News
Tesla to allow service requests with ‘1 or 2 taps’ in mobile app, says Elon Musk
Earlier this year, Elon Musk noted that Tesla owners would be able to request service for their vehicles through their smartphones. During his announcements then, Musk stated that the higher operating costs of the smartphone-based service requests would be “worth doing” for the company, considering that it would result in better “owner happiness.”
A recent set of tweets from Elon Musk provided a number of additional details for the company’s upcoming mobile app-based service request system. For one, Musk stated that the company is “adding functionality to the Tesla phone app allowing owners to request service for top issues” with just one or two taps. With such a system in place, owners of Tesla’s electric cars would soon be able to request service in a manner that is convenient and quick.
Adding functionality to Tesla phone app allowing owners to request service for top issues with 1 or 2 taps https://t.co/zb7A6fMROe
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2018
Musk further noted that in the event of a breakdown or accident (assuming that there are no injuries, of course), Tesla Service would arrive at the scene with a top-of-the-line loaner vehicle that’s ready for use. While a vehicle is being repaired, Tesla could also push data to the mobile app that would allow owners to view updates on the progress of their electric cars’ diagnosis.
Yeah, good idea. We have that state internally, so can push data to phone app.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2018
With the ongoing production ramp of the Model 3, Tesla is now at a point where the size of its fleet is bound to get larger over the coming quarters and years. The release of high-volume vehicles like the Model Y, and possibly even the Tesla pickup truck, as well as the arrival of other vehicles like the Tesla Roadster and the Tesla Semi, would all but increase the number of the company’s electric cars on the road.
The increasing number of Tesla electric cars highlight the need to deploy a service system that can handle the needs and demands of a large fleet. Tesla is already preparing for such a scenario by improving its service capabilities, such as the launch of in-house body shops that are capable of conducting minor bodywork repair, as well as the ramp of its mobile service vehicles. Tesla mentioned these improvements specifically in the company’s Q3 2018 Update Letter.
“We expect our Services and Other business to continue to grow mainly due to used car sales volumes. We will increase investment in our service infrastructure in North America through (the) deployment of new service locations and additional mobile service vehicles.”
Tesla’s Support Page notes that Roadside Assistance services are offered to owners as a way to “minimize inconvenience” in the event that a vehicle becomes inoperable. The service, which is available 24/7, is provided for the first four years of ownership, or 50,000 miles. Depending on the car, additional coverage for the battery and drive unit are also offered with a separate policy for 8 years or 125,000 miles, or 8 years and unlimited miles.
Tesla Roadside Assistance currently offers transportation services of up to 500 miles to the nearest Service Center in the event of a warrantable breakdown that renders the vehicle undrivable. Flat tire services, aid in the event that an owner is locked outside the car, and assistance in the event that an electric car runs out of range, are also offered as part of Tesla’s Roadside Assistance services.
Tesla stands as one of the carmakers in the market today with a high Net Promoter Score. IndexNPS, which tracks the NPS scores of companies, notes that Tesla’s score of 96 is higher than legacy carmakers like Porsche, Audi, Toyota, Subaru, Honda, Hyundai and GMC, whose scores range between 73 and 84. One of the reasons behind these is the company’s proactive approach to improving its services, as evidenced by the expansion of its mobile service fleet, as well as its mobile app’s upcoming capability to conduct service requests.
News
Anti-Tesla union leader ditches X, urges use of Threads instead
Tesla Sweden and IF Metall have been engaged in a bitter dispute for over two years now.
Marie Nilsson, chair of Sweden’s IF Metall union and a prominent critic of Tesla, has left X and is urging audiences to follow the union on Meta’s Threads instead.
Tesla Sweden and IF Metall have been engaged in a bitter dispute for over two years now.
Anti-Tesla union leader exits X
In a comment to Dagens Arbete (DA), Nilsson noted that her exit from X is not formally tied to IF Metall’s long-running labor dispute with Tesla Sweden. Still, she stated that her departure is affected by changes to the platform under Elon Musk’s leadership.
“We have stayed because many journalists pick up news there. But as more and more people have left X, we have felt that the standard has now been reached on that platform,” she said.
Jesper Pettersson, press officer at IF Metall, highlighted that the union’s departure from X is only indirectly linked to Tesla Sweden and Elon Musk. “Indirectly it does, since there is a lot of evidence that his ownership has caused the change in the platform to be so significant.
