Tesla brings back UI cards in this year's Holiday Update
@bnkwupt/Twitter
Tesla’s highly anticipated holiday update is reintroducing UI cards to the Model 3 and Model Y.
Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y contained widget-like cards in the lower-left corner of the screen that could be swiped to view certain information such as the vehicle's trip meters and odometer, as well as tire pressure readings.
However, with Tesla's UI redesign during last year's holiday update, these cards were removed and integrated into the vehicle's menus. It certainly makes sense to have this information in the menus as that's where all of the other vehicle information is available, however, it was a step backward in terms of quick access to this information.
The information these cards provide is almost identical to the ones previously available, however, their design and layout have been updated.
Two informational cards provide quick access to the vehicle's tire pressures and the vehicle's odometer.
The tire pressure readings display a photo of the vehicle with the tire pressure reading displayed near each wheel. Previously tire pressure readings were only available while the vehicle was in motion, but thanks to a recent update, the vehicle will now display the last known tire pressure reading if the vehicle is parked.
The odometer and trips card will display the amount of energy used for each trip as well as the distance traveled. Like before, you'll be able to view energy and distance traveled for the current drive, since last charged and for each trip meter.
Differences From Old Cards
There are two small changes here. The previous iteration of cards displayed the time your "Current Drive" started, and also displayed how many minutes you had been driving, which was a useful metric. However, now all trip meters display the same information, which is the distance traveled, kWh used and average Wh/mi.
The old cards also required you to scroll vertically to go through the various trip meters. However, Tesla has now designed it so that all trips are viewed together on a single card, which is a nice improvement.
Tesla brings back UI cards in this year's Holiday Update
@showp1984/Twitter
However, the downside of this is that not all trip meters can be viewed at once, since there are five in total when counting the current drive, since last charge, Trip A, Trip B and the odometer. To fix this issue Tesla now lets you decide which trip meters should show up in the 'Trips' card.
By navigating to Controls > Trips, there is now a new checkbox under each trip, letting you choose whether that trip meter should show up in the card.
A nice addition is that you can now tap these cards to jump to the specific area in the vehicle's menu. For example, tapping on one of the trip meters will take you to Controls > Trips.
Cards in Action
View Cabin Camera
With version 2022.44.25.1, owners will also be able to remotely view their internal camera when their vehicle is in Sentry Mode or Dog Mode. In the event of a break-in, owners will have footage of the bandit and be able send that footage to local authorities. This has been a highly requested feature for years now.
View the cabin camera from the Tesla app while using Dog Mode or Sentry Mode to keep an eye on your puppy ? pic.twitter.com/yyeyfF5XTd
Tesla recently added ambient accent lighting to several of its vehicles, including the 2024 Model 3 Highland Refresh and the Cybertruck. Additionally, the Model Y in China also received ambient lighting, but this hasn’t come to other regions yet.
As part of update 2024.26.1, Tesla is adding on to the already great ambient lighting feature. In update 2024.14 Tesla added the ability for the ambient lights to turn red when you enter Service Mode, which is a nice touch.
Now, they’re taking it a step further with update 2024.26.1. You’ll now be able to control the brightness of the ambient lights in the Cybertruck and the 2024 Model 3. Previously, you could adjust the color to whatever you liked, but not how bright they were. The brightness of the lights was directly linked to the brightness of the vehicle display.
Tesla has also added a new “Night Only” option, which turns on the accent lights when conditions outside get dim. This is a nice addition, as while the strips are visible during daytime, in direct-light they’re not very noticeable. While LEDs do last for a considerable amount of time, this could help reduce the wear on the accent lights and let them last longer.
If you want to adjust the brightness or enable the new Night Only mode, you can navigate to Controls, and then look under Lights > Accent Lights. Since this is now uncoupled from the vehicle display brightness, you won’t have to worry about having your display too bright at night.
We’re not quite sure yet whether this applies to the Chinese Model Y with accent lighting, but it should.
We’re happy to see Tesla updating the accent light controls with the ability to adjust the brightness. Next up, we’re hoping to see Tesla change the color of the lights for certain features, such as when there’s a vehicle in your blind spot and perhaps even fun things such as syncing to the music being played.
Tesla added some long-awaited features in update 2024.26.1, which we’ve dubbed the Summer Update, due to the huge amount of new features that have been added.
The update has rolled out to just a small fraction of the fleet, but it’ll continue to roll out to more features in the coming weeks.
Two of the new features in this update have been hotly requested – a Weather Forecast and an Air Quality Index (AQI) indicator. So, let’s take a look at what’s been added.
Weather Forecast
Tesla has added a two-part weather UI to all vehicles in the 2024.26.1 update. The first portion is a forecast preview, located at the top of the screen, next to the current time and current outdoor temperature. There will be an icon that displays the current weather – overcast, cloudy, rainy, sunny, snowing – there should be plenty of preset weather types to see.
The second part is what happens when you tap on that icon or the current temperature. This will display a pop-out menu showing the forecast for the day, including current temperature and conditions, as well as a scrollable hour-by-hour forecast. It’ll also include the chance of rain, humidity, wind (and direction), UV Index, and Air Quality Index information.
The weather forecast and AQI in the status bar
Greggertruck/X
Air Quality Index
The Air Quality Index originally came to China a couple of years ago. In China, this information is displayed constantly on the vehicle UI. However, in North America and Europe, the AQI information in the UI is only shown if the AQI is considered “poor” or lower. If it’s below the threshold, it’ll be displayed next to the current temperature in the status bar.
If it’s not being shown, and you want to know what it is – the expanded weather prompt (by touching the weather forecast or temperature icons) – will show the current AQI at the bottom.
The Air Quality Index ranges from 0-500, with a lower number meaning cleaner air. We’re not quite sure how Tesla has categorized them, but the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), defines the AQIs as below:
AQI Value
EPA Condition
Tesla Condition
0 to 50
Good
Good
51 to 100
Moderate
Moderate
101 to 150
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
Poor
151 to 200
Unhealthy
Unhealthy
201 to 300
Very Unhealthy
300 to 500
Hazardous
We haven’t seen the Tesla names for ‘Very Unhealthy’ and ‘Hazardous’, but we’d expect them to be similar.
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The official Tesla app only notifies you if your car is broken into. By installing Sentry Pro on your phone, you will be notified for all Sentry Mode events. Stay connected and avoid potential surprises by receiving notifications. Stop constantly checking the cameras to ensure safety. Check only when necessary, save battery and get peace of mind. Get a 7 day free trial here!
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