vehicle is in motion. With Tesla’s addition of Amazon Music this summer, we expect Tesla to add Amazon Prime Video as well.
X Integration
While you can pop open X pretty quickly in the web browser and have a fairly OK browsing experience, it's clear the site is designed for use with a mouse, not your fingers. A dedicated X app would definitely be easier for fans of the platform. Don’t forget to follow us on X or your favorite network (we’re “NotATeslaApp” on just about all of them, including Facebook, Threads, and Bluesky).
Productivity Apps
Zoom is the highlight of Tesla’s productivity apps—and it’s also the only one. With YouTube Music recently arriving, we could see Google Hangouts, Google Meet, and even Microsoft Teams making inroads as productivity applications to have in your Tesla. However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Tesla App Store
While a suite of productivity apps would be a nice addition, it’s likely not a practical solution for Tesla. With so many available services, it would be a challenge to integrate each one individually.
Elon Musk once hinted at the possibility of an App Store for Tesla vehicles, where developers could create apps specifically designed for Teslas. However, we haven’t seen this come to fruition yet. So, the question remains: Is Tesla still working on an App Store, or is the expectation that users will rely on tablets and computers in their cars?
If Tesla does plan to launch an App Store, they would need to find a way to leverage existing platforms instead of building each app from scratch. One possibility is running Android apps through an emulation layer, allowing access to a wide array of apps from the Google Play Store, such as video streaming, video conferencing, and messaging platforms like Discord and Slack.
Another approach, similar to what Tesla already does with video streaming services, could involve using web-based versions of apps. While many services offer web versions, not all perform as well or provide the same functionality as native apps.
Both solutions are feasible, but we have to consider: What does Tesla gain by allowing users to run any existing apps on the car’s screen instead of using a separate device? While such apps could be useful, we believe Tesla will likely focus on integrating them where it makes sense—like music services—where a custom implementation improves the user experience and keeps the user interface consistent between services. For most other apps, users will probably continue to rely on their phones and other nearby devices.
Steam Games on AMD Vehicles
Tesla previously removed games from its vehicles, as it removed the dedicated gaming GPU in favor of AMD’s all-purpose APU. However, the all-purpose APU can hold its own while gaming, and in fact, the 45-watt 4-core Ryzen chip is fairly beefy. It could definitely hold its own against the mobile Steam Deck, especially since that also uses an AMD-based platform.
Using Valve’s Proton Compatibility Layer would allow AMD Teslas to game, and game pretty well!
SteamLink App
If Steam support doesn’t come back to allow you to run games directly in your Tesla, SteamLink would definitely do the trick. SteamLink allows you to connect to your own PC at home, letting it do the heavy lifting of rendering the game and letting that device stream the game to you.
Streaming games has become more common, and streaming from your setup at home is the best way to take advantage of that massive display in your Tesla while you’re away from home.
That’s it for our Entertainment wishlist, but we’re sure that you have even more great suggestions. Be sure to let us know your suggestions in our forums.
It shouldn’t be too long before we find out exactly what’s in it, but for now, keep those requests coming!
According to a recently published article by Bloomberg, the Trump administration intends to introduce a federal framework for autonomous vehicles. According to members of the administrative transition team, this new framework will be part of the Transportation Department’s list of priorities.
This places Tesla in a good position to begin working towards establishing and expanding its Robotaxi network and getting production, validation, and approval of the Cybercab off the ground.
Legal Limits
Today’s laws have fairly strict requirements for any vehicle that travels on the road—it needs to have steering wheels, pedals, mirrors, and plenty of driver-awareness or driver-assistance safety features. None of these are needed on a Robotaxi, and Tesla’s Cybercab also has none of these items. Instead, with no pedals and no steering wheel, it takes passengers from origin to destination with minimal user input.
The framework for autonomous vehicles could be spearheaded by former Uber executive Emil Michael, who could potentially take on the Transportation Department under the new administration. Uber previously worked on their autonomy program and is potentially a direct competitor to Tesla’s Robotaxi network.
The current regulation, in addition to having stringent hardware requirements, caps the number of autonomous vehicles a single company can operate at 2,500 units per year. This could drastically limit how Tesla’s Robotaxi network functions, especially since it doesn’t need additional high-resolution mapping to work in a specific location. FSD is extremely adaptable and learns on the fly.
Rather than deploying just a couple thousand units a year, Tesla needs to be able to deploy tens of thousands - the more units on the road, the faster they can collect data and iterate, especially with the recent deployment of their new Cortex Supercomputer.
State Laws
There’s one more obstacle to the mass deployment of autonomous vehicles—state regulations. Every state has its own set of regulations, and even with federal guidance and regulations becoming less limiting and more open, every state can choose to establish exactly how much autonomy it wants.
Tesla and other companies like Waymo, which are pursuing autonomous transportation, will have to navigate a regulatory maze to get their vehicles approved at a state-by-state level.
Tesla has already taken steps to get its Robotaxi network off the ground in Palo Alto, an affluent city that has been struggling to provide affordable transportation for its residents. With looser federal regulations, Elon’s timeline of deployments in Texas and California by late 2025 may move even sooner.
This is definitely a framework to watch — with Tesla’s stock up 8% this morning on the news, unsupervised FSD and Robotaxi could be coming quicker than anyone expects.
![Tesla Unveils V4 Superchargers Capable of Charging at 500kW [VIDEO]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/img/containers/article_images/charging/v4_supercharger.jpg/e6e109be929ba0765b4303a7e9d5bb7d/v4_supercharger.jpg)
_300w.png)
![First Look at Tesla's New 'Service History' Feature [Photos]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/img/containers/article_images/service-mode/service-mode-records-4.jpg/8dd9d11fd3f5159c393831cbd9f4815a/service-mode-records-4.jpg)
![Tesla Adds HEPA Filter to New Model 3, Will it Get Bioweapon Defense Mode? [Update: Tesla Edits Post]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/images/news/2023/new-model-3-hepa-filter_300w.jpg)
![Elon talks about Twitter and job cuts at Bloomberg forum [video]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/images/news/2022/elon-musk-qatar-forum_300w.jpg)
