Tesla has rolled out its latest over-the-air (OTA) update – Software Version 10.0 – for its models, which bring a number of improvements, some more novel than others. To receive the update, customers will need to make sure their car is connected to Wi-Fi and the car will automatically perform the necessary.
We’ll start with the more important stuff first, which is the addition of a new Smart Summon function. This is an enhancement of the Summon function already available, and allows the car to drive to you or a location of your choosing, manoeuvring around and stopping for objects if necessary.
This is operated via the Tesla app and your phone’s GPS, but it’ll only work within 61 metres of the vehicle. Additionally, Tesla points out that Smart Summon is only intended for use in private parking lots or driveways, and owners are still responsible to maintain a line of sight with the vehicle in case it fails to detect certain obstacles.
On the move, drivers will also benefit from an improved 360-degree view around the car, as Driving Visualisation now recognises and displays a wider variety of objects and lane lines. You’ll also now be able to drag and pinch the display to temporarily adjust view angle and zoom, although these will return to their defaults after a short period of inactivity.
Additionally, when using Automatic Lane Change, the adjacent lane is highlighted in blue and the target destination is outlined in white to provide a better insight into where the car is planning to move. On a related note, Tesla has also reduced the chime volume of alerts to minimise the disruption to passengers behind the driver. The company says this was done after a suggestion was made by Joe, so they’ve called it “Joe Mode.”
Moving on, the Dashcam feature can now record and store footage from the rear-facing camera (previously just the front), and Sentry Mode video clips are saved in a separate folder on a USB drive for easier review later on.
Other aspects of the software that have been improved include the navigation function, which now has better maps, distance indicator when performing an autocomplete search, direct access to additional information by tapping directly on labels on the map and a Lucky or Hungry option if you want to go on a surprise adventure to a local restaurant or nearby attraction.
Bluetooth functionality also gets boosted with support for a 48 kHz sampling rate for better audio quality, and drivers can now browse playlists directly from the touchscreen with album art displayed. You can also save additional settings to your drive profile, and the Application Launcher gets a more streamlined user experience, with Tesla Arcade being replaced with Tesla Entertainment.
On the mention of entertainment, Spotify support finally comes to Tesla models, and there’s even a Caraoke mode; both are selectable from the Media menu. You can even watch your favourite movies, TV shows and videos via the Tesla Theater, or play Cuphead with a USB controller.
Last but not least, the Tesla app allows you to share video links directly to the Tesla Theater, control your garage door through HomeLink, remote defrost and view the progress of any software update download and installation. On the Model 3 and Model X, there are additional window controls as well.
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Yeah yeah, updates and all that but more importantly, does it fly? If they can’t fly flying car-pet P3 will top their cars.