Firmware
Review of Tesla v7.0 for Non-Autopilot Model S
With Tesla’s v7.0 finally upon us there’s been no shortage of look at me driving with no hands type videos, and even videos of Model S parallel parking itself, but lost in the shadows was the 7.0 update that came to early adopters of the Model S – pre-autopilot.
I’d love to have the opportunity to take a new Autopilot Model S or even my upcoming Model X for a test drive, but until then here’s my review of v7.0 for the non-autopilot enabled Model S.
New Dashboard
Owners of a Model S produced prior to September 2014 (or those who opted out of the Autopilot upgrade) are still presented with a number of compelling updates in this latest release. Most notable is the redesigned instrument cluster.
Prior to the official over-the-air rollout of 7.0, I had concerns that non-autopilot cars would lose the existing analog speed and energy meter on the instrument cluster, but fortunately Tesla managed to keep them intact and made good use of the, otherwise empty, real estate.
A picture of your vehicle is presented in the center of the dial. The picture animates based on the current status of your vehicle which includes brake lights, turn indicators, headlights, reverse lights, and more. I really like the flat look of v7.0 and happy to see the great use of space with the refreshed design.
A few indicators have shifted location in v7.0 such as the battery meter and drive status (P, N, D, R). I like the fact that Tesla has de-emphasized the previous prominently displayed battery charge level indicator. My guess is that Tesla didn’t want drivers to unnecessarily focus on the range of the vehicle. After all, Model S owners have proven that they can smash world records by driving 550 miles on a single charge.
Among other changes on the instrument cluster is the removal of current date, outside temperature and door status. The status is still available through the main 17″ touchscreen, but to get them back on your instrument cluster will require you to toggle to a new clock widget. Personally I would have preferred that Tesla left those on the instrument cluster so I don’t need to glance over at the touchscreen whenever I need to know the time.
The Trip A and B meter is no longer available on the cluster. In exchange, Tesla added a new widget that tracks your driving metrics since last charge.
v7.0 Widgets for Non-Autopilot
I really like what they did with the new Trip widget. I’ve always been a fan of the “since last charge” breakout and with the additional breakout by last time of day driven, I’m liking it even more. If I need the longer range trip meters (trip A or trip B) I can still retrieve that through the center 17″ touchscreen. I use my Trip A to track monthly driving details and Trip B to track lifetime usage.
The new clock widget provide time of day and external temperature, but I find it to be a poor use of space. I generally like the left instrument cluster to display my navigation info while the right cluster shows my trip meter stats. I don’t want to give either of those up so therefore I’ll likely never use this clock widget.
How do you guys feel about the clock widget? Leave me a note in the comments below.
Noticeably absent in v7.0 for non-autopilot vehicles is the ‘Car Status’ widget that displays tire pressure. Apparently the hardware to support reading of individual tire pressures is also missing on older generation Model S. I’m slightly disappointed by this since even my 2007 Acura MDX was capable of displaying this info. I was hoping Tesla was able to add this in via a user interface update but I guess that’s not the case.
Updates to the 17″ Touchscreen (Non-Autopilot)
The user interface (UI) within the 17″ display received less attention in v7.0 however per Elon’s tweet 7.1 will see more enhancements along with a “main UI upgrade”.
@lordsshrivas Lots of upgrades and a new look, although main UI upgrade coming with 7.1
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2015
The touchscreen display is flatter and cleaner but some icons still have a 3D look to it. Contrary to Apple’s iO6 which saw a complete revamp to a flat look, Tesla seemed to have left some elements alone. The only other update I found besides the cleaner UI is Trips which adds new Current Trip section and a reset button for it.
Tesla made the touch points larger and more responsive. While I think making the touch points larger is a good idea, it comes with a trade off – greater dead space. The area around the audio controls is a perfect example of how much dead space has been added.
v7.0 Extras for Non-Autopilot
Other than cosmetic updates, Tesla also mentions the addition of two new features in its v7.0 release notes.
