On the eve of Chinese New Year, Tesla has released its 2021.4.5 software update in China, what the company is calling its ‘Year of the Ox’ upgrade, to coincide with the Lunar New Year, according to social media posts on Weibo.
The update details the addition of the Douyin app to Tesla Theater, the Chinese version of TikTok, available when your Tesla is in park.
Also new are QQ lyrics, which are accessible on the right side of the media player. Tesla says the addition of QQ lyrics means during charging, you and your passengers can sing karaoke in your vehicle:
Another addition in this update is improved voice recognition. Tesla says when you’re using your voice to start navigation, search for songs, or imitate calls to friends and family, voice recognition has been optimized.
Tesla says you can say things such as “Navigate to China Maritime Museum”, or
“I want to hear Marry You of Bruno Mars”, or “Call Zhang San”.
Tesla says this also marks the official launch of premium connectivity subscriptions, which also includes visualization of real-time traffic, satellite maps, ability to play music and stream videos, network gaming and access to the browser:
The price for this is 9.99 yuan or $1.55 USD per month, tax included. Tesla says there is also a free trial of this premium connectivity entertainment package until March 13, 2021. Tesla owners can log in to their accounts online, choose the vehicle they want this upgrade, then make the purchase.
Tesla also noted after feedback from owners, this update also changes the ‘hold’ icon, now moved to the upper left corner, below gear icons, for Model 3 and Model Y owners:
Also, to celebrate Chinese New Year’s Eve, there’s a dinner being hosted at Gigafactory Shanghai, with a live-stream showing the feast that’s about to go down and all the dishes set to be enjoyed.
Tesla also says during Chinese New Year, they will still have 400 customer support staff available online 24 hours per day.
