Tesla Adds New Long-Awaited Voice Commands

Automobile Propre

While we’ve seen several changes to Tesla’s voice commands, including a new voice and the potential for a Smart Voice Assistant to come soon, we haven’t seen much in the way of new voice commands.

For the first time in a long time, Tesla has added new voice commands as part of the 2024 Holiday Update. These new commands control vehicle features that weren’t accessible before. With all of the changes we’re seeing, including faster responses and better voice recognition, we’d be surprised if Tesla doesn’t show off a completely new system in the first half of 2025.

For now, let’s take a look at the new voice commands. Shout out to @LifeMiddie and our readers for catching these.

HOV Lanes

Command: Turn [On/Off] HOV

High Occupancy Vehicle lanes are generally faster than other lanes. However, the requirements for their use differ from state to state, with many states requiring a minimum number of occupants. The setting is buried under Controls > Navigation > Use HOV Lanes, which makes it annoying to get to for something you may want to turn on and off often. Thankfully, we can now use a voice command.

Toll Routes

Command: Turn [On/Off] Avoid Tolls

Similar to HOV lanes, this command will toggle the “Avoid Tolls” navigation feature on or off as requested.

We’re actually hoping this feature gets renamed - a double negative “Turn Off Avoid Tolls” to be able to use toll routes in navigation is a bit confusing. Perhaps “Avoid Tolls/Don’t Avoid Tolls” would be a better voice command.

Headlights

Command: Turn [On/Off] Headlights

This is a simple command that people have been asking for ages. We’re glad to see it finally arrive, and it's pretty helpful, especially when you’re parked or want to turn on your headlights in the rain.

Keep in mind that using Turn on headlights will actually switch your headlights to On instead of Auto, so you may need to move them back to Auto later.

Fog Lights

Command: Turn [On/Off] Fog Lights

This command requires your vehicle to be equipped with fog lights. This command does nothing for newer vehicles that include integrated fog lights, like the Cybertruck and Model 3 Highland.

For vehicles equipped with fog lights, it will turn on or off your fog lights as requested. It's a nice addition, as fog lights aren’t always necessary. This will also turn off your rear fog lights for the Model S and Model X.

A couple of other existing voice commands that are often useful are ‘navigate to X’ or ‘navigate home.’ You can also use voice commands to turn on voice guidance on or off by saying, turn off voice guidance. We have a list of the Top 10 Most Useful Voice Commands that may also be useful.

If you find any additional new voice commands, let us know here on our forums or on social media. You can also check out our list of all known Tesla voice commands.

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Tesla Announces New Supercharger Locations Based on Q4 2024 Voting

Not a Tesla App

Another quarter has wrapped up, and with it comes the latest results from Tesla’s Supercharger Voting. This ongoing initiative gives Tesla owners the chance to vote for new Supercharger locations they’d like to see built.

The previous round of voting took place in September, and as Q4 draws to a close, Tesla has revealed the winners of the Q4 2024 contest while also opening up voting for Q1 2025.

Supercharging has been a major focus this year, highlighted by the introduction of 325kW charging for the Cybertruck and the upcoming rollout of V4 Supercharger cabinets capable of 500kW. Tesla has also implemented several quality-of-life improvements for Supercharging, improving the experience for both Tesla and non-Tesla EV owners.

Let’s dive into the winners of the Q4 2024 Supercharger Vote.

North America

🇨🇦 Bathurst, NB

🇨🇦 Lac-Mégantic, QC

🇨🇦 Liverpool, NS

🇨🇦 Newmarket ON

🇨🇦 Ucluelet, BC

🇺🇸 Clermont, FL

🇺🇸 Cody, WY

🇺🇸 Hot Springs, AR

🇺🇸 Johnson City, TN

🇺🇸 Taos, NM

Europe

🇭🇷 Dubrovnik, Croatia

🇨🇿 Liberec, Czech Republic

🇧🇦 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

🇮🇹 Taranto, Italy

🇵🇱 Warsaw South, Poland

Asia/Pacific

🇦🇺 Braidwood, Australia

🇰🇷 Gwacheon, South Korea

🇯🇵 Hakuba Village, Japan

Voting for Q1 2025

You can head over to the Tesla Supercharger voting page to vote for the next quarter. You’ll be prompted to sign in to your Tesla account and you can vote on up to five different locations. You get one vote per location every three months. The most popular Superchargers are displayed on the leaderboard and you can also suggest new locations for the next voting cycle.

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Tesla Expected to Fix Cybertruck Charging and Regen Issue in Update 2025.2

BrianASilver3 / Tesla

Cybertruck owners in northern areas - especially those in Canada, have noticed slower charging rates on some vehicles. These owners are experiencing low charging amperage even when using a 48-amp Wall Connectors.

The 4680 cell - the Cybercell, seems to be sensitive to temperature changes and, as such, loses the ability to charge or discharge rapidly. Tesla accommodates this by warming the battery in advance of driving or while driving. However, there seems to be a software issue preventing the battery pack from warming up properly.

In addition, other users have noted that they don’t have regen braking due to the battery not warming up properly, even after driving. If you drive other Tesla vehicles while they’re cold-soaked, they will eventually warm up to offer you full regen and full performance. The Cybertruck, interestingly, will offer you full performance at cold-soaked temperatures as low as -20C (-4F), but will have regen unavailable in temperatures as warm as -5C (41F). 

Software Fix Confirmed

Brian Silver over on X reached out to Tesla Service with his findings, who confirmed that this is a known software issue that has now been validated. Tesla Service responded by saying that they’re hopeful a fix can be built into the 2025.2 software update. This is the first time we’re hearing about Tesla’s next major software update, which is expected to be released around the second or third week of 2025.

Tesla has also confirmed that this is not a physical issue with the heating system, so no repair is required for this one - it’ll be another OTA fix, just like many others.

We’re glad to see this one getting fixed so quickly. The issue appears to have started with the 2024 Holiday Update, or it could just be a coincidence since Cybertrucks begin to settle into Canada this year, where winters are much harsher and colder on average.

Workaround

We’re hoping to see this fix go out soon, as the current procedure to get around this is annoying. It requires you to set the navigation to a nearby Supercharger so that your vehicle will precondition the battery. You can stop the navigation to the Supercharger after 5-10 minutes, at which point the battery pack will be more than warm enough to charge at the full amperage of your home charger.

This workaround also resolves the issue of limited regenerative braking by warming up the battery pack sufficiently.

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