Last week Tesla started rolling out V10 to its fleet, but there are still quite a few Tesla owners who don’t have it. I’m seeing and getting quite a few questions about what upgrades you get if you have Media Control Unit version 1 (MCU 1), so I decided to summarize what I know in this blog post. If you have unanswered questions, please let me know and I’ll add them here. Here we go.
What do you get with Tesla V10 if you have MCU 1
Let’s first talk about what everyone is getting in this update, including all cars with MCU 1:
- Spotify. First things first, and this is a very popular question if you’re in the United States: Do I get Spotify with Tesla v10 (or Spötify, and no, it’s not a typo)? Yes, you do. And let me tell you, it is amazing. No more not being able to replay a song, real playlists, the song won’t restart if you get out and in again of the car, and much more. Pro tip: If you’re sharing your Tesla with a spouse or someone else, consider creating a Spotify family account.
- Lucky and Hungry mode. Let your car choose your next adventure. Personally, I’m not sure how helpful this one is going to be. Is In & Out good? Yes. Do I want to go there with the family for a nice dinner? Not really. But how’s Chispas supposed to know? Or Elon, for that Matter 😆
- Map improvements. Map improvements for ease of navigation in V10 include distance to destination in the search autocomplete and the ability to directly tap on the map to see additional details of a destination.
- Mobile app improvements. Long awaited one, this update includes the ability to operate the car windows from the Tesla mobile app is here. Only for Model 3 and Model X, though. Some other improvements in the mobile app (version 3.10.0 or later) are:
- HomeLink button to open and close your garage door if your car has a programmed HomeLink connection.
- View the download and installation progress of software updates.
- Send videos to play in the Tesla Theater for supported sources (if supported).
- Joe mode. New mode to reduce the volume of the car’s chimes minimizing disruption to passengers (e.g. sleeping children).
- Software update improvements. From the release notes “The software update experience now has more style and grace.” Which translates into knowing which version is being downloaded and is to be installed, as well as being able to follow the installation progress.
- Applicatio launcher. Now it’s easier to launch the Phone App. Tesla Arcade has also been replaced with Tesla Entertainment.
- Driver profile. With this release you can now see when a setting is saved to the selected driver profile in the status bar located at the top of the touchscreen.
What do you get with V10 and MCU 1 if you have AP 2 or 2.5
These aren’t all the differences but they are the ones that depend on which MCU you have. These other depend on you having AP2 or AP2.5:
- Smart Summon. Yes, you do get Smart Summon assuming you’re on Autopilot 2 or 2.5. Get ready for your car to pick you up after dinner, a movie, or whatever your reason not to walk to the car is. We’ve only tried Smart Summon in a lot with no traffic but are pretty impressed with it.
- Sentry Mode and Dash Cam improvements. You’ll only get this one with MCU 1 if you have Autopilot 2.5, not with AP 2.0 or previous versions. The improvement consists of storing Sentry and Dash Cam videos in different folders, making it easier to access and manage them. Also, the oldest Sentry Mode video clips will be automatically deleted if there is not enough space on the USB drive and Sentry Mode clips are using more than 5GB of space.
- Driving visualization. Oncoming traffic detection, pickup trucks renderization, and better visualizations for lane changes and additional types of objects around the car. We shared some videos in this blog post about v10 a few weeks ago, check them out.
What you don’t get with MCU 1 and V10
Unfortunately, us mortals with MCU 1- we’re in the same boat-, don’t get the following features:
- Tesla Theater. Netflix, Hulu, and other video streaming services in the browser
- Caraoke
- Cuphead video game
Do I have MCU 1 or MCU 2?
We’re preparing a more detailed blog post for people to know if they have MCU1 or MC2, but if you want a quick summary, you must know that:
- If you have a Model 3 you have MCU 2
- Model X and S purchased after March 2018 come with MCU 2
- All other models came with MCU 1
For those of you who are wondering about upgrading from MCU 1 to MCU 2, I’ve asked my Service Center and they said it’s not physically possible. I’d personally pay $1,000-$2,000 to get this hardware upgrade, I guess one can only hope 🤞 (or wait till the next Tesla arrives to our family).
Update (March 2nd, 2020): Infotainment upgrade is now available (MCU 1 to MCU 2 retrofit).
How to take good care of your touchscreen
No matter if you have MCU 1 or MCU 2, here you a few products that we recommend to take care of your MCU screen:
- Tesla Model 3/Y screen protector
- Tesla Model S/X screen protector
- Tesla Model S/X dash screen protector
- Microfiber Cleaning Cloths
Questions?
Do you have more questions about Tesla V10 and MCU 1? Shoot me an email at ignacio at tesletter dot com.
What the acronym?
As Tesla fan I find myself sometimes having to remember what are all those acronyms, here is a list of the ones you can find in this issue.
- V10 - Version 10 of the software, being rolled out at the moment
- MCU - Media Control Unit
- AP - Autopilot
Have questions? Reach out at contact at tesletter dot com
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