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Tesla update 2024.26 introduces Parental Controls with “Night Curfew,” speed limits, and more
Tesla is reportedly rolling out software update 2024.26 to its employees, and as per observations from the electric vehicle community, this particular update seems to include a number of interesting features. Most notable is Parental Controls, which arguably make Teslas the best vehicle for young drivers.
As per Tesla software trackers like Tessie and NotATeslaApp, update 2024.26 is currently rolling out to company employees. Provided that the update’s rollout to employees is successful, 2024.26 would likely be released to the company’s greater fleet of vehicles soon.
A number of features are quite notable in Tesla’s update 2024.26. Parental Controls, for one, include a “Night Curfew” feature that allows parents to receive notifications to their Tesla App when the vehicle is driven past a set curfew. It also allows users to set speed limits, set acceleration restrictions, and activate safety features. Tesla describes its new Parental Control features in 2024.26’s release notes.
“You can now enable Parental Controls with a PIN on your vehicle. Set a maximum speed limit and limit acceleration to Chill. Turn on safety features, such as Speed Limit Warning, Automatic Emergency Braking, and Forward Collision Warning. Configure Night Curfew to receive notifications through your Tesla mobile app when the vehicle is driven past curfew.
“Enable Parental Controls from the vehicle or the Tesla mobile app. Navigate to Controls > Safety > Parental Controls. Follow the instructions on screen and provide a PIN. Drivers can’t disable the controls or change the settings without re-entering the PIN.”
??? Tesla 2024.26 software update has been detected, with a lot of awesome new features!!
✅ YouTube Music
✅ Amazon Music
✅ Parental Control (set maximum speed and acceleration limits, turn on safety features, and configure Night Curfew to get notifications when the vehicle… pic.twitter.com/w9PJyCQetj— Tesla Newswire (@TeslaNewswire) July 3, 2024
While Teslas have long been shipped with Valet Mode, which restricts a car’s speed and acceleration and disables Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD), owners have long requested the EV maker to specifically release a “Teen Driver Mode” of sorts. Back in May, it seemed that the Tesla owners’ requests were being heard, with noted Tesla hacker @greentheonly stating that “restricted” driver profiles seem to be coming in a future update. This update appears to be 2024.26.
Apart from Parental Controls, Tesla’s software update 2024.26 also includes a number of novel features that would most likely be appreciated by electric vehicle owners. Following are the other features that were included in software update 2024.26.
YouTube Music
Listen to over 100 million songs with YouTube Music Premium. Access your Library to see all of your liked and added songs, playlists you created and artists and podcasts you subscribed to.
Requires Premium Connectivity or an active WiFi connection.
Amazon Music
Prime members get access to over 100 million songs in shuffle mode, All-Access playlists, plus the largest catalog of top ad-free podcasts. Upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited for full, on-demand access.
Requires Premium Connectivity or an active WiFi connection.
Navigate to Sub-Destinations
Now when you enter a navigation destination you can select a sub-destination (such as a specific terminal at the airport) to get more accurate routing details.
Weather Forecast and Air Quality
Your vehicle status bar now shows the local weather conditions alongside the temperature. When air quality is poor, your vehicle also shows an AQI symbol and index value.
Tap the temperature on your touchscreen to see details about your local weather forecast, such as the weather condition, highs and lows of the day, and the chance of rain. Requires Premium Connectivity.
Schedule Charge and Preconditioning
From the redesigned menu or the Tesla mobile app, schedule charging or preconditioning for your vehicle. You can select a location, schedule a one-off, repeat specific times or days of the week, and also control when charging starts and stops.
To schedule your charge and precondition, tap Controls > Schedule.
Other Updates
- The Battle of Polytopia – ∑∫ỹriȱŋ ₼idŋighţ Skin Update – Create graves, build crypts, and summon demons from the graves in the dark forests with the special ∑∫ỹriȱŋ ₼idŋighţ skin.
- Vampire Survivors – “Laborratory” Update – Discover the secrets to dark mysteries with a new character, power-up, achievements, stages, and weapons.
- A redesigned climate panel allows you to select your comfort settings with ease.
- When in Auto, the fan speed may now automatically lower to reduce the sound of ambient noise during a phone call.
- Zoom meetings now default to full-screen when your car is in Park. You can also log in with QR code.
- TeslaMic is now supported in conjunction with availability in the Tesla store.
Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.
Tesla analyst Gary Black of The Future Fund claims that the company is making a big mistake getting rid of the Model S and Model X. Instead, he believes another vehicle within the company’s lineup should be discontinued: the Cybertruck.
Black divested The Future Fund from all Tesla holdings last year, but he still covers the stock as an analyst as it falls in the technology and autonomy sectors, which he covers.
In a new comment on Thursday, Black said the Cybertruck should be the vehicle Tesla gets rid of due to the negatives it has drawn to the company.
The Cybertruck is also selling in an underwhelming fashion considering the production capacity Tesla has set aside for it. It’s worth noting it is still the best-selling electric pickup on the market, and it has outlasted other EV truck projects as other manufacturers are receding their efforts.
Black said:
“IMHO it’s a mistake to keep Tesla Cybertruck which has negative brand equity and sold 10,000 units last year, and discontinue S/X which have strong repeat brand loyalty and together sold 30K units and are highly profitable. Why not discontinue CT and covert S/X to be fully autonomous?”
