1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

Tesla owners now need to pay a monthly fee to unlock their car’s best features

By

We recently praised BMW’s decision to stop charging its customers an annual fee for Apple CarPlay, but in-car tