Tesla rolls out new commands feature for better connectivity

Tesla is rolling out a new commands feature for its vehicles to make it easier for owners to do things like unlock or pre-heat the cabin without requiring an internet connection.

However, legacy Model S and Model X vehicles will not be able to utilize the new feature.

Many owners take advantage of all of the things they can do to their Tesla from their smartphone. Any command, including opening the trunk or frunk doors, turning on the HVAC, or unlocking the vehicle, can be used by the owner on their smartphone without having to physically touch the car and perform the command manually.

This is not necessarily a groundbreaking feature, and many cars outside of Teslas can be turned on, unlocked, or done without needing anything other than a smartphone. Tesla offers many more features than this, but there is one caveat to most automakers that offer this: it requires an internet connection.

Say you’re in rural America, and you’re in a supermarket with no service. As I’ve lived in Pennsylvania for 95% of my life, I have experienced this on numerous occasions. Without the internet, many tech-heavy features are impossible to use.

This includes remote start, which usually requires an internet connection to communicate with the car to turn on. Many gas car owners will deal with this issue. However, Teslas also had this problem. If you wanted the cabin pre-heated but were in a no-cell service scenario, things were a little less capable.

Now, Tesla is changing the functionality to allow the vehicle and phone to communicate through Bluetooth, according to Not a Tesla App.

This will eliminate the need to rely on an internet connection for the phone to communicate with the vehicle. It increases the reliability and even potentially the speed of the command that is sent to the car.