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Super Bowl LVIII commercials from BMW, Kia, VW, Dan O’Dowd and more

Credits: BMW, Kia, Volkswagen

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Each year, automakers and other companies spend a significant amount of money on purchasing commercial space during the Super Bowl, and this year, electric vehicles (EVs) are taking center stage during the Big Game. Advertisements from BMW, Kia and Volkswagen are showing off the companies’ EV offerings, while the game will also feature two different anti-Tesla commercials from Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta critic Dan O’Dowd.

It’s worth wondering if we could see something from Tesla this year, though it likely won’t be a commercial in video format. Last year, we saw one of Frito-Lay’s decked out Tesla Semis at the Super Bowl, and with the Cybertruck having launched in November, it wouldn’t be too surprising to at least see an appearance from the futuristic electric truck at the game.

Three of the commercials from automakers are for EVs this year, while Toyota, perhaps unsurprisingly, is using its ad space to market the new gas Tacoma truck. The others have shared ads for the BMW i5, the Kia EV9 and the Volkswagen ID.Buzz.

And while Tesla may or may not be involved this year, FSD beta critic Dan O’Dowd is, and we’ve also included the two commercials that he purchased with his company The Dawn Project below. The Dawn Project also purchased commercials for the Super Bowl last year.

Below are the 2024 Super Bowl LVIII commercials from BMW, Kia, Toyota, Volkswagen and The Dawn Project.

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BMW i5 2024 Super Bowl commercial

Kia EV9 2024 Super Bowl commercial

 

Toyota Tacoma 2024 Super Bowl commercial

Volkswagen ID.Buzz 2024 Super Bowl commercial

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Anti-Tesla FSD beta commercials from Dan O’Dowd

Commercial 1

 

Commercial 2

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RELATED:

Tesla Full Self-Driving Super Bowl ad aims criticism at driver assistance suite

What are your thoughts on the automotive commercials for Super Bowl LVIII? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send your tips to us at tips@teslarati.com.

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Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Tesla adjusts crucial feature as winter weather arrives

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Credit: Tesla Cybertruck Owners Club Forum user CybertruckCovers

Tesla has adjusted the functionality of a crucial climate feature as Winter weather has started to arrive throughout some parts of the United States. The new feature was highly requested by owners.

Tesla has a Cabin Overheat Protection feature that helps keep the temperature regulated if it reaches a certain threshold. Inversely, it can be used in cold weather as well, which will automatically warm the cabin if it sinks to a temperature that is too low for the owner’s comfort.

This is a great way to keep the cabin either warmed up just enough or cooled down just enough so that it never gets too hot or too cold. Extreme temperatures could damage certain parts of the vehicle or damage personal belongings that are kept inside the car.

Overheat protection is a great thing to have in hot climates like Arizona or Texas, especially with the Premium trims of the Model 3 and Model Y, which feature a glass roof.

Many owners appreciate the feature, but they argue that using it at home will utilize too much energy, especially during extreme temperatures. For a while, many Tesla fans have requested an option to disable this feature when the car is parked at home, which the company recently added, according to Not a Tesla App.

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The feature is part of Software Version 2025.44.3, and the release notes state:

“You can now choose Exclude Home when Cabin Overheat Protection or No A/C is enabled.”

Tesla has been great at listening to what owners want with new features, and this is one that will reserve some charge and prevent unnecessary utilization of available power, especially as the car is parked at home. If owners want to condition the cabin or get the car ready for operation with a comfortable interior, they can utilize the Tesla app to adjust the climate.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk sends rivals dire warning about Full Self-Driving

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed today on the social media platform X that legacy automakers, such as Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, do not want to license the company’s Full Self-Driving suite, at least not without a long list of their own terms.

“I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy,” Musk said on X. “When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless.”

Musk made the remark in response to a note we wrote about earlier today from Melius Research, in which analyst Rob Wertheimer said, “Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is,” in terms of autonomy and self-driving development.

Wertheimer believes there are hundreds of billions of dollars in value headed toward Tesla’s way because of its prowess with FSD.

A few years ago, Musk first remarked that Tesla was in early talks with one legacy automaker regarding licensing Full Self-Driving for its vehicles. Tesla never confirmed which company it was, but given Musk’s ongoing talks with Ford CEO Jim Farley at the time, it seemed the Detroit-based automaker was the likely suspect.

Tesla’s Elon Musk reiterates FSD licensing offer for other automakers

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Ford has been perhaps the most aggressive legacy automaker in terms of its EV efforts, but it recently scaled back its electric offensive due to profitability issues and weak demand. It simply was not making enough vehicles, nor selling the volume needed to turn a profit.

Musk truly believes that many of the companies that turn their backs on FSD now will suffer in the future, especially considering the increased chance it could be a parallel to what has happened with EV efforts for many of these companies.

Unfortunately, they got started too late and are now playing catch-up with Tesla, XPeng, BYD, and the other dominating forces in EVs across the globe.

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Tesla backtracks on strange Nav feature after numerous complaints

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is backtracking on a strange adjustment it made to its in-car Navigation feature after numerous complaints from owners convinced the company to make a change.

Tesla’s in-car Navigation is catered to its vehicles, as it routes Supercharging stops and preps your vehicle for charging with preconditioning. It is also very intuitive, and features other things like weather radar and a detailed map outlining points of interest.

However, a recent change to the Navigation by Tesla did not go unnoticed, and owners were really upset about it.

Tesla’s Navigation gets huge improvement with simple update

For trips that required multiple Supercharger stops, Tesla decided to implement a naming change, which did not show the city or state of each charging stop. Instead, it just showed the business where the Supercharger was located, giving many owners an unwelcome surprise.

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However, Tesla’s Director of Supercharging, Max de Zegher, admitted the update was a “big mistake on our end,” and made a change that rolled out within 24 hours:

The lack of a name for the city where a Supercharging stop would be made caused some confusion for owners in the short term. Some drivers argued that it was more difficult to make stops at some familiar locations that were special to them. Others were not too keen on not knowing where they were going to be along their trip.

Tesla was quick to scramble to resolve this issue, and it did a great job of rolling it out in an expedited manner, as de Zegher said that most in-car touch screens would notice the fix within one day of the change being rolled out.

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Additionally, there will be even more improvements in December, as Tesla plans to show the common name/amenity below the site name as well, which will give people a better idea of what to expect when they arrive at a Supercharger.

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