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Tesla's latest Model S update adds calendar, lets you start car with your phone

Tesla's latest Model S update adds calendar, lets you start car with your phone

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Model S owners have been waiting for it, and Tesla's finally delivering: version 6.0 of the luxury EV's firmware is now being pushed out to drivers via an over-the-air update. The new update adds a slew of pretty nice features including traffic-based navigation, which — assuming it works well — should help Model S customers steer clear of delays. The system incorporates data from other Model S drivers to assess traffic conditions. Further, the car's software will now analyze traffic you'll face during your daily work commute before you even leave the driveway and may suggest alternate routes accordingly.

There's also a new calendar that appears on the Model S touch panel and pulls in appointments from your smartphone. And If you've got addresses attached to your meeting schedule, you can just tap on an entry to get navigation directions there. One of the neatest features is something we've known about for some time now; with its latest mobile app update, Tesla gave customers the ability to start up Model S using only a smartphone and password. Now, the firmware has been updated to support this functionality on the car's end.

Both smartphone startup and the calendar require the most recent version of Tesla's app for Android and iOS. Other improvements include location-based air suspension, which allows the Model S to remember areas where you've previously needed high ride heights and adjust the air suspension automatically whenever you're driving over those roads (or tackling a difficult driveway) again. You can also give the Model S its own nickname, and a new power management option can put the car into energy saving mode every night.