New Tesla Charging Visualizations Expected in the Future

October 10, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Tesla’s Alex Guichet, Mobile App Engineer and Designer, posted on X that they are hiring a new C++ UI Engineer. According to Alex, this position will be focused on building the charging UI in Tesla vehicles.

While the charging UI received some basic updates back with the big Spring Update, it hasn’t really seen major changes in a long time. So, let’s take a look at what this position is exactly, and dig into what we’d like to see in the future.

Senior Software Engineer

The position that Tesla is hiring for is a Senior Software Engineer, Vehicle User Interface Charging – working out of Tesla’s Global Engineering Headquarters in Palo Alto, California. The position will be specifically responsible for the look and feel of the user charging experience, focusing on Tesla’s in-vehicle Infotainment UI.

Tesla expects the position to also work alongside business, product, engineering, and design teams to build simple, intuitive, and fluid user experiences.

That’s a broad job description, but Tesla pays well for what it offers – with the position starting at $120,000 a year, up to $210,000 a year. If you’re interested in the position, you can read more and apply here.

Charging Visualizations

Tesla’s current charging visualizations are fairly simple and to the point, both in the app and in the vehicle. Adding some flare to both visualizations would certainly be nice. If Tesla’s new parked visualization in AMD vehicles is any indication, we’re in for a treat with these upcoming visuals. Tesla could even add different visualizations depending on whether you’re charging with a Supercharger, Wall Connector, Mobile Charger, or a third-party charger.

Imagine if Tesla implements some of these visualizations directly into the vehicle’s visuals. You could pull up to a Supercharger and see them rendered directly on the screen and maybe even see how much each vehicle is charged, so you have a better idea of which stall will be available first.

We’d also love to see better and improved integration for Charge on Solar and PowerShare. There’s certainly a lot Tesla can do.

We’re excited to see the future of the charging UI but don’t expect these changes anytime soon since Tesla just started hiring for the position. However, it’s great to know where Tesla is headed and what they’re planning.

Tesla Says 12V Power Socket Access Will Not Return With Sentry Mode [Rumor: Enable With Waiver?]

October 9, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

It turns out that the big undocumented change in Tesla update 2024.32 that disables the 12V power and USB ports while Sentry Mode is active is not a bug but an intentional change.

A fan contacted Tesla Service to see if the change was intentional and what the reason behind the change was. Surprisingly, they received a response pretty quickly.

No 12V Power Access

Tesla has decided to restrict 12V power access for safety reasons—namely, to “reduce the likelihood of thermal events” when third-party devices are left powered on without users present. Tesla reached out to the fan in question by phone, and they seemed to be sticking to that line.

It seems that Tesla is resolute that it was due to safety reasons and that the change would not be “fixed” or allowed in a future software update – as this was an intentional change for safety reasons.

Other sources have reported that the change was due to potential misuse of the 12V power access, with people wiring 1200w microwaves and kettles or jury-rigging 240v to 120v adapters, which had apparently been the cause of multiple fires in Tesla vehicles within China.

Future Opportunity?

Update: A reader, bitcoinonymous, has recently talked to a service center rep who conveyed some encouraging news. He first apologized for the inconvenience and while he couldn’t guarantee any changes, he mentioned that there were a rumor going around that Tesla is reconsidering their approach.

Instead of completely disabling 12V power while Sentry Mode is active, Tesla sounds like it may be considering letting users enable the feature through a software option. By default, 12V power will be turned off with Sentry Mode, but you’ll be able to enable it if you need to use it. When you enable the option, you’ll need to agree to a waiver and say you understand the risks.

This sounds a lot like what Tesla does when you enable FSD for the first time. A dialog box comes up that you need to agree to before FSD is enabled.

This approach sounds promising and would please many Tesla owners who have already bought accessories for their cars.

Workarounds

There are a couple workarounds, although neither are ideal. You can tap in to the vehicle’s 12v line directly to power your accessories, or you can use Camp Mode.

If you choose to enable Camp Mode, then you’ll need to manually lock the car from the app since walk-away door locking is disabled with Camp Mode. However, Camp Mode will use extra energy to keep the climate system enabled.

We’re still hoping Tesla considers bringing the Cybertruck’s Power Control menu to the rest of its vehicles and is somehow able to limit the max draw from these outlets to prevent dangerous situations.

Join Our Tesla Robotaxi Event Prediction Contest

October 9, 2024

By Karan Singh

Tesla

With the Robotaxi event just a day away, we thought it would be a fun idea to run a contest to predict what Tesla will announce tomorrow evening.

We’ve outlined a list of questions below; simply answer them on our forums or social media (X or Threads), and be entered for a chance to win some great prizes.

The individuals who have the most correct answers will win one of five prizes mentioned below. If more than five people get them all right, a random drawing will be held from the pool of winners.

We’ll reach out to the winners either by email or by DM on social media.

The Questions

Will Tesla let attendees experience Robotaxi at the event?
Will Tesla first start the network with human supervision (ridesharing), or with Robotaxis only?
What year will the network start? When will it become fully autonomous? (if announced)
When will Robotaxi production begin? (if announced)
Will it be Robotaxi or Cybercab?
Which of these Robotaxi Concepts will be the closest to the one announced?
Will Robotaxi include:
1. Front-facing camera?
2. Stainless-steel body?
3. Steer-by-Wire or No Steering Wheel? (if announced)
4. Which current Tesla model has the most similar door-opening mechanism?
5. How many seats will the robotaxi have?
Will the robotaxi include AI5/Hardware 5, HW4 or something completely different?
Where will Tesla’s first Rideshare/Robotaxi location be established?
Will customers be able to purchase a Robotaxi?

Requirements

Please use the template below to answer the questions on social media or in our forums. You can post your answer as a comment to our forums, to our X post, or to our Threads post.

Once you do that, repost or quote post your favorite article from us.

1. Yes

2. Ridesharing

3. 2025/2027

4. 2025

5. Cybercab

6. Dominic's

7. Yes, Yes, SBW, No, 2

8. HW5

9. LA

10. Yes

Prizes

Prizes are generously provided by Enhance and Jowua, makers of some of the best Tesla accessories and amazing Tesla community members. Prizes will be mailed out directly by them. Winners will get to choose their prize from the list below. First place will have the first pick and so on. There will be five winners in total.

S3XY Buttons (including a commander and wiring)
S3XY Knob for Model 3/Y
Tesla Gaming Controller - Multi-Device Wireless Controller (Wireless Charging)
Tesla Gaming Controller - Multi-Device Wireless Controller (Wireless Charging)
Tesla Gaming Controller - Multi-Device Wireless Controller (Wireless Charging)

Disclaimer

This is a Tesla event, and Tesla normally likes to hold their cards close to their chest. If an answer is ambiguous, we’ll go with the best choice decided by our staff. We’ll do our best to be fair. This

With all that said, we wish our entrants the best of luck, and we’ll announce the winners at the end of the week.