“We have nevertheless assessed that the platform had value for reaching journalists, politicians and other opinion leaders. But it is a microscopic proportion of the public and our members who are there, and now that value has decreased,” Petterson added.
IF Metall sees Threads as an X alternative
After leaving X, IF Metall has begun using Threads, Meta’s alternative to the social media platform. The union described the move as experimental, noting that it is still evaluating how effective the platform will be for outreach and visibility.
Pettersson acknowledged that Meta also does not operate under Sweden’s collective bargaining model, but said the union sees little alternative if it wants to remain visible online.
“In a perfect world, all large international companies would be supporters of the Swedish model when they come here. But unfortunately, the reality is not like that. If we are to be visible at all in this social media world, we have to play by the rules of the game. The alternative would be to become completely invisible, and that would not benefit our members,” he said.
Despite many recent rumors and various reports, Elon Musk confirmed today that SpaceX is not developing a phone based on Starlink, not once, but twice.
Today’s report from Reuters cited people familiar with the matter and stated internal discussions have seen SpaceX executives mulling the idea of building a mobile device that would connect directly to the Starlink satellite constellation.
Musk did state in late January that SpaceX developing a phone was “not out of the question at some point.” However, He also said it would have to be a major difference from current phones, and would be optimized “purely for running max performance/watt neural nets.”
Not out of the question at some point. It would be a very different device than current phones. Optimized purely for running max performance/watt neural nets.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 30, 2026
While Musk said it was not out of the question “at some point,” that does not mean it is currently a project SpaceX is working on. The CEO reaffirmed this point twice on X this afternoon.
Musk said, “Reuters lies relentlessly,” in one post. In the next, he explicitly stated, “We are not developing a phone.”
Reuters lies relentlessly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2026
We are not developing a phone
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2026
Musk has basically always maintained that SpaceX has too many things going on, denying that a phone would be in the realm of upcoming projects. There are too many things in the works for Musk’s space exploration company, most notably the recent merger with xAI.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
A Starlink phone would be an excellent idea, especially considering that SpaceX operates 9,500 satellites, serving over 9 million users worldwide. 650 of those satellites are dedicated to the company’s direct-to-device initiative, which provides cellular coverage on a global scale.
Nevertheless, there is the potential that the Starlink phone eventually become a project SpaceX works on. However, it is not currently in the scope of what the company needs to develop, so things are more focused on that as of right now.
Tesla has added a notable improvement to its Dashcam feature after complaints from owners have pushed the company to make a drastic change.
Perhaps one of the biggest frustrations that Tesla owners have communicated regarding the Dashcam feature is the lack of ability to retain any more than 60 minutes of driving footage before it is overwritten.
It does not matter what size USB jump drive is plugged into the vehicle. 60 minutes is all it will hold until new footage takes over the old. This can cause some issues, especially if you were saving an impressive clip of Full Self-Driving or an incident on the road, which could be lost if new footage was recorded.
This has now been changed, as Tesla has shown in the Release Notes for an upcoming Software Update in China. It will likely expand to the U.S. market in the coming weeks, and was first noticed by NotaTeslaApp.
The release notes state:
“Dashcam Dynamic Recording Duration – The dashcam dynamically adjusts the recording duration based on the available storage capacity of the connected USB drive. For example, with a 128 GB USB drive, the maximum recording duration is approximately 3 hours; with a 1 TB or larger USB drive, it can reach up to 24 hours. This ensures that as much video as possible is retained for review before it gets overwritten.”
Tesla Adds Dynamic Recording
Instead of having a 60-minute cap, the new system will now go off the memory in the USB drive. This means with:
- 128 GB Jump Drive – Up to Three Hours of Rolling Footage
- 1TB Jump Drive – Up to 24 Hours of Rolling Footage
This is dependent on the amount of storage available on the jump drive, meaning that if there are other things saved on it, it will take away from the amount of footage that can be retained.
While the feature is just now making its way to employees in China, it will likely be at least several weeks before it makes its way to the U.S., but owners should definitely expect it in the coming months.
It will be a welcome feature, especially as there will now be more customization to the number of clips and their duration that can be stored.
Anti-Tesla union leader ditches X, urges use of Threads instead
Elon Musk confirms SpaceX is not developing a phone
