New wind warning and icons in Tesla software hint at upcoming features

Based on a recent Tweet by @greentheonly regarding update 2022.16, it appears Tesla has been adding visual icons and code to support some additional features in 2022.16 and upcoming releases.

Notably, a new icon has appeared in the firmware that indicates ‘wind on the route’. This new icon in 2022.16 will let you know when there is wind that could affect your vehicle’s energy usage.

Last updated: Jun 4, 1:16 am

One of the more helpful features buried in the code (but unreleased) is an icon/notice of a congested Supercharger when the car is actively routing to one.

This notification may allow for drivers to reroute to a less congested Supercharger.

In addition, it may indicate how long of a projected wait there may be for that Supercharger station.

Tesla only knows how many vehicles are currently charging, but it can possibly also estimate the wait time for a Supercharger based on how many Teslas are nearby with a low state of charge.

This feature would be a small penance for Tesla’s recent choice to open up the Supercharger network to other car brands (possibly causing more instances of Supercharger congestion).

Tesla plans to solve Supercharger congestion by tripling the size of their network in the next few years.

With over 30,000 Superchargers (3,500 stations) reported at the end of 2021, Tesla undoubtedly operates the largest and most successful fast-charging networks.

In fact, Tesla now plans to add CCS (Combined Charging System) plugs to US-based Superchargers in order to make them even more compatible with other EV manufacturers.

In the near future Tesla drivers may not only have a head’s up that their intended Supercharge station is congested, by possibly be given other Supercharger options that could reduce their total travel time.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk replied to Twitter user ShibaDoge (@JaconB1290H) who praised Tesla’s audio quality despite being limited to Bluetooth streaming.

He asked Elon if it would be possible for Tesla to add Apple Airplay, which would enable lossless streaming. He also pointed out that Tesla vehicles already have the necessary hardware capability.

Musk replied saying that his audio engineering team will discuss the possibility of adding Apple AirPlay and lossless quality music support, along with other auditory improvements.

Musk also took the opportunity to highlight the incredible sound system of both the Tesla Model S and the Model X.

Will discuss this and other improvements with Tesla audio engineering. The new Model S and X sound system is incredible.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 2022

Lossless music streaming is a premium option on certain platforms that allows you to listen to high-resolution audio files. High-resolution lossless audio means the music file hasn’t lost any audio quality due to compression methods.

Tesla currently supports TIDAL lossless audio, but it is limited to downloaded songs on WiFi. More popular streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music also offer lossless streaming but are not yet implemented in Teslas.

While Elon did hint at Airplay support, another possibility is that Tesla uses a different streaming protocol such as Google Cast which is used on various devices like Chromecast and many others.

This could be the case as Tesla has been reluctant to implement any Apple products in its vehicles such as Apple AirPlay or Apple Music.

AirPlay support could potentially bring additional video streaming options to Teslas by letting you stream video directly from your phone to the car’s center display.

This could also be the start of Tesla working more closely with Apple. If Tesla looks into adding AirPlay support, will they also consider adding support other Apple services? Apple Music and CarPlay are among the most requested features in a Tesla.

Whichever direction Tesla heads in, we may soon see improved audio streaming in Tesla vehicles.

Ugh. That moment you look out and see the pouring rain flowing down the window pane nearby. You bite your lip as you remember that you left the windows open on your Tesla.

It was so hot…You had vented the windows via the Tesla app to help prevent your glass roof from irradiating your interior into molten lava. Now the rain must be drenching your interior, soaking your seats and floor mats. A scramble to open the app brings a welcome surprise.

Somehow, your Tesla knew to close its own windows. Has your car developed self-aware Artificial Intelligence? No, not yet at least.

Tesla is added a new helpful function: automatic window closing with rain forecasts.

Announced on Twitter by Elon Musk on May 30th, 2022, Tesla now appears willing to tie meteorological forecasts to car actions.

While weather-based actions have been part of API services like IFTTT, this marks the first time Tesla has planned to use weather data to trigger an action taken by a car.

Tesla appears to be heavily invested in weather prediction lately, as witnessed by their use of weather data in the new range prediction models announced in update 2022.16.

The new energy usage model factors in predicted weather conditions when calculating range and energy usage.

In addition, Chinese drivers receive air quality index numbers in their status bar. However, these features do not affect the state of the car.

The ability for Tesla vehicles to automatically perform certain functions based on predictive weather certainly offers additional opportunities to use weather data.

Future use of weather data could theoretically include automatically changing a driver’s acceleration mode to ‘Chill’ when snow and ice are forecasted.

Or, a Tesla equipped with a HEPA filter could activate Bioweapon Defense mode on Orange Air Quality days to screen out pollen and other contaminants.

The possibilities for using weather data to modify car settings are seemingly endless.

Sure

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 30, 2022