Can Teslas automatically call emergency services after a crash?

Teslas are already able to call emergency services in some regions

Tesla Haffi Iceland/YouTube

Dear Business Magnet Elon,

Like Tesla, safety is of the utmost importance for me when it comes to selecting a vehicle. Owning a Tesla has been a dream of mine since the Model 3 was announced in 2016. As you and the company made wide improvements to the vehicle and their safety, I “bit the bullet” and leased a Model 3 in January 2021.

Last month, Apple announced its new flagship lineup of devices. The most notable feature is emergency calling if a car crash is detected. The device will notify emergency services and contacts once activated, but Tesla doesn’t have such a feature available in the U.S.

It's well documented across various social media accounts that Tesla owners love their vehicles. They drive them over long distances (and some people [like myself] look for reasons to drive long distances). While Tesla’s active safety features constantly remain on and are always improving, it would be a welcomed feature for Tesla to add emergency calling once airbags are activated in the event of a car accident.

I feel strongly that this would greatly improve Tesla’s vehicle safety, as emergency services would likely be able to get to the scene much quicker with the car’s location data and immediate SOS response after airbags are discharged.

There's a lot of data Tesla could share with emergency services that could aid in an accident, such as the speed of the vehicle on impact, whether airbags were deployed, footage of the crash, vehicle location, number of occupants in the vehicle and possibly other information related to the battery to assess the risk of fire, etc.

I trust that my Model 3’s active safety features and structure will spare me and my passengers from any serious harm. However, in the event of getting in an accident that doesn’t allow me to call for help, I would appreciate the vehicle automatically doing this in an effort to get emergency services on scene as quickly as possible.

It's important to note that vehicles in Europe already have an eCall feature that lets a vehicle occupant place an emergency call with the tap of a button. Some vehicle information such as GPS coordinates and VIN are also transmitted to emergency services.

In addition, the vehicle will also place an automated call if the vehicle is involved in a crash. However, this feature is limited to vehicles in the European Union and is not available in North America and many other regions.

How Tesla's eCall Feature Works

In May of this year, I did a cross-country road trip from Los Angeles to Minnesota and back. The trip was around 6,000 miles in total. I went through multiple terrains and plenty of spots where cell service was questionable and I wasn’t at all familiar with the area. Had my vehicle been equipped with an “eCall” feature like the UK, I would’ve had an additional sense of security and safety during my trip.

I assume I’m speaking for the greater Tesla community, when I say I commend you and Tesla on everything you’ve done to build and manufacture the safest vehicles on the road. And I feel the Tesla community would strongly benefit from an SOS/eCall feature in their vehicles in North America, much like the one that is already available in Europe.

Tesla’s Referral Program Launches in Europe

Not a Tesla App

Following its recent launch in the United States and Canada, Tesla has launched their referral program in several European countries as well.

The program is available in Germany, Norway, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and possibly others. The program is almost the same as the one available today in North America, with rewards for each referral and a discount for those referred. The cap in Europe is also ten per year.

This program comes right on the heels of a 0% financing offer for the Model Y in Sweden and France. While referrals aren't currently available in Sweden, the 0% financing still is.

European Referrals

The European Referral program accounts for country and local currency, where applicable.

The referral reward program is comparable to the one available in North America. After exchange rates, there is only an approximately 10% difference between the available rewards in the US and EU.

Other Countries

We expect this program to start rolling out to other European countries over the next few days or weeks, as Tesla continues to expand its referral program.

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Tesla's Android App Lags Behind Apple's: The Missing Features

Maxim

Tesla has confirmed that they submit app updates for Android and iOS apps at the same time, but we often see the iOS app updates released first possibly due to a quicker app review process at Apple.

However, we often see features implemented on the Apple version weeks or months before they’re implemented on Android. Today, the Android app is missing several key features, and the gap is starting to become a bit glaring.

Delayed App Updates

The Android app just received update 4.36.6 last night, while the Apple update was available as of September 1st.

That might not seem like a big deal, but in order to use the updated Actually Smart Summon, you’ll need app version 4.36.6, so any Andriod users that received update 2024.27.20 with the new Summon, couldn’t use it until yesterday.

We’re sure Tesla is on it, but it’s disappointing to see that key feature updates take days or a week longer to receive on Android. Apple and Google both offer the ability to set a release date for an app update, so Tesla could coordinate releasing the apps at the same time.

Ultra Wideband Support

Unfortunately, there’s no Ultra Wide Band (UWB) support on Android yet, which is an interesting omission since it’s such a great feature. Most Android phones, flagships, and cheaper phones alike, all support UWB.

Without UWB support Android phones can’t use Tesla’s newest phone key, which is only available for devices that support UWB. The new phone key improves reliability for unlocking the vehicle and setting the correct Tesla driver profile. To support the new phone key, you need a compatible phone (iPhone 11 or newer) and a newer vehicle that supports ultra wideband.

Hands-Free Trunk

Tesla’s new hands-free trunk feature, which allows you to automatically open your trunk by simply standing behind it for a couple of seconds, also isn’t available on Android devices. Tesla’s Hands-Free Trunk requires UWB support too, and Tesla originally mentioned it was coming to Android in May 2024.

For now, those are the features we know of that don’t work on Android today, and we’re hoping that Tesla brings both UWB support, as well as simultaneous app updates to the Google Play and Apple App Store by leveraging each store’s publish date feature.

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