IMHO it’s a mistake to keep $TSLA Cybertruck which has negative brand equity and sold 10,000 units last year, and discontinue S/X which have strong repeat brand loyalty and together sold 30K units and are highly profitable. Why not discontinue CT and covert S/X to be fully…
— Gary Black (@garyblack00) January 29, 2026
On Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla planned to transition Model S and Model X production lines at the Fremont Factory to handle manufacturing efforts of the Optimus Gen 3 robot.
Musk said that it was time to wind down the S and X programs “with an honorable discharge,” also noting that the two cars are not major contributors to Tesla’s mission any longer, as its automotive division is more focused on autonomy, which will be handled by Model 3, Model Y, and Cybercab.
Tesla begins Cybertruck deliveries in a new region for the first time
The news has drawn conflicting perspectives, with many Tesla fans upset about the decision, especially as it ends the production of the largest car in the company’s lineup. Tesla’s focus is on smaller ride-sharing vehicles, especially as the vast majority of rides consist of two or fewer passengers.
The S and X do not fit in these plans.
Nevertheless, the Cybertruck fits in Tesla’s future plans. Musk said the pickup will be needed for the transportation of local goods. Musk also said Cybertruck would be transitioned to an autonomous line.
In a groundbreaking new report from Reuters, SpaceX is reportedly discussing merger possibilities with xAI ahead of the space exploration company’s plans to IPO later this year, in what would be a blockbuster move.
The outlet said it would combine rockets and Starlink satellites, as well as the X social media platform and AI project Grok under one roof. The report cites “a person briefed on the matter and two recent company filings seen by Reuters.”
Musk, nor SpaceX or xAI, have commented on the report, so, as of now, it is unconfirmed.
With that being said, the proposed merger would bring shares of xAI in exchange for shares of SpaceX. Both companies were registered in Nevada to expedite the transaction, according to the report.
On January 21, both entities were registered in Nevada. The report continues:
“One of them, a limited liability company, lists SpaceX and Bret Johnsen, the company’s chief financial officer, as managing members, while the other lists Johnsen as the company’s only officer, the filings show.”
The source also stated that some xAI executives could be given the option to receive cash in lieu of SpaceX stock. No agreement has been reached, nothing has been signed, and the timing and structure, as well as other important details, have not been finalized.
SpaceX is valued at $800 billion and is the most valuable privately held company, while xAI is valued at $230 billion as of November. SpaceX could be going public later this year, as Musk has said as recently as December that the company would offer its stock publicly.
The plans could help move along plans for large-scale data centers in space, something Musk has discussed on several occasions over the past few months.
At the World Economic Forum last week, Musk said:
“It’s a no-brainer for building solar-powered AI data centers in space, because as I mentioned, it’s also very cold in space. The net effect is that the lowest cost place to put AI will be space and that will be true within two to three years, three at the latest.”
He also said on X that “the most important thing in the next 3-4 years is data centers in space.”
If the report is true and the two companies end up coming together, it would not be the first time Musk’s companies have ended up coming together. He used Tesla stock to purchase SolarCity back in 2016. Last year, X became part of xAI in a share swap.
Tesla has announced it has hit a major milestone with Full Self-Driving subscriptions, shortly after it said it would exclusively offer the suite without the option to purchase it outright.
Tesla announced on Wednesday during its Q4 Earnings Call for 2025 that it had officially eclipsed the one million subscription mark for its Full Self-Driving suite. This represented a 38 percent increase year-over-year.
This is up from the roughly 800,000 active subscriptions it reported last year. The company has seen significant increases in FSD adoption over the past few years, as in 2021, it reported just 400,000. In 2022, it was up to 500,000 and, one year later, it had eclipsed 600,000.
NEWS: For the first time, Tesla has revealed how many people are subscribed or have purchased FSD (Supervised).
Active FSD Subscriptions:
• 2025: 1.1 million
• 2024: 800K
• 2023: 600K
• 2022: 500K
• 2021: 400K pic.twitter.com/KVtnyANWcs— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) January 28, 2026
In mid-January, CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would transition away from giving the option to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, opting for the subscription program exclusively.
Musk said on X:
“Tesla will stop selling FSD after Feb 14. FSD will only be available as a monthly subscription thereafter.”
The move intends to streamline the Full Self-Driving purchase option, and gives Tesla more control over its revenue, and closes off the ability to buy it outright for a bargain when Musk has said its value could be close to $100,000 when it reaches full autonomy.
It also caters to Musk’s newest compensation package. One tranche requires Tesla to achieve 10 million active FSD subscriptions, and now that it has reached one million, it is already seeing some growth.
The strategy that Tesla will use to achieve this lofty goal is still under wraps. The most ideal solution would be to offer a less expensive version of the suite, which is not likely considering the company is increasing its capabilities, and it is becoming more robust.
Tesla is shifting FSD to a subscription-only model, confirms Elon Musk
Currently, Tesla’s FSD subscription price is $99 per month, but Musk said this price will increase, which seems counterintuitive to its goal of increasing the take rate. With that being said, it will be interesting to see what Tesla does to navigate growth while offering a robust FSD suite.
Tesla analyst claims another vehicle, not Model S and X, should be discontinued
SpaceX reportedly discussing merger with xAI ahead of blockbuster IPO
