How Teslas Upgrade Over Time!
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Tesla will never be the same! Parts of this video were filmed before quarantine. MKBHD Merch: shop.mkbhd.com Video Gear I use: kit.co Tech I'm using right now: amazon.com Beats: youtube.com Playlist of MKBHD Intro music: goo.gl ~ twitter.com @MKBHD @MKBHD
Tesla upgrades over time are not formal model year changes but continual, incremental updates that accumulate into a noticeably different vehicle experience. The video begins with an owner comparing a 2020 Model S to older iterations, highlighting cosmetic shifts like matte trim around the main screen and air vents, along with interior refinements such as full leather on the dashboard and carbon fiber storage cover. These subtle changes, while easy to overlook, set the tone for a broader narrative: Teslas evolve through ongoing refinements to design, materials, and interior comfort, in addition to hardware and software enhancements. The creator then digs into the more substantial updates that truly alter the driving experience. Between 2016 and 2019, Teslas received faster, more capable computer hardware behind the touchscreen, enabling a smoother UI, additional features like arcade games and streaming apps, a six-camera Autopilot setup, and a built-in dash cam. He also discusses major hardware refreshes such as the raven drivetrain and air suspension, which improved range and the overall feel of the drive, as well as the 2016 nose cone redesign that modernized the exterior look. These changes illustrate how Tesla blends incremental design tweaks with significant performance upgrades to keep older cars feeling competitive. A core thesis of the video is the strategic value and risk of Teslas being software-first, where over-the-air updates continually improve performance, safety, and features after purchase. The speaker emphasizes that software updates can make a car feel like a better version of itself months or years after buying, sometimes with no new hardware at all. Features such as enhanced Autopilot, new launch modes, or improved Summon functionality demonstrate how software becomes a competitive advantage. The video ends by proposing a broader question: should cars be treated as continuously improving pieces of technology, with owners buying into a platform that gets better over time through data-driven updates?
Topics · technology · automotive · electric_vehicles · software · autonomous_driving · product_design
Questions answered
- How does Tesla update its cars over time if not by traditional model year updates?
- Tesla updates are delivered as over-the-air software updates and hardware revisions that are rolled out incrementally, often adding features, improving performance, and enhancing Autopilot and other capabilities without a formal model-year change.
- What is the Raven update and why is it important?
- Raven refers to a major drivetrain and suspension update that increased range and altered the driving feel, representing a significant hardware upgrade within Tesla's ongoing improvement cycle.
- What is Smart Summon and how has it evolved?
- Smart Summon started as a basic forward/backward summon and evolved into a more capable feature that can navigate to the owner, with ongoing refinements to path planning and obstacle awareness through software updates.