Tesla Model S
Tesla Cancels Model S Center Console Options
If you’re a Model S owner who has been on the wait list for a Premium Center Console solution from Tesla, raise your hand. Now, if you have a carbon fiber interior trim or obeche wood, keep your hand raised. You, my friend, are part of the group who will not be receiving your long awaited center console because Tesla has just cancelled delivery of it. Owners with the Piano Black trim will still be eligible although I’m not quite sure that’s a good thing (see video at end of post).
Tesla Console Order Issues
Shortly after ordering my Model S on March 10 of 2014, I reserved a Tesla Premium Center Console with the Obeche Wood Matte Décor to match my interior trim. From that point on, the communication from Tesla merchandise, or lack there of, and actual fulfillment of the reservation was shameful.
So, what happened, according to Tesla Motors?
March 10, 2014:
We estimate that the console will be available to those recently added to the list in August.
May 2, 2014:
Consistent with that mission, we have added improved parts to the center console. The updated estimate for resuming the shipping of the consoles is currently slated for early June.
August 1, 2015:
Center consoles in other décor finishes will be available in limited quantities starting early 2015.
January 2, 2015:
We do not anticipate the console with your décor to become available until spring 2015.
May 19, 2015:
We have made the difficult decision to offer only the Piano Black Front Center Consoles on Model S.
After that tremendous wait and poor customer experience, why would anyone actually click that “PURCHASE” link?
While these fulfillment issues were taking place, Tesla meanwhile offered a Premium Rear Console (in all finishes) – something they seem to have delivered on with no quality or availability problems.
>>>> REVIEW: Tesla Model S Premium Rear Console
How is it possible for such an advanced company to screw up such a simple project like a center console?
According to forum chatter, Tesla evidently used one supplier for the front console (perhaps with an exclusivity agreement), but after experiencing quality and fulfillment issues, they switched suppliers for the rear console, but at the expense of may disappointed and frustrated Model S owners.
What is more frightening about this experience as a shareholder, Model S owner and Model X reservation holder, is that interest for the Powerwall and Model X fall into the same category as being “reservations” rather than orders. Granted, Tesla probably isn’t relying on a third party aftermarket supplier to produce the Powerwall and Model X, but it still begs the question,
Can Tesla deliver on other reservation types or will we have another Console-gate on our hands?
I sincerely hope that by sticking to their wheelhouse, Tesla will be able to deliver on other new products that come along. The Model X has had at least 3 major slippages in initial delivery dates since I started tracking it.
Tesla Center Console Quality issues
During my extended wait for the factory Tesla Model S Center Console, I did a bunch of research and reading that ultimately led me to an aftermarket center console insert (CCI) solution from EVannex.
I did, however, really like the design of the cupholders in the factory Tesla center console, and the fact that both can be hidden from view. I didn’t get a chance to “test” the cupholders with my beloved Dunkin’ Donuts cup, but they looked like they would be up for the task.
Also the console seemed to have a lot more storage in the area near the cupholders than the EVannex CCI offering.
That’s where my ‘likes’ come to an abrupt halt. I didn’t particularly like the phone holder area. I’d never use it, favoring the pocket on the front of my driver’s seat over that. The space within the center console is not useful for much else, either open or closed — it has an odd shape, grooves etc. And when closed, you get the full piano black glare:
I had a chance to inspect the quality of the factory Tesla Model S center console solution, installed within the car, and much to my dismay, I found it to be not up to par. Keep in mind that this was a console installed by Tesla Service (the only way one can have a Tesla Console installed).
Below is my video showing the quality of the center console as seen from a Model S on the showroom floor (Paramus, NJ, April 11, 2015):
From the video you can really see the wobbliness of the unit even though I barely applied any force.
Summary
It’s evident that Tesla was not prepared to take on the demand and challenges that came with their Premium Center Console offering. Yes, they ran into delivery and quality problems, but what’s more disappointing is how they handled those issues.
Rather than fixing the issue by working with other third party suppliers, Tesla decided to drop much of the center console offering. This was a bad call in my opinion and sends the wrong type of message to product reservation holders.
Tesla, you can do better.
RELATED: Review of Tesla Model S center console insert (CCI)
Tesla’s two recently-defunct flagship models, the Model S and Model X, are getting a big upgrade, according to the company’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy.
Older Hardware 3 Model S and Model X vehicles have been the last major holdouts in Tesla’s Full Self-Driving v14 Lite rollout, and that wait now appears to be ending.
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At Tesla’s Cybercab launch, AI chief Ashok Elluswamy told Ryan McCaffrey that he thought the S and X build “was supposed to go out last week.” Evidently, Elluswamy expects the suite to be rolled out to those HW3 Model S and Model X very soon:
For my @Tesla friends – and specifically Model S & X owners with HW3 who are waiting on FSD v14 Lite – I spoke to @aelluswamy at the Cybercab launch, & when I asked for an ETA on v14 Lite for S/X owners, he said, “Oh, I thought it was supposed to go out last week.”
So: soon! 🙌
— Ryan McCaffrey (@DMC_Ryan) September 7, 2026
Those cars are not the current Model S and Model X, which already ship with Hardware 4. They are the pre-refresh flagships built around Tesla’s older Autopilot computer, often called HW3 or AI3.
Tesla stopped putting that computer in new vehicles years ago, which is why owners treat these S and X cars as a closed generation. Model 3 and Model Y vehicles on the same computer began receiving v14 Lite in late June 2026 and saw a wider North American expansion in July. South Korea followed as an early international market. The S and X versions of the same software never joined that wave.
v14 Lite is Tesla’s way of squeezing the current v14 driving stack onto hardware that cannot run the full AI 4 model. The company describes the process as distillation: behaviors learned on the newer computer, including reinforcement learning and offline models, are compressed so the older chip and cameras can use them as a guide.
