Tesla Giving Owners Special Features As Festive Season Gifts

Dec. 25, 2021 10:23 AM ET byMichael Butler Electric Vehicles /4 Comments

The age of OTA updates means new features are just an update away.

Tesla seems to be reveling in the Christmas spirit and is treating its customers to a number ofperks and gifts. The world's largest EV manufacturer recently announced that it would beproviding free chargingat a number of its supercharging stations across the country from the 23rd to the 26th of December, and now it has made use of its excellent OTA update system to deliver some more Christmas cheer in the form of some jolly software updates, including dancing lights, automatic seat heating, and a number of game updates.

A glimpse of some new features and improvements coming out as part of the Holiday Update.

pic.twitter.com/gJj8jTTsuZ
— Teslascope (@teslascope)December 21, 2021

One of the most notable of the new updates is the "Light Show" onModel 3andModel Ycars that, according to Tesla, "puts on one hell of a song and dance." The official description reads, "Watch your Tesla dance to a choreographed light show any time of the year." All it requires is opening the Tesla toybox, tapping Light Show and following the instructions.

The holiday software update also includes functional surprises like the new automatic seat heater feature. "First row seat heaters can now automatically regulate seat temperature based on the cabin environment and the climate control set temperature. To access seat heating controls, tap the temperature settings to bring up the HVAC panel," reads the menu description. Along with this new feature comes a precondition setting that allows the owner to condition the cabin even when the battery is at a lower state of charge.

Here is the Holiday Update interface on a Model 3.pic.twitter.com/y8gOameCZV
— Teslascope (@teslascope)December 21, 2021

主人也会高兴地看到除了of a customizable app launcher resembling that of the iPhone interface. "Drag and drop your favorite apps to any position along the bottom menu bar for easy access," Tesla explains. Along with the streamlined app launcher comes a host of simplified control settings that allows the owner to group functions under a new menu. "The display has been simplified to focus on navigation, media and the most common primary controls," says Tesla. An automatic blind-spot camera view is now activated whenever you indicate to turn,

The navigation system now allows one to add waypoints between the start and end destination. "Easily reorder or add multiple destinations to your route with updated arrival times. To add a stop, or edit a trip, initiate a navigation route, and tap the more options button on the turn list," the menu description reads.

Smaller updates include the ability to delete multiple dashcam videos in one go, hide navigation map details, and the ability to switch to a dark theme. Updates to social and gaming apps such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Battle of Polytopia, Sudoku, and TikTok are also included. Users can now watch TikTok videos from the touchscreen, enjoy Battle of Polytopia in multiplayer mode, and even play Sudoku. Thanks for bringing the cheer this festive season, Tesla.