SiriusXM is launching its streaming app for the Model 3, Model Y and the Cyberetruck as part of the 2024 Tesla Holiday Update.
SiriusXM is a satellite and internet radio streaming service that’s been available in the Model S and Model X with the SiriusXM satellite receiver for many years. However, it has never been available in the Model 3, Model Y, or the Cybertruck - all of which do not have the receiver.
SiriusXM is one of the most popular satellite streaming services globally - Sirius offers bundled packages with other auto manufacturers (like the Model S and Model X) and standalone receivers. Now, they’re offering a different package for Tesla’s other vehicles.
SiriusXM subscribers will get a Tesla-tailored experience with a fully functional app that has a layout similar to Tesla’s other streaming services. Alongside all of SiriusXM’s regular services offered in their 360L package, customers will also receive Sirius’ full podcast offering.
The Tesla package includes the following services:
Ad-free, live-curated music channels across all genres.
Custom stations that users can generate from their favorite bands or artists.
A massive podcast library - including news, comedy, entertainment - and more.
Live sports coverage and analysis from over 20 live sports channels, with industry experts and hosts.
News, Politics, Entertainment, Comedy, Celebrity Interviews, and more on live and recorded channels.
A personalized for-you page in your Tesla (and in the SiriusXM app) that delivers recommended content based on your listening preferences - and it adapts based on your listening and time of day.
A content-discovery system that uses listening preferences to help guide you to new music, channels, and podcasts.
Integrated voice search
Live Sports is an awesome use-case for SiriusXM!
Not a Tesla App
Cost
SiriusXM for your Tesla will cost $9.99 USD a month for the first two years if you sign up using their special starter offer. Once that two-year period is over, you’ll pay $24.98 USD a month to keep your subscription at the same tier. However, SiriusXM offers multiple plans and multiple tiers that you can switch to to match your preferences after the two years.
How to Listen
Like Tesla’s other music services, you’ll need Tesla’s Premium Connectivity to listen to SiriusXM or use an active WiFi/Hotspot connection.
If you’re not a SiriusXM subscriber, you can simply scan the QR code on the screen to create a SiriusXM account and start your free trial or subscribe.
If You’re Already a Subscriber
If you’re already a SiriusXM subscriber, you won’t be able to simply log in to your existing Sirius account. SiriusXM says that you’ll need to give them a call in order to transfer your subscription to the Model 3, Model Y or Cybertruck.
When you see this UI, go ahead and press the big blue button!
Not a Tesla App
Free Trial
If you want to take advantage of the three-month free trial, you’ll need to first create a new SiriusXM account - even if you already had one previously. A new e-mail address will be required.
There’s no payment required for the free trial, and you’re not required to enter a credit card number - so it’s really a risk-free trial. Once the trial ends, you’ll be prompted to use the mobile app or website to enter payment information and select a paid plan to continue listening.
Model S and Model X
The Model S and Model X will retain their SiriusXM capability through their satellite receivers, and it seems that Tesla will continue shipping them with satellite receivers for the time being.
While no part is the best part, Tesla likely has a long-term contract with SiriusXM to continue providing the radios in these two vehicles. Once that’s over, or maybe in a potential future refresh, Tesla may also pivot to using the streaming app.
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To show off its scalability, Tesla has officially launched its first major expansion of its Robotaxi service area in Austin, Texas. The expansion comes just 22 days after the program’s initial public launch.
That’s a stunningly quick pace that sets a benchmark for how fast we’ll be expecting Tesla to roll out additional expansions as they validate and safety-check in additional area and cities. The new geofence not only adds a significant amount of new territory, but also makes Tesla’s service area in Austin approximately 4 miles larger than Waymo’s.
The expansion, which went live for users in the early access program earlier today, reshapes the map into… what we can call an upside-down T. It helps connect more parts of the city, and increases the service area by more than double.
So far, the initial launch has been operating without any significant issues, which means Tesla is ready and willing to continue expanding the program.
Rapid Scaling
While the larger map is a clear win for early-access users and especially those who live in Austin, the most significant aspect here is just how fast Tesla is going. Achieving a major expansion in just over three weeks since its initial launch is a testament to Tesla’s generalized autonomy approach with vision only.
Unlike methods that require intensive, street-by-street HD mapping that can take months or even years just to expand to a few new streets, Tesla’s strategy is built for this type of speed.
This is Tesla’s key advantage - it can leverage its massive fleet and AI to build a generalized, easily-applicable understanding of the world. Expanding to a new area becomes less about building a brand-new, high-definition map of every street light and obstacle, but instead a targeted safety validation process.
Tesla can deploy a fleet of validation vehicles to intensely focus on one zone, allowing the neural nets to learn the quirks of that area’s intersections and traffic flows. Once a high level of safety and reliability is demonstrated, Tesla can simply just redraw the geofence.
