Another month brings another exciting update packed with Cybertruck news. Grab your stainless steel mug and join us as we dive into the latest developments, from new features to upcoming products—all things Cybertruck.
This recap covers news from early January to early February, keeping you updated on the latest updates and what’s coming next for the Cybertruck.
Off Road Armor & Rockers Coming Soon
The prototype Off Road Armor in all its glory.
Not a Tesla App
Back in 2024, Wes Morril (Cybertruck’s Lead Engineer) and Siddhant Awasthi (Cybertruck’s Program Manager) teased the arrival of off-road armor, expected to launch for customer purchase in Winter 2024. Unfortunately, that hasn’t materialized.
But there’s good news. Wes recently showcased the prototype off-road armor and side rockers, confirming they’re on the way. Tesla plans to add them to the store by the end of March. Pricing details are still unknown, but since this armor covers the entire underbody of the Cybertruck, it’s safe to assume it won’t come cheap.
Wheel Cover Supply Confirmed
Tesla has been working hard to get Cybertruck wheel covers to early owners. While new deliveries now come with them pre-installed, some customers— including those who received their Cybertrucks as far back as March 2024—are still waiting.
According to Siddhant Awasthi, Tesla has secured a supply of the covers, but distribution remains a challenge. So far, about 32% of eligible owners have received theirs, with more shipments on the way.
In the meantime, Tesla is offeringcomplimentary Cyber Wheel Caps to owners still waiting for their covers. These will be sent out for free, with email notifications already rolling out.
Air Suspension Controls and Improvements
Strangely, the Cybertruck still lacks the ability to control vehicle height from the app—a feature that would be incredibly useful for off-roading and just cool to have in general.
The good news is that Siddhant Awasthi recently hinted that improvements to the air suspension controls are on the way, along with other unannounced feature upgrades.
Could this mean more advanced vehicle leveling, finer height adjustments, or even the ability to drive in High mode at faster speeds? We’ll have to wait and see, but we’re definitely excited to find out.
Cold Weather Update Delayed
The Cybertruck continues to face regen and charging issues, and although a fix may arrive in update 2025.2, that update has yet to hit the Cybertruck.
We reached out to Tesla Service for an update. While they previously stated the fix would land in 2025.2, they now say it’s “coming soon,” so it’s unclear whether we’ll even get those fixes this winter.
RWD Cybertruck Coming Soon, EV Rebate Available Now
In case you missed it, the RWD Cybertruck is expected to arrive soon, and the Dual Motor variant now qualifies for the Federal EV Rebate in the U.S.
The RWD model will likely launch with a few feature omissions, including:
• A manual tonneau cover instead of an automatic one
• Potentially optional PowerShare functionality
• Internal and rear AC outlets may also be missing
Winter is here, and temperatures are dropping, so one of the most common Tesla questions is about to resurface.
If you’ve landed here after frantically searching about “smoke” coming from your Tesla while Supercharging, take a deep breath—it’s completely normal.
Tesla Smoking While Charging
If you’re Supercharging in freezing weather—even with preconditioning—you might notice steam rising from your Tesla. But rest assured, your car isn’t smoking.
Your Tesla’s heat pump is hard at work warming both the cabin and battery to keep you comfortable and ensure optimal charging temperatures. Over time, condensation and ice build-up in the heat exchanger coils.
Why Does It Happen?
When you reach a Supercharger with your vehicle, the heat pump is still running hot, but without the cold air from driving to keep the heat exchanger coils cool, the ice and condensation quickly start to evaporate—creating what looks like smoke.
Since this typically happens near the front of the vehicle, where a car would traditionally have an engine, new vehicle owners can be startled by the discovery. However, rest assured that it’s just water vapor and it’s completely normal in cold weather.
In fact, this behavior can be experienced in any EV with a heat pump in cold climates. So, if you saw steam coming out of your vehicle and panicked, don’t worry—you’re not alone.
Now that you know what’s happening, go ahead and Supercharge with confidence.
Tesla made a lot of improvements in the 2024 Holiday Update, including more than 15 undocumented improvements that were included in the release. One of these was a stealthy performance improvement to the YouTube app.
Several people have mentioned they’ve seen improved performance on YouTube since this year’s Holiday Update - and there’s an interesting reason why.
YouTube Improvements
The improved YouTube performance in Tesla vehicles comes from an unexpected source—Tesla actually rolled back support for YouTube’s newer AV1 video encoding. Instead, vehicles now default to the older VP9 encoding standard.
While AV1 is highly efficient in terms of bandwidth, it requires considerably more processing power to decode and display videos. VP9, on the other hand, is less computationally demanding but uses more bandwidth to achieve the same video quality. This trade-off means smoother playback and better overall performance, even if it comes at the cost of slightly higher data usage.
Intel Inside
The VP9 video codec that the YouTube app is now using is much easier to decode, making it less taxing on the vehicle’s processor. This change is particularly beneficial for Tesla vehicles with Intel processors, which previously struggled to stream video at just 720p. When using AV1, these vehicles often experienced stuttering, sometimes forcing the YouTube app to automatically downgrade playback to 480p.
With this update, Intel-based Teslas should now be able to stream at 1080p smoothly. Streaming at 1440p is also possible, although occasional stutters still occur as the system keeps up with the decoding process.
Intel-based vehicles are the big winners with this change, but this appears to affect AMD Ryzen-based infotainment units as well, providing even smoother playback.
Chromium Web App
Tesla’s Theater apps aren’t native applications; instead, they run as chromeless web apps, leveraging the open-source browser built into Teslas known as Chromium (the open-source version of Chrome). Although this works quite well, there is a severe limitation - Chromium hardware acceleration isn’t supported on Linux, the operating system Tesla uses for their OS.
As a result, Tesla vehicles rely on software decoding instead of hardware decoding, which would otherwise handle video playback far more efficiently. A potential solution could be for Tesla to transition away from Chromium-based web apps in favor of a Mozilla Firefox-based browser, as Firefox does support hardware acceleration on Linux. This switch could also open the door to better streaming performance and the possibility of expanding Tesla’s in-car entertainment options.
However, Tesla’s choice of Chromium likely stems from Digital Rights Management (DRM) requirements for streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix, which rely on DRM-enabled playback. Firefox on Linux has had inconsistent support for DRM due to codec availability and variations in operating system versions.
We’re hopeful that Tesla will either adopt Firefox or develop a fully native application to improve video streaming, rather than continuing with the current web-based Tesla Theater. This shift could also pave the way for additional in-car applications built on Tesla’s native Linux environment—perhaps even reviving the long-rumored Tesla App Store.
Regardless, this update is a welcome improvement, particularly for YouTube, which remains one of the most widely used Theater Mode apps due to its accessibility, free content, and mix of short and long-form videos. It remains to be seen whether similar improvements are made for Netflix, Disney+, or other streaming platforms.
If you’ve noticed improved performance in Theater Mode, now you know why.
Thanks to Brian Zheng for making us aware of these changes.
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