Early descriptions put the distilled network at roughly 15 percent of the original size. The result is still supervised Level 2 driving. Tesla has been clear that HW3 cannot support unsupervised Full Self-Driving or robotaxi operation because of memory and bandwidth limits.
The feature list is what made the wait so frustrating for S and X owners, as plenty of new features are to be shipped with it.
Official notes for the first Lite build, firmware 2026.20.5.1, added parking, unparking, and reversing; arrival options for a parking lot, street, driveway, or curbside; speed profiles that stay available at all times; and start-from-park engagement. Tesla also claimed better handling of merges, forks, pedestrians, traffic lights, and cut-ins, plus fewer false slowdowns and smoother lane centering.
A mid-July follow-on build, 2026.20.6.10, added more of the Hardware 4 interface, including a standalone Self-Driving app and the ability to start a trip from Park without a brake-pedal confirmation.
Elluswamy called that version the one “likely going to wide release.”
That wide release already reached most other HW3 cars in the United States and Canada. International timing still depends on regional validation and regulatory approval. For S and X owners, the remaining work appears to be model-specific validation rather than a new software stack.
There is no official Tesla changelog or build number for those two models yet, only Elluswamy’s offhand timeline. Some HW3 drivers who already have Lite report large gains over v12.6; others have described new indecision or phantom braking. The next test will be whether the same software lands cleanly on the older flagships that have waited the longest.
Firmware
Tesla unlocks in-car web conferencing to extend Google Meet, Teams and beyond
Tesla’s Summer Update lets owners join Google Meet, Teams, and Discord calls via cabin camera.
Tesla’s 2026 Summer Update, which just began rolling out to customer vehicles, now links the built-in web browser with the in-cabin camera feed and microphone input, thereby letting owners join video calls on nearly any browser-based service instead of just Zoom.
The change appears in Tesla’s own release notes for software version 2026.26 under “Web Browser,” which states that the vehicle can now use its interior camera and cabin microphone when a website requests access, with permission granted the same way a desktop browser handles it. As NotATeslaApp notes, this feature opens the door to Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Discord, and other webcam-enabled sites to activate the in-car cabin-facing camera. The feed automatically crops and zooms to center the driver in frame.
Tesla has offered in-car video calling before, but only through a dedicated Zoom app that launched at the end of 2022, a stripped-down browser preloaded with Zoom’s own web client and gated behind Premium Connectivity. Opening the full browser to any camera-requesting site removes that walled garden. Elon Musk first called video conferencing “definitely a future feature” back in 2020, when the pandemic pushed remote meetings into daily life, so this update effectively finishes something Tesla has been promising for six years.
Tesla Summer Update begins rolling out: a look at the new features
The feature keeps the same restrictions that applied to Zoom on Tesla vehicles. It only works while the car is parked; shifting into Drive disables the camera feed, according to the release notes. It is also limited to vehicles running Tesla’s AMD Ryzen infotainment hardware, meaning older Intel-based Model S and Model X units, along with early Model 3 and Model Y builds, don’t get it.
Turning the browser into a general entry point for the in-cabin camera, rather than routing everything through one local app, widens the number of third-party sites that can ask for access, even though Tesla’s permission prompt.
With the Summer update only days into its rollout, be sure to stay with us on TikTok and X to see the latest video demonstrations.
In a move echoing its earlier commitment to open innovation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced recently that the company plans to make the design and software of its Model S and Model X fully open source.
This follows the same approach Tesla took with its original Roadster, releasing all available design, engineering, and diagnostic materials in November 2023 so that “whatever we have, you now have.”
Just as Tesla made the original Roadster design & software open source, we plan to do the same with Model S & X
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2026
The Model S, introduced in 2012, was Tesla’s first mass-produced vehicle and a groundbreaking luxury electric sedan. It offered impressive range, rapid acceleration, and over-the-air software updates that redefined expectations for electric cars.
The Model X, launched in 2015, built on that foundation as a high-performance electric SUV notable for its distinctive falcon-wing doors, spacious interior, and advanced safety features. Both models served as flagships that helped establish Tesla as a leader in the EV industry and popularized long-range battery-electric vehicles.
Production of the Model S and Model X was wound down earlier in 2026, with manufacturing ending in the second quarter. Tesla redirected the Fremont factory space previously used for these vehicles toward higher-priority projects, including Optimus humanoid robots and the Cybercab autonomous vehicle.
By the time of Musk’s open-source announcement, custom orders had closed and only remaining inventory was available.
Open-sourcing the designs and software offers several clear advantages. Owners of these aging but still capable vehicles gain better access to technical documentation, diagnostic tools, and software resources, making independent repairs and modifications easier and more affordable.
Independent repair shops and third-party specialists can support the large existing fleet without relying solely on Tesla’s service network. Enthusiasts and engineers can study real-world implementations of Tesla’s battery, powertrain, and software systems, potentially accelerating broader industry progress in electric mobility.
The step aligns with Tesla’s 2014 patent pledge and its overall mission to advance sustainable transport by sharing hard-won knowledge rather than locking it behind proprietary walls.
By releasing these materials now that the models have left production, Tesla ensures continued support for its early adopters while freeing internal resources for future technologies. The open-source release of the original Roadster already enabled simulations, community projects, and deeper technical understanding.
Extending that practice to the Model S and Model X should deliver similar benefits on a larger scale, helping keep these influential vehicles relevant and repairable for years to come
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