Tesla had a rough week on the business side with a first-quarter report that fell short of Wall Street expectations and threw shade on the share price, but the company closed with news on Monday that a deal with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles would bring in fresh cash, with Tesla selling credits for building EVs to FCA to help that company meet European emissions rules. But in between, there was more fun news about the rollout of updated Navigate on Autopilot, autonomous parking, and Wi-Fi and video.
Netflix 'N' Chill While You Charge
Even fast charging can seem slow when you're waiting to resume your journey, and Tesla is planning to help you pass the time. Tesla CEO Elon Musk reiterated via Twitter that not only is the company moving toward enabling video playback in the car, but it's also working to deploy free Wi-Fi at all of Tesla's Supercharging stations.
While streaming video, video playback and video gaming in the car holds even more promise for the future when the car might be able to operate in fully autonomous mode, initially it will be for use when the vehicle is parked and connected to Wi-Fi.
Tweeted Musk in response to a question about how the video playback would work, "It will enable video when parked & connected to Wi-Fi. All Tesla Superchargers will have free Wi-Fi over time."
Tesla announced that as of April 3, it had begun rolling out in the U.S. an over-the-air update for a "more seamless" Navigate on Autopilot feature for cars whose owners paid for Enhanced Autopilot or Full Self-Driving Capability. Specifically, it will allow drivers to opt to have Navigate on Autopilot make lane changes while navigating on Autopilot without the driver having to confirm impending lane changes with the turn-signal stalk. Early users gave it rave reviews.
Drivers still can opt to require such confirmation, but if they turn on the new feature, the car will alert that it's going to change lanes with both a chime and a visual prompt — as well as steering-wheel vibration in cars built after August 2017 — so the driver can look around and cancel the change on the screen or with the turn-signal stalk. Tesla was quick to point out that the feature only works if it detects the driver's hands on the wheel and also that the driver remains responsible for control of the car.
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