Tesla highlights remote cabin and battery preconditioning

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Tesla’s vehicles come with various unique features, including the ability to use the mobile app to perform several different functions remotely. In a repost of another account pointing to the ability to set cabin temperature remotely, Tesla highlighted that preconditioning will also warm up the vehicle’s battery, helping to optimize range and overall performance.

On Wednesday morning, Tesla reposted a @WholeMarsBlog post on X describing the ability to pre-set cabin temperature remotely using the mobile app when it’s hot outside, meaning owners will “never get into a car that’s too hot or too cold again.”

Tesla piggybacked on the concept, pointing out that when users remotely precondition their cars during the winter, their batteries will also be warmed to the ideal temperature to improve vehicle performance.

Battery preconditioning in cold weather can help keep a Tesla’s driving range more stable and provide quicker charging times when it’s time to charge. As Tesla explains on its website, when preconditioning the cabin while the vehicle is plugged in, the car will adjust the cabin and battery temperatures without drawing power from the battery.

Tesla offers both summer driving tips and winter driving tips on its website, and you can see the company’s instructions for winter preconditioning below:

Precondition Shortly Before Your Drive

You can manually pre-heat the cabin by activating preconditioning or defrost in the Tesla app.

Precondition: Open the Tesla app and select ‘Climate’ > ‘Turn On.’

Defrost: Open the Tesla app and select ‘Climate’ > ‘Defrost Car.’

Earlier this year, Tesla also deployed a software update with a feature that prevents air from coming out of your cabin’s HVAC system until the air is sufficiently warmed to the desired temperature. This prevents Tesla drivers from having to endure cold air when it’s already cool in the cabin, and it automatically begins blowing warm air once the system is warmed up.

In addition to manually preconditioning the cabin, Tesla details its Scheduled Departure feature, which will automatically manage your charge level and battery and cabin temperatures for the time you plan to start your day. This can also be accessed via the Tesla app within the Charging menu.

In recent weeks, mobile app access also became available in all Hertz Tesla rentals, automatically syncing driver profiles to rentals and offering remote features like preconditioning and more.

Watch a brief video from Tesla detailing the Scheduled Departure feature below.

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send your tips to us at tips@teslarati.com.

Tesla highlights remote cabin and battery preconditioning

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Elon Musk shows off Tesla’s finished Giga Texas entrance, reception desk

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Tesla completed the main entrance to its Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, as can be seen in a photo posted by CEO Elon Musk. In addition to the photo of the entrance, Musk also showed off the new reception desk, featuring an angular design not unlike the forthcoming Cybertruck.

Musk shared a photo of the Giga Texas entrance on X on Tuesday, showing off the highly reflective design of the newly completed entryway. The walkway leading into the factory includes large, rectangular white archways that can be seen reflected on the ground, along with huge walls of windows on the face of the building.

Here are a few other shots of the Giga Texas entrance from fellow X users @Greggertruck and @JoeTegtmeyer.

The entrance was completed just in time for a meeting between Musk and Hungary President Katalin Novák on Monday, in which the two discussed the world’s birth rates, Ukraine and the Cybertruck, all in the company of Musk’s son X Æ A-12. The visit even included a test drive of the Cybertruck, which Musk also did with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week.

Just inside the door is the building’s reception desk, which Musk also featured in a post on X later in the day. The desk includes a trapezoidal shape and hard, angular corners like the Cybertruck, along with an opening in the middle. The area is surrounded by rectangular beams similar to those seen in the entryway, as well as a few surrounding tables and chairs.

The photos come just a day after production seemed to have resumed at Giga Texas, with newly built Cybertrucks seen around the facility on Monday. A new filing from the automaker that surfaced on Tuesday also shows that Tesla is planning to build a 22,000-square-foot “Cyber Cafeteria” at the Austin, Texas plant.

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send your tips to us at tips@teslarati.com.

Elon Musk shows off Tesla’s finished Giga Texas entrance, reception desk

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Huawei says upcoming Luxeed S7 EV is ‘superior to Tesla’s Model S’

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Smartphone maker Huawei has partnered with the China-owned Chery Automobile on the electric vehicle (EV) brand Luxeed, set to unveil its first vehicle in the coming months. The brand will debut a Tesla Model S rival near the end of November, according to a company executive.

The Luxeed S7 will be unveiled in the Chinese market in late November, according to a statement from the head of Huawei’s car department, Richard Yu Chengdong, in a report from the South China Morning Post. The vehicle enters a competitive market with a number of other EVs from market leaders Tesla and BYD, in addition to smaller EV startups like NIO, XPeng Motors, Li Auto and others still.

“The car will make its debut in late November,” Chengdong said during a launch event held on Monday. “It will be superior to Tesla’s Model S in various aspects.”

Photo of the Luxeed S7 from a handout. Credit: Luxeed (via South China Morning Post)

Chengdong did not elaborate on the price, driving range or intelligent features of the S7. According to details the SCMP found on China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website, the EV will be built on the Chery Auto E0X platform, designed for all-wheel-drive, dual-motor vehicles.

While the company didn’t disclose specific features, common functions unique to EVs often include semi-autonomous driving, self-parking, voice controls and more. These features have generally been well-received by Chinese consumers in the middle class, and the Chery-Huawei partnership could be poised for success, some analysts say.

“Chery is an automotive powerhouse and Huawei’s strongest partner in developing smart cars so far,” said Gao Shen, a Shanghai-based independent auto analyst. “High hopes have been pinned on Luxeed because of the marriage between Huawei’s technological clout and Chery’s manufacturing heft.”

Based in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui, Chery has also announced a major shift to EVs, even founding subsidiary Jetour in 2018. Last year, Jetour sold over 180,000 EVs, representing an increase year over year of 17 percent.

The U.S. government expanded sanctions on Huawei earlier this month after initial sanctions were placed on the company in 2019. In 2021, one Huawei executive was fired after calling Tesla’s vehicles “killing machines” resulted in the company receiving complaints from the U.S. automaker’s legal team.

Tesla almost doubles EV share in China as sales rebound

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send your tips to us at tips@teslarati.com.

Huawei says upcoming Luxeed S7 EV is ‘superior to Tesla’s Model S’

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