Tesla Holiday Update Wishlist - Entertainment Edition

Not a Tesla App

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 already has several music streaming services that support Dolby Atmos, such as Amazon Music and Apple Music, while a couple of other manufacturers, such as Rivian, launched support for Atmos it this summer.

Pandora Music

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!

• Wishlist 1 - Tesla App Edition

• Wishlist 2 - Tesla Maps & Autopilot Edition

• Wishlist 3 - Tesla Entertainment Edition

• Wishlist 4 - Tesla Charging & Safety Edition

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Tesla Eliminates Front Casting on New Model Y; Improves Rear Casting

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Tesla has pioneered the use of single-piece castings for the front and rear sections of their vehicles, thanks to its innovative Gigapress process. Many automakers are now following suit, as this approach allows the crash structure to be integrated directly into the casting.

This makes the castings not only safer but also easier to manufacture in a single step, reducing costs and improving repairability. For example, replacing the entire rear frame of a Cybertruck is estimated to cost under $10,000 USD, with most of the expense coming from labor, according to estimates shared on X after high-speed rear collisions.

These insights come from Sandy Munro’s interview (posted below) with Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, highlighting how these advancements contribute to the improvements in Tesla’s latest vehicles, including the New Model Y.

However, with the new Model Y, Tesla has decided to go a different route and eliminated the front gigacast.

No Front Casting

Tesla’s factories aren’t equipped to produce both front and rear castings for the Model Y. Only Giga Texas and Giga Berlin used structural battery packs, but these were quickly phased out due to the underwhelming performance of the first-generation 4680 battery.

Tesla has gone back to building a common body across the globe, increasing part interchangeability and reducing supply chain complexity across the four factories that produce the Model Y. They’ve instead improved and reduced the number of unique parts up front to help simplify assembly and repair.

There is still potential for Tesla to switch back to using a front and rear casting - especially with their innovative unboxed assembly method. However, that will also require Tesla to begin using a structural battery pack again, which could potentially happen in the future with new battery technology.

Rear Casting Improvements

The rear casting has been completely redesigned, shedding 7 kg (15.4 lbs) and cutting machining time in half. Originally weighing around 67 kg (147 lbs), the new casting is now approximately 60 kg (132 lbs).

This 15% weight reduction improves both vehicle dynamics and range while also increasing the rear structure’s stiffness, reducing body flex during maneuvers.

Tesla leveraged its in-house fluid dynamics software to optimize the design, resulting in castings that resemble organic structures in some areas and flowing river patterns in others. Additionally, manufacturing efficiency has dramatically improved—the casting process, which originally took 180 seconds per part, has been reduced to just 75 seconds, a nearly 60% time reduction per unit.

Advancements in die-casting machines and cooling systems have allowed @Tesla to dramatically reduce cycle times and improve dimensional stability. pic.twitter.com/WB5ji67rvV

— Munro Live (@live_munro) March 11, 2025

New Casting Methods

Tesla’s new casting method incorporates conformal cooling, which cools the die directly within the gigapress. Tesla has been refining the die-casting machines and collaborating with manufacturers to improve the gigapress process.

In 2023, Tesla patented a thermal control unit for the casting process. This system uses real-time temperature analysis and precise mixing of metal streams to optimize casting quality. SETI Park, which covers Tesla’s manufacturing patents on X, offers a great series for those interested in learning more.

The new system allows Tesla to control the flow of cooling liquid, precisely directing water to different parts of the die, cooling them at varying rates. This enables faster material flow and quicker cooling, improving both dimensional stability and the speed of removing the part from the press for the next stage.

With these new process improvements, Tesla now rolls out a new Model Y at Giga Berlin, Giga Texas, and Fremont every 43 seconds—an astounding achievement in auto manufacturing. Meanwhile, Giga Shanghai operates two Model Y lines, delivering a completed vehicle every 35 seconds.

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Tesla’s Hands-Free Trunk and Frunk – Supported Models, Phones & How to Set Them Up

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Having the ability to open your trunk hands-free can be incredibly useful when your hands are full, especially in a busy parking lot.