Geofence Size
Tesla went from approximately 19.7 sq mi (51 sq km) to 42.07 sq mi (109 sq km)in just 22 days, following the initial launch and safety validation. Within a few short days of launch, we began seeing the first Tesla engineering validation vehicles, hitting Austin’s downtown core, preparing for the next phase.
The larger footprint means more utility for riders, and that’s big, especially since the new service area is approximately four square miles larger than Waymo’s established operational zone in the city.
Highways and Fleet Size
The new territory enables longer and more practical trips, with the longest trip at tip-to-tip taking about 42 minutes from the southern edge of the old geofence to the northern edge of the new geofence. For now, Tesla has limited its fleet to operating exclusively on surface streets and does not use highways to complete its routes.
We also don’t know if Tesla has increased the vehicle fleet size quite yet - but if they’re intending to maintain or reduce wait times for even the early-access riders, the fleet size will easily need to be doubled to keep up with the new area.
This video clip shows the @robotaxi follows the Interstate (I-35) but does not take the highest.
Perhaps the most telling bit about how fast Tesla is expanding is that they’re already laying the groundwork for the next expansion. Validation vehicles have been spotted operating in Kyle, Texas, approximately 20 miles south of the geofence’s southern border.
Robotaxi Validation vehicles operating in Kyle, Texas.
Financial_Weight_989 on Reddit
This means that while one expansion is being rolled out to the public, Tesla is already having its engineering and validation teams work on the next expansion. That relentless pace means that if this keeps up, Tesla will likely have a good portion of the Austin metropolitan area - the zone they’ve applied for their Autonomy license for - serviceable by the end of 2025.
The pilot? A success. The first expansion? Done. The second expansion? Already in progress. Robotaxi is going to go places, and the next question won't be about whether the network is going to grow. Instead, the new questions are: How fast, and where next?
One of the most welcome features of the recently refreshed 2026 Model S and Model X is the addition of a front bumper camera. Now, thanks to some clever work by the Tesla community, it has been confirmed that this highly requested feature can be retrofitted onto older HW4-equipped (AI4) Model S and Model X vehicles.
The discovery and first installation were performed by Yaro on a Model X, and Tesla hacker Green helped provide some additional insight on the software side.
Unused Port and a Software Switch
The foundation for this retrofit has been in place for a long time, laid by Tesla itself. All HW4-equipped Model S and Model X vehicles, even those built before the recent refresh, have an empty, unused camera connector slot on the FSD computer, seemingly waiting for this exact purpose.
While the physical port is there, getting the car to recognize the camera requires a software change. According to Green, a simple configuration flag change is all that is needed to enable the front camera view on the vehicle’s main display once the hardware is connected and ready.
The Hardware: Parts & Costs
Yaro, who performed the installation on a Model X, provided a detailed breakdown of the parts and approximate costs involved.
Front Camera - $200 USD
Bumper Grill (with camera cutout) - $80 USD
Bumper Harness - $130 USD
Washer Pump - $15 USD
Washer Hoses - $30 USD
The total cost for the Model X hardware comes to around $455 USD, which isn’t too expensive if you were to DIY it. Tesla’s Electronic Parts Catalog has some of these parts available for order, and some can be ordered via your local Service Center. Yaro did note that he had to jerry-rig the camera connector cable, having salvaged the cable from a different camera harness.
The Model S vs Model X
This is where the project varies significantly. For the Model X, the retrofit is relatively simple. Because the main bumper shape is the same, only the lower bumper grill needs to be swapped for the version with the camera opening, along with installing the camera itself and the washer hardware.
For the Model S, the process is a bit more complex and expensive. Due to the different shape of the pre-refresh bumper, the entire front fascia assembly must be replaced to accommodate the camera. This makes the project far more expensive and laborious.
DIY or Official Retrofit?
The official front bumper camera on the Model X
Not a Tesla App
Right now, this is only a DIY retrofit. Tesla hasn’t indicated that they intend to offer this as an official retrofit for older vehicles at this time, but given the fact that it isn’t too complex, we expect that there is a possibility that they may do so in the near future.
All in all, this is about 3-5 hours of labor for the Model X, and approximately 5-7 hours of labor for the Model S, based on the official Tesla Service Manuals, using the front fascia reinstall process as a guide.
That means if Tesla does offer this as a retrofit service, it will likely cost between $800 and $1,200 USD when factoring in Tesla’s labor rates, but the total cost will vary regionally.
For those who own an AI4 Model S or Model X, it could be possible to request service for this installation, but as far as we’re aware, there is no official service notice for this retrofit at this time.
What About the Model 3?
For owners of the refreshed Highland Model 3, the only vehicle now left without a front bumper camera, the possibility of a retrofit is still uncertain. It has been noted by Green that some, but not all Model 3s built in late 2024 have an empty camera port on the FSD computer. This inconsistency means that while a retrofit may be possible for a subset of Model 3s, it isn’t a guaranteed upgrade path like it is for the Model S or Model X.
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