Over The Air Updates

Tesla can update the infotainment of its electric cars, plus the user interface, the potential crash detection and avoidance logic, the AI logic behind self-driving, and even the core systems responsible for drive units and batteries. All via free over-the-air updates. That's a massive advantage over the common ICE vehicle approach, where customers must visit dealers to get just a tiny subset of this capability upgraded in their cars. Other EV manufacturers are following suit, but will have a hard time upgrading to the level of firmware detail that Tesla can, as they didn't design their vehicles from the ground up with that in mind.

What this means is that the EVs will retain more of their resale value over the years as well as increase customer satisfaction, since basically, your car is always up-to-date with newer features and capabilities. You are much less likely to buy a 2020 car and then when the 2021 model comes out wish you had waited to get that improved and easier to use user interface, or voice control, or track mode, or whatever comes up. In the legacy ICE car sales model, new things always come up in new model years to keep you in that “trade-in every few years” mode of thinking. Why is this important during the EV transition? Because it will be hard enough just keeping up with EV demand, and striving for a mode where EV owners want to buy a new model every few years would lead to more frustrated customers delayed from purchasing new cars.

For more detailed information, click here. For a list of the last two years worth of updates, click here.