Tesla Advances with 5G: A Future of Enhanced Connectivity for Cars and Robotics

By Kevin Armstrong
Tesla building 5G private network
Tesla building 5G private network
Not a Tesla App

Tesla appears to be planning an ambitious project to build a private 5G network. This initiative would revolutionize connectivity for its vehicles and the robot, Optimus, as well as any other plans the company is likely to develop in the future.

Innovative Job Posting Reveals Big Plans

Although now removed, a recently spotted job posting for a Cellular Systems Integration Engineer on Tesla's career page shed light on the company's intentions. The role demands expertise to elevate Tesla's vehicle and Optimus robot connectivity, promising to push the boundaries of low latency and high data rates.

Tesla's journey from 3G to the anticipated 5G upgrade will bring about ultra-reliable communication and high-speed data transfer, crucial for over-the-air software updates, autonomous driving features, and real-time data analytics. These communications could be product to product, such as vehicles communicating with each other or with other products such as Optimus. However, the job posting also talks about products being able to communicate with Tesla’s internal 5G network. It’s not clear whether the private network would be internal such as at a Gigafactory, or a broader network out in the world.

Tesla is pursuing an internal 5G network for product communication
Tesla is pursuing an internal 5G network for product communication
Not a Tesla App

The Strategic Role of Private 5G Networks

Deploying its private 5G network, Tesla aims to create a seamlessly connected environment in its manufacturing facilities, research labs, and outdoor spaces. This infrastructure is not just about enhancing vehicle connectivity; it's also pivotal for the operational efficiency of the Optimus robot in various scenarios, including warehouse operations.

Tesla's foray into private 5G networking places it in an advantageous position in the automotive and tech industries. This strategic move aligns with the global trend towards adopting private 5G networks, which promise to revolutionize industries with their reliability and speed. Tesla's efforts to develop a private 5G protocol stack that integrates with any cellular infrastructure globally will set new industry standards.

With 5G, Tesla vehicles and Optimus robots will benefit from significantly reduced latency, offering under 5 milliseconds compared to the 60-98 milliseconds of 4G networks. This technological advancement is expected to enhance the functionality and responsiveness of Tesla's products, paving the way for advanced autonomous driving capabilities and efficient robot operations.

Tesla's interest in developing a private 5G network is a logical step. By building an infrastructure that supports the fastest connectivity standards, Tesla is preparing for its vehicles and laying the groundwork for sophisticated robotics applications. This endeavor reflects Tesla's ongoing commitment to innovation and its role in shaping the future of transportation and automation.

Tesla's New Navigation Voice and How to Get It

By Karan Singh
@DBurkland

Tesla has updated its English voice for navigation guidance on newer vehicles. Many users have noted a change in the pitch and speed of the spoken text when using Tesla’s navigation system. Right now, we’re not sure whether this voice change is an indication of a larger change that’s coming, a minor tweak for better clarity, or possibly a bug.

Update: We’ve updated the article with how you can get the new voice in your existing vehicle.

Tesla Voice Guidance

A reader, known as FSDTester#420 on Tesla Motors Club, recently reached out to us to report a new nav voice. He took delivery of a new Tesla and immediately noticed that the navigation’s voice was much better than his other Tesla. The voice is noticeably faster and appears to have fewer pauses, making it sound more natural.

After posting his experience on Tesla Motors Club, other readers chimed in, saying they had the same voice in their new vehicle. The change does not appear to be affecting older vehicles, but it turns out you can update other vehicles as well (see steps below).

Video

You can listen to the navigation voice guidance in the video video below by FSDTester#420.

How to Get the New Voice

It turns out you can get the new voice on older vehicles as well, but it requires resetting all of your settings. X user, IRSHater69, tipped us off that a software reset may get you the new nav voice, and @brandonee916 just recently tried it and confirmed that resetting the MCU will indeed get you the new, faster voice.

If you’d like the new voice, you’ll need to factory reset your vehicle, meaning that all settings will go back to their factory defaults. You can do this by going to Controls > Service > Factory Reset. This will reset all of your vehicle settings, but most settings are now saved to your Tesla profile in the cloud, assuming you have one set up. Keep in mind that not all settings are saved to your profile and will be lost.

Settings such as browser bookmarks, trip meters, and others are not saved to your profile, and you will lose them if you factory reset your vehicle. Any drivers who don’t use a cloud account (the ones that display an avatar) will also be lost, and the driver will need to set them up again. This includes data such as seat and mirror positions, Autopilot settings, and more.

Tesla Smart Assistant

It looks like Tesla will be updating its Voice Commands system in the future, with Musk recently saying that Tesla will support Grok AI in the car. Tesla’s current voice commands are limited and require you to say phrases in a very specific way, although they do give you access to the most common features (Top 10 Tesla Voice Commands).

Overall, voice commands are not very smart – and they’re nothing like using Google Gemini with Voice or other modern AI-based assistants. Back in January, Tesla began implementing a smart assistant in China – which brought things beyond just vehicle control, like weather updates, stock market information, language translation, and even poetry.

However, this never made its way out of China, even though Tesla’s smart voice assistant has been sitting dormant in the software for quite a while. It looks like we’ll get a wake-word, similar to the common “Hey, Tesla” – it could even be “Hey, Grok” – if we get full Grok integration as previously hinted at by Elon Musk earlier in 2024.

Either way, for now, there haven’t been any significant changes, but this voice change we’re seeing could be related to Tesla’s upcoming smart assistant feature, where they may need a more capable, more natural sounding voice.

SpaceX Releases Starship Game That's Playable in Your Tesla

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

SpaceX recently managed to catch Starship, their future interplanetary rocket, on its first try. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the video below. Without a doubt, it was one of the most spectacular moments in human history—the beginning of a new era for human spaceflight.

Even Elon Musk thought it wouldn’t be easy and called his own idea insane. But it turns out they managed to do it on the first try anyway. So, let’s celebrate in your Tesla with a game by SpaceX.

STARSHIP - The Game

As part of the launch event day, SpaceX released a fun little game called STARSHIP - The Game, which is playable on a web browser, phone, or even in your Tesla. The game is pretty simple, with multiple difficulties. You launch Starship, and while it goes off to Mars, you’re piloting the Superheavy Booster.

You’ll want to collect stars and avoid space debris, aliens, and other objects on your way down. But don’t forget - Mechazilla on the ground is waiting to catch you! You’ll need to slow down and be in the right spot for the chopsticks to safely grab the Superheavy Booster. You can try out STARSHIP here.

Mechazilla.io

Andre Almeida on X also recently produced a SpaceX Starship game. Rather than being 2D, this one is 3D - and once again, you’re in control of the Superheavy Booster as it makes its way to the Mechazilla to be caught. You’ll need to use your wits and judge how much you need to adjust the Booster’s angle when coming in and safely come to a stop in the safe hug of the chopsticks.

The best part? You can play it in a browser, your phone, and now, even in your Tesla. Andre just recently added touch controls to the game to support playing it in your Tesla and is planning to add even more levels once Starship 6 launches.

We made it to level 15 on our run - let’s see if you can beat our high score. Post your high score to our post on X here.

You can try out Mechazilla.io here.

Latest Tesla Update

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Latest Tesla Update

Confirmed by Elon

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

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