Improved climate controls – This update supposedly helps the Model S achieve the proper cabin temperature more quickly while using less energy. What they didn’t mention is if and how this impacts range mode.
Torque Sleep – A feature that’s present on the dual motor Teslas has made its way to the RWD Model S, and it’s designed to improve energy efficiency. No mention is made of the expected affect on range. I haven’t been able to detect any noticeable difference in the performance or behavior of the car, but it’s still good to know that they continue to improve even older generations of the Model S.
Absent from this update is any mention of an improved Hill Hold. I took my car for a drive and gave it a test, but confirmed there have been no noticeable changes to hill holding abilities on my Model S. Having a permanent hill hold would have been a nice bonus.
Summary
Overall I really like the v7.0 update. My favorite part of the update is the flatter look, the animated car view in the center of the instrument cluster, and the new Trip widget.
Tesla did an absolutely amazing job by providing Autopilot on the new vehicles but without leaving early adopters of the Model S out in the cold. There’s no question that they could have easily ignored us and saved a great deal of time and resources by doing so, but instead Tesla stepped up to plate and took care of us. And for that I’m even more grateful than I already am.
Tesla announced its Spring 2026 software update, and it’s the most feature-dense seasonal release the company has put out. The update covers twelve named changes spanning FSD, voice AI, safety lighting, dashcam storage, and pet display customization, among other things.
The centerpiece for owners with AI4 hardware is a redesigned Self-Driving app. The new interface lets owners subscribe to Full Self-Driving with a single tap and view ongoing FSD usage stats directly in the vehicle.
Grok gets its biggest in-car upgrade yet. The update adds a “Hey Grok” hands-free wake word along with location-based reminders, so a driver can now say “remind me to pick up groceries when I get home” without touching the screen. Grok first arrived in vehicles in July 2025, but each update has pushed it closer to genuine daily utility. Musk framed the broader vision clearly at Davos in January, saying Tesla is “really moving into a future that is based on autonomy.”
On safety, the update introduces enhanced blind spot warning lights that integrate directly with the cabin’s ambient lighting, building on the blind spot door warning that arrived in update 2026.8.
Dog Mode has been renamed Pet Mode and now lets owners choose a dog, cat, or hedgehog icon and add their pet’s name to the display.
Dashcam retention now extends up to 24 hours, up from the previous one-hour rolling loop, with a permanent save option for any clip. Weather maps now show rain and snow with better color differentiation and include the past hour of precipitation data along the route.
Tesla has now established a clear rhythm of two major OTA pushes per year. As with last year’s Spring update, that cycle started taking shape in 2025 with adaptive headlights and trunk customization. The 2025 Holiday Update then added Grok to the vehicle for the first time. This Spring follows that structure: the Holiday update introduces new architecture, and the Spring update broadens it across the fleet.
Two notable features still did not make it. IFTTT automations, which launched in China earlier this year, were held back from this North American release for unknown reasons, and Apple CarPlay remains absent, reportedly still delayed by iOS 26 and Apple Maps compatibility issues.
Below is the full list of feature updates released by Tesla.
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 13, 2026
It appears that Tesla may be preparing to roll out some subscription-based services soon. Based on the observations of a Wales-based Model 3 owner who performed some reverse-engineering on the Tesla mobile app, it seems that the electric car maker has added a new “Subscribe” option beside the “Buy” option within the “Upgrades” tab, at least behind the scenes.
A screenshot of the new option was posted in the r/TeslaMotors subreddit, and while the Tesla owner in question, u/Callump01, admitted that the screenshot looks like something that could be easily fabricated, he did submit proof of his reverse-engineering to the community’s moderators. The moderators of the r/TeslaMotors subreddit confirmed the legitimacy of the Model 3 owner’s work, further suggesting that subscription options may indeed be coming to Tesla owners soon.
