Tesla's latest car update is great news for parents who (unwisely?) let their kids borrow the car, and bad news for said youths lucky enough to borrow a Tesla in the first place.
As Not a Tesla App first reported, Tesla has released its newest software update, version 2024.26, to employees, which includes two new music streaming apps, updated menus, and new PIN-enabled Parental Controls.
Tesla's update, the publisher reports, lets drivers set a maximum speed limit for any young drivers aiming to careen around town in mom's Tesla like Dom Toretto, as well as acceleration limits for anyone thinking doing a sick burnout is a good idea. There's also a "Night Curfew" mode which notifies parents in the Tesla app when the car is out past the time you said you'd be home and now you're grounded.
Tesla drivers will also be able to pick from more music streaming services, as the company has added YouTube Music and Amazon Music. As Mashable's Stan Schroeder reports, Spotify was one of the first third-party apps available for Tesla cars in 2015, but the company only updated it last year. Now, it's got a little more competition with the new additions.
Other features of the software update include local weather conditions in the vehicle status bar, the ability to add sub-destinations in navigation, instant full-screen mode for Zoom when in park, and some menu and panel overhauls.
To use most of these new updates, drivers will have to be signed up to Tesla's Premium Connectivity subscription, which costs $10 per month, but considering how much Teslas cost, that probably sounds like loose change to owners. Otherwise, having a WiFi connection will let you use them, but that means hotspotting your phone if you're on the road.
We don't know exactly when the update will be rolled out to all Tesla owners, and at present Not a Tesla App records zero percent of cars updated with it. But kids, your days of unbridled acceleration are numbered.
