Tesletter - Issue 144 - The Holiday Update is here

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Issue 144 - The Holiday update is here

Software & Hardware Updates

Holiday Update (2020.48.26) 📹
Trevor from Tesla Owners Online walks us through Tesla's Holiday Update.

New UI (like the one in the FSD Beta version)
Polytopia, Cat Quest, and a bunch of other new cool games
Boombox - Or how to personalize external/horn sounds (needs external speaker)
Driving visualization improvements
Scheduled departure improvements
Emission testing mode improvements
Supercharging display improvements
Release notes are easier to navigate with categories

Custom sounds, now that is possible 📹
Now that Teslas with the external speaker allow custom sounds we are probably going to see a bunch of these but... Here is a first video showing some custom sounds with the Holiday update.

About the new, thicker, Model Y glass
By this point, we know the new Model Y came with thicker glass to help reduce noise. According to Tony (@tonytesla4life), creator of The Bandit, the newer Model Y (12/22/2020) comes with laminated glass- not a double plane- and it is approximately .04" thicker than the previous version.

New window animations, it's the little things! 📹
New animation in the mobile app in which the preview of the vehicle has changed when rolling down the windows and now shows a lot more detail. Love these little touches!

Upcoming Features & Rumors

Other music streaming services are coming to our Teslas 📷

A while ago, @greentheonly found a bunch of music streaming services in the code. Not all of them work but we can expect Apple Music, Amazon Music, and others to become available at some point. Tidal seems to be the next one that Tesla will actually release.

Elon will look into retrofitting the external speakers

I'm old enough to remember when the first Model 3s started coming out of the line with the external speaker and people were really annoyed that their otherwise-extremely-silent cars were making sounds at low speeds. Now that the holiday release is out and it includes custom sounds, folks are asking for Tesla to give the option to add the external speaker, and surprise, Elon said he is going to look into it!

Configurable touchscreen layout

With the Holiday update, multiple people have complained about the new layout and the map on the screen being too small in some configurations. @TeslaTruckClub has suggested different options to customize the layout of the screen in the Model 3 and Model Y and, well, Elon actually responded saying they will offer multiple display options.

Possible next speed limit 'match other traffic speed'
If you live in California, I'm sure you've been in the situation where, even going at or a bit above the speed limit, you're still the slowest car on the road (go absurd speed limits!). Other times, depending on things like weather, traffic in other lanes, etc. it is just not safe to go at the speed limit of the road. In a response to a great video from our friend John (@teslaownerssv), Elon Musk has hinted at a future 'match other traffic speed' setting which would address those issues.

Charging & Batteries

DC charging limits lifted in Europe 📷
Teslas in Europe come with the CCS Combo connector- which is standard across EVs and charging stations there- but until now, Tesla was limiting the max kWh allowed in DC chargers, not anymore! Pictures in the tweets.

Join the GigaBerlin 4680 cell team 📹
I love watching this sneak peek of the 4680 Battery Production in Giga Berlin. Beautiful, I want to watch it in a loop now 😊.

What the acronym

As a Tesla fan, I find myself sometimes having to remember what are all those acronyms, here is a list of the ones you can find in this issue.

FSD - Full Self-Driving
UI - User Interface
DC - Direct Current
CCS - Combined Charging System
kWh - Kilowatt an hour (kilo=1,000; 1kWh = 3-4 mile range)
EV - Electric Vehicle
4680 - New generation of battery cells, expected to be released in the second half of 2021