Tesla has added a new menu to its app that organizes various settings
Not a Tesla App
Today, Tesla has updated its app to introduce a new menu that reorganizes vehicle, home energy, and account settings in a more logical and more discoverable manner.
App Update
Tesla updated its app to version 4.30 back on February 15th for iOS and followed suit with an Android update shortly thereafter. The app update included some significant changes such as a new Home Energy demo, Wall Connector charging charts, and a better view of your last Supercharger session.
However, the addition of the new menu arrived today thanks to under-the-hood changes Tesla had already made.
Chat Assistant
Tesla has added a presumably AI-based chat assistant to help out with common customer queries. The assistant button can be found in the support section of the app, which is now accessed by tapping on the new menu at the top right corner of the app. Once the menu is open, tap the question mark icon to open the support section. At the bottom of the screen, you should see a chat bubble that will bring up the chat assistant.
Tesla added a chat assistant to its app
Not a Tesla App
The assistant starts by asking you which product you need help with. Afterward, you can ask it any question. Right now the assistant appears to bring up mostly relevant parts of the owner’s manual or Tesla’s support pages, without necessarily answering the question directly. For example, asking it a specific question such as ‘Until what state of charge will Sentry Mode remain activated?’ will bring up a section about Sentry Mode, and not immediately reveal that Sentry Mode will automatically turn off when the vehicle reaches 20% state of charge.
It’s not immediately clear whether Tesla is using AI for this feature, but providing an assistant is a great idea and one that will likely ease the burden on Tesla service. Hopefully, Tesla will continue to build upon the feature so that it becomes more useful and can answer customer questions directly.
New Menu
The changes in the latest Tesla app don't require an app update
Not a Tesla App
The main change in the app is the new menu which replaces the user's profile picture.
Since this area was already used to change Tesla account and app settings and Tesla product preferences, the menu icon is more intuitive than an avatar.
However, after tapping into the menu, the user is greeted with a completely reorganized section. Instead of featuring horizontally scrolling tiles for different products and features, which was getting fairly long, Tesla has consolidated the features and now presents them vertically.
In the new profile section, Tesla has grouped lumped in account information and app settings. This includes personal information, order history as well as app settings, including calendar sync and app notifications.
Charging is now a top-level feature instead of being buried in the Account section. This section highlights your most recent Supercharger charging session which was redesigned during the 4.30 app update. It also lets you manage your payment method and view your Supercharger history.
My Products is the new way to add or remove Tesla products from your account. It now nicely displays all of your existing Tesla products and lets you dig into each one. By diving into each product, you're able to give access to another user, remove the product from your Tesla account if applicable, rename the product, or jump into the product view.
Vehicle and Home Screens
If you have a Tesla vehicle and a Home product, such as Solar or a Wall Connector, the way to switch between products is to swipe to the side. However, this wasn't very intuitive and Tesla has now added a dropdown next to the Home or Vehicle name that brings up a quick menu that lets you jump to other products.
If you already have app version 4.30, there's no need to update your app, just open the existing app and you should see the new menu in the top right. However, if you're still on Tesla app 4.29.5 or earlier, head over to the app store and upgrade to the latest Tesla app to see these new features.
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Rendering of what Tesla's license plate feature could look like
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Tesla update 2024.38 has started rolling out to several regions and vehicles. Thanks to Tesla hacker Greentheonly, we have a behind-the-scenes look at some new features coming to Teslas.
License Plate Display
According to Greentheonly, it looks like Tesla may soon let you display your actual license plate in the vehicle’s visualization on the screen. In our article, The Most Request Tesla Features, several readers suggested displaying the vehicle’s license plate in the visualization instead of a blank, white plate.
It looks like Tesla will be doing just that, at least in China. Green found references that appear to conclude that you’ll be able to display your vehicle’s plate on screen. This will likely be user input, so you could have it say anything you’d like, and it doesn’t have to be your actual license plate.
For many owners, who may find it difficult to remember their license plate, this could serve a practical purpose in addition to adding to the visualization's realism.
While Green was only able to say it’ll be available in China, we expect this is due to China’s software development team working on it and that it’ll eventually be released worldwide.
While code for this feature was found in update 2024.38, we may not be turned on in China yet. We suspect this feature may be a strong candidate for Tesla’s upcoming holiday update.
FSD Hardware Version Display
As part of the 2024.38 update, Tesla has now made it easy to determine whether your vehicle includes Hardware 3 or Hardware 4. You can now simply navigate to Controls > Software and tap Additional Vehicle Information. In addition to other hardware information about your vehicle, your Autopilot hardware version will now be listed as well.
You can see whether your vehicle has HW2.5, HW3, or AI4. This in-car display is useful, but if you don’t have access to the vehicle, you can always use our guide on how to determine the hardware version of a Tesla.
New Battery Health Test & Service Mode Improvements
Green found some additional things as well. There’s a new and improved Battery Health Test. The new test will show you how your car scores compared to similar vehicles in the Tesla fleet.
In addition, maintenance records can now be permanently stored “in the car.” It doesn’t appear that this feature is activated yet, but it’s likely in active development with some parts leaking out in the 2024.38 update.
Tesla has included various Service Mode improvements and new visualizations in this update.
Mr Li on X came across some covered-up Project Juniper vehicles recently and he managed to get various shots of the vehicle.
Juniper Images
This front image reveals what looks like two rows of lights, possibly confirming the front light bar for the Model Y refresh — similar to the one on the Cybercab.
The rear side has a lot of lights on it!
Mr Li on X
The rear side shows a ton of brake lights, but it’s not clear why. While it looks like the Model Y refresh will also feature a rear light bar similar to the Cybertruck, there isn’t strong evidence of that in this photo.
Mr Li on X
There's an obvious set of lights at the bottom, so it looks like the Model Y refresh will be similar to the new Model 3 where the bottom lights can operate as brake lights when the one-piece tail lights and trunk are up.
Mr Li on X
In the last photo, we see that the overall form factor of the refreshed Model Y will remain unchanged, and Tesla is focusing the changes on the front and rear ends of the vehicle, much like the Model 3 refresh. However, in this one shot, we can also see what appears to be red light leaking out of the rear camera cover opening, possibly due to the rear light bar.
The Model Y is not only Tesla’s best-selling vehicle but also the world’s best-selling car in 2023. This year, it’s expected to be the best-selling vehicle in the United States and again in the world, so this refresh will be huge for Tesla.
@DominicBRNKMN made another fantastic set of concepts based on these new images. Given he had the most accurate Model 3 Highland concept before the official launch, we’re pretty sure his latest work be close here as well.
@DominicBRNKMN
We’re super excited to see the eventual reveal of Project Juniper, which is expected in the first half of 2025. However, expect to see a few more leaks before production kicks off at Giga Shanghai.