Tesla is getting old enough to have holiday traditions. One is the annual free charging offer around the holidays. The other is a holiday software update that combines fun Easter eggs with useful features some owners have asked for.
The 2021 holiday update has begun rolling out to owners, and it’s packed full of genuine improvements and Tesla goofiness.
First, the Quality-of-Life Stuff:
This update lets owners customize their touchscreen interface, dragging most-used apps to the bottom of the interface to make them easy to find. Larger, more prominent icons on the home screen now access frequently-used items like wipers and navigation.
Speaking of navigation, the system now lets drivers add more waypoints and reorder them easily. So you can quickly build in a coffee stop along your route.
The blind spot camera now comes on automatically when you signal a lane change. There’s also a dark mode for the interface – a minor thing, but potentially a safety feature as it helps your eyes stay adjusted to the darkness when you check the map.
A new preconditioning mode lets you warm or cool the cabin remotely before starting your car.
Now, the Silly Stuff:
It wouldn’t be a Tesla update without games and Easter eggs to keep the car entertaining. The new update adds TikTok (usable only when parked, of course) and a light show feature that flashes accent lighting in time with music. Sonic the Hedgehog has come to the Arcade service, as has Sodoku.
Tesla updates traditionally roll out gradually over a period of several days, so if you haven’t seen it on your screen yet, it will probably reach you before New Year’s.
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