Did some reverse engineering on the app and Tesla looks to be preparing for subscriptions? from r/teslamotors
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite has been heavily speculated to be offered as a subscription option, similar to the company’s Premium Connectivity feature. And back in April, noted Tesla hacker @greentheonly stated that the company’s vehicles already had the source codes for a pay-as-you-go subscription model. The Tesla hacker suggested then that Tesla would likely release such a feature by the end of the year — something that Elon Musk also suggested in the first-quarter earnings call. “I think we will offer Full Self-Driving as a subscription service, but it will be probably towards the end of this year,” Musk stated.
While the signs for an upcoming FSD subscription option seem to be getting more and more prominent as the year approaches its final quarter, the details for such a feature are still quite slim. Pricing for FSD subscriptions, for example, have not been teased by Elon Musk yet, though he has stated on Twitter that purchasing the suite upfront would be more worth it in the long term. References to the feature in the vehicles’ source code, and now in the Tesla mobile app, also listed no references to pricing.
The idea of FSD subscriptions could prove quite popular among electric car owners, especially since it would allow budget-conscious customers to make the most out of the company’s driver-assist and self-driving systems without committing to the features’ full price. The current price of the Full Self-Driving suite is no joke, after all, being listed at $8,000 on top of a vehicle’s cost. By offering subscriptions to features like Navigate on Autopilot with automatic lane changes, owners could gain access to advanced functions only as they are needed.
Elon Musk, for his part, has explained that ultimately, he still believes that purchasing the Full Self-Driving suite outright provides the most value to customers, as it is an investment that would pay off in the future. “I should say, it will still make sense to buy FSD as an option as in our view, buying FSD is an investment in the future. And we are confident that it is an investment that will pay off to the consumer – to the benefit of the consumer.” Musk said.
Tesla has started rolling out update 2020.36 this weekend, introducing a couple of notable new features for its vehicles. While there are only a few handful of vehicles that have reportedly received the update so far, 2020.36 makes it evident that the electric car maker has made some strides in its efforts to refine its driver-assist systems for inner-city driving.
Tesla is currently hard at work developing key features for its Full Self-Driving suite, which should allow vehicles to navigate through inner-city streets without driver input. Tesla’s FSD suite is still a work in progress, though the company has released the initial iterations of key features such Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control, which was introduced last April. Similar to the first release of Navigate on Autopilot, however, the capabilities of Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control were pretty basic during their initial rollout.
2020.36 Showing Speed Limit Signs in Visualization from r/teslamotors
With the release of update 2020.36, Tesla has rolled out some improvements that should allow its vehicles to handle traffic lights better. What’s more, the update also includes a particularly useful feature that enables better recognition of speed limit signs, which should make Autopilot’s speed adjustments better during use. Following are the Release Notes for these two new features.
Green Traffic Light Chime
“A chime will play when the traffic light you are waiting for turns green. If you are waiting behind another car, the chime will play once the car advances unless Traffic-Aware Cruise Control or Autosteer is active. When Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control is activated, a chime will play when you can confirm to proceed through a green traffic light. To enable, tap Controls > Autopilot > Green Traffic Light Chime.
“Note: This chime is only designed as a notification. It is the driver’s responsibility to observe their environment and make decisions accordingly.”
Speed Assist Improvements
“Speed Assist now leverages your car’s cameras to detect speed limit signs to improve the accuracy of speed limit data on local roads. Detected speed limit signs will be displayed in the driving visualization and used to set the associated Speed Limit Warning.
“As usual, to adjust Speed Assist settings, tap Controls > Autopilot > Speed Limit.”
Footage of the new green light chime in action via @NASA8500 on Twitter ✈️ from r/teslamotors
Amidst the rollout of 2020.36’s new features, speculations were abounding among Tesla community members that this update may include the first pieces of the company’s highly-anticipated Autopilot rewrite. Inasmuch as the idea is exciting, however, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that this was not the case. While responding to a Tesla owner who asked if the Autopilot rewrite is in “shadow mode” in 2020.36, Musk responded “Not yet.”
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