Tesla’s software needs work. That’s in response to Elon Musk, who was highly critical of the interface, the browser and other programs in a video posted to the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley YouTube channel.
“We’ve got quite a lot of work to do actually with the essential software within the automobile,” said Musk. “We definitely must do work on the general interface within the automobile.”
It was revolutionary when Tesla began putting large tablets in its vehicles in 2012. The large touchscreen replaced a lot of the knobs and switches on the dashboard, giving Tesla yet one more approach to stand out within the automotive world.
Nonetheless, touchscreens are relatively standard in most vehicles now, and there could also be a couple of automakers doing it in addition to Tesla soon, especially given the upcoming improvements to Apple’s CarPlay.
Musk has heard the criticism, “there are quite a lot of complaints in regards to the interface; you’ll be able to do higher on the interface.”
Musk doesn’t stop along with his self-critiquing, “our web browser sucks. In the event you try to make use of the online browser within the automobile, it takes a protracted time to load, after which it’s a trash browser. It’s worse than some iPad from five years ago, like by lots.”
Tesla’s browser is predicated on Google’s open-source browser, Chromium. While the identical engine powers Google Chrome, the browser in a Tesla lacks the speed and efficiency Musk expects.
Tesla has been working to enhance the browser. Update 2022.12 got here with a more moderen version of Chromium and introduced elements like autocomplete, changes to favorites and the flexibility to clear your browser cache.
Nonetheless, this interview was conducted almost three months after that update was first released. Musk is clearly not impressed with the improvements.
He also says the rear screens within the Model S and Model X need quite a lot of work (rear screens may come to Model 3 and Model Y).
The CEO points out that the rear screen is useful to entertain people within the backseat, however the undeniable fact that the identical audio plays throughout the cabin is lower than ideal.
“We could, we should always have separate audio for the back. Like, what’s the point? We’re currently playing the identical audio level for the back screen as we do within the front.”
The primary minivans with DVD players offered headphone jacks to offer an experience that would not distract the motive force.
“The back should play that audio; it should path to a Bluetooth that’s keyed off of the rear screen, and then you definitely give them headphones. So people can take heed to music within the front and never get blasted by YouTube kids shows within the front, which is currently the situation.”
It’s possible Tesla could offer the flexibility to stream the rear audio to Bluetooth headphones in a future update.
Musk added that “there is a bunch of stuff like that that we’d like to repair.”
Musk didn’t commit to a timeline on making improvements or even when the changes he suggested might be made. Nevertheless, when a CEO says elements of the product “suck” and are “trash,” employees liable for those facets should want to get to work.
Tesla doesn’t currently support CarPlay for quite a lot of reasons.
Video
Elon talks about Tesla’s software on the 37 minute mark below.
