The new 2022 Tesla Model S was recently spotted and photos and a video shared to the social media forum Reddit. It gives us a first glimpse at Tesla’s anticipated version 11 software as well as the refreshed design of Tesla’s premium sedan.
The tri-motor Tesla Model S is what Tesla Technoking, Elon Musk calls the “fastest accelerating car” ever produced (faster than the 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder). The Model S was Tesla’s first volume production EV and it had not seen any design change since it was first released in 2012.
Earlier this year, Tesla released images of the Model S refresh during its 2020 earnings call. The assembly lines for the Model S and X were temporarily closed during December which fired speculation about whether a design refresh was on the cards. Speculation turned out to be true when the latest Model S was seen on the streets.
When we first saw the photos in the earnings report, the exterior changes were. But now we’re more informed and it’s confirmed the 2022 Model S will come with v11 software alongside other physical updates.
Over the last couple of years, Tesla been working on enhancing its software that powers the media control unit’s touchscreen interface. Version 11 is expected to be released over the coming months, and the new posted to Reddit give us more insight into what changes we can expect to see on Tesla’s vehicles. (Note not all changes seen on the larger Model S screen will necessarily be visible in the smaller Model 3 screen).
On Monday, Reddit user u/FridayTheDog111 posted images and video of the new Model S after he was fortunate enough to spot it and get the chance to sit inside the latest vehicles.
One of the most notable changes is the introduction of a side tab which it is thought might have customisable tiles that will enable users to create quick access to the functions that they use the most. This can be accessed by tapping the vehicle icon on the far left of the screen.
What’s more is the bottom navigation that currently takes up the full width of the bottom of the screen will now be separated into two parts, with audio controls split from the vehicle’s controls.
Other changes include the addition of “Smart Shift” (expected for the 2022 Model S/Model X but unconfirmed for the Model 3/Model Y), and an option to open the media player on drive.
Features exclusive to the new Model S (and maybe the Model X) include, according to Reddit user u/FridayTheDog111 who posted the images, the ability to turn the screen to portrait or landscape orientation. There is also a new “Drag Strip mode” on the tri-motor Plaid Model S.
There are sure to be many more features included in this huge v11 release, but these are the major features we can see looking through these few images.
Some of these features will be slightly different on other vehicles as Tesla has to adapt them to work on a vertical screen for previous Model S / X vehicles and also make adjustments for the Model 3 / Y which need to include car visualizations on the main display.
We are all super excited for this highly anticipated release which appears to focus heavily on personalization.
Teslascope, which is a site that keeps track of Tesla software features and changes, posted on Twitter that two Tesla employees confirmed the “yoke” steering wheel would be an option at the time of purchase – the photos from the Reddit user show the proud owner of the latest 2022 Model S obviously went for that cool optional extra.