Tesla vehicles now support opening the vehicle’s trunk or frunk completely hands-free — no foot waving required.

What is Hands-Free Frunk and Trunk?

Tesla implemented its hands-free feature by leveraging your phone’s position in relation to the vehicle. When you stand still behind your vehicle, the trunk will automagically open for you.

While this functionality isn’t available on every vehicle, it’s available on every vehicle Tesla manufactures today, including the new Model Y, the Cybertruck and other recent models.

With a compatible device and a supported vehicle, you can now open your Tesla’s trunk hands-free.

How It Works

Tesla’s hands-free feature requires the use of ultrawide-band (UWB) in the vehicle and on your phone. Apple and Samsung have supported ultra-wideband for a number of years and most flagship Android devices also support the low-energy feature.

Ultra-wideband allows another device to precisely detect its relative location. In this case, the vehicle is tracking where the driver’s phone is in relation to the vehicle. Since the vehicle is able to more precisely track the phone’s location, ultra-wideband also improves Tesla’s phone key feature.

Since the vehicle depends on your phone, you’ll need to have your phone on you in order to activate the hands-free feature. Simply stand within 2.5 to 3 feet from the front or rear of your vehicle for the frunk or trunk to open. You’ll then hear a couple of chimes. If you continue to stand still, then your frunk or trunk will open automatically.

The chimes serve as a warning that the trunk will open if you don’t move, which helps reduce accidental openings.

Hands-Free Trunk in Action

The video below shows how Tesla’s hands-free trunk feature works.

Supported Models

Since Tesla uses ultra-wideband to power the hands-free feature, only vehicles with the needed hardware are supported. The list of supported vehicles includes:

• 2021 Model S and later

• 2021 Model X and later

• 2024 Model 3 (Highland) and later

• 2026 Model Y (Juniper) and later

• All Cybertrucks

Supported Phones

Your phone will also need to support UWB. Luckily, most manufacturers have included UWB in their devices for several years.

Apple: All Apple devices since the iPhone 11 have included UWB, except for the iPhone SE (2nd and 3rd generation). The iPhone 16e also has UWB.

Android: Most Android phones - especially flagship devices - already support and use UWB for other uses, but it’s not available on all phones. If you have a Google Pixel 6 or higher, Samsung Fold 2 or higher, Samsung S21+, or other recent Android phone, then your phone already supports ultra wideband.

Which Models Support Hands-Free Frunk

Unfortunately, not every supported model supports the hands-free frunk and trunk feature. The hands-free frunk feature is only supported on the Model S, Model X, and the Cybertruck. In addition, the Cyebrtruck is the only vehicle with a powered frunk, so while the Model S and Model X will unlock the frunk for you, you’ll still need to lift it and close it manually. The Cybertruck will open the frunk for you, much like the trunk on another Tesla.

Which Models Support Hands-Free Trunk

While most supported Tesla vehicles can use the hands-free trunk, it excludes the Cybertruck, which doesn’t have a powered trunk.

Enable Hands-Free Trunk / Frunk

If you plan to use your vehicle’s hands-free trunk feature, you’ll need to enable it in settings, as it’s off by default. Simply open Controls by tapping the vehicle icon in the bottom left corner, then navigate to the Locks section.

Within the Hands-Free section, you’ll find a few options, depending on your model. You’ll be able to choose whether to enable the hands-free frunk or trunk and whether you’d like to disable the feature at home.

Preventing Accidental Opening - Exclude Home

Although the hands-free feature requires you to stay still in front or behind your vehicle for a couple of seconds, it can still be triggered accidentally if you’re working around your garage. To prevent accidental opening of the frunk or trunk, Tesla allows you to disable the feature while your vehicle is parked at home.

Tesla determines your home location by the address that’s set in your vehicle. However, it also adds a buffer, meaning that your hands-free trunk feature will also not work in your driveway or at your neighbor’s home. The exclude home feature is located in the same spot as other hands-free trunk features, Controls > Locks > Hands-Free > Exclude Home.

If you have a recent Tesla that’s supported, go ahead and give the feature a try.

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