Snapshot
- Tesla Oz and NZ owners given free 30-day Enhanced Autopilot.
- Brings additional safety assist features, usually a $5100 option
- It’s not the first time Tesla has enabled capabilities without requiring a software update.
Tesla has given Australian and New Zealand owners a free 30-day Autopilot trial, perfect for holiday road trips.
On top of the basic Autopilot safety assistance suite standard on all Tesla electric vehicles – including camera-based auto emergency braking, blind spot alert and camera views, adaptive cruise control and lane centering assist – Enhanced Autopilot brings:
| Navigate on Autopilot beta (which suggests lane changes and assists with steering toward highway off-ramps); |
| automatic lane change assist; |
| automatic parking; |
| Summons (remote forward and backward via mobile app); And |
| Smart Summons (car goes to you remotely via mobile app) |
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Enhanced Autopilot is normally a $5100 option and can be purchased through the Tesla mobile app after taking delivery as an over-the-air (OTA) software upgrade.
A holiday trial is now available for Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X owners who haven’t previously purchased Enhanced Autopilot or ‘Full Self-Driving Capability’ (currently only for traffic lights stops and stops markings when in use.Adaptive Cruise Control).
It comes after the American electric car brand released its annual Christmas OTA software update for 2022, which includes live remote interior monitoring, a re-introduced driver instrument card for the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV. Features like auto turn off indicators after lane change have been added. More.
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But, this isn’t the first time Tesla has enabled new capabilities – without requiring a software update download.
During the 2019 Australian bushfires, Tesla remotely unlocked an additional 15kWh battery capacity for older Tesla Model S 60 and 60D to help owners escape with greater driving range in New South Wales and Queensland.
These two entry-level electric sedan variants have 60kWh of usable energy in software, despite having a standard 75kWh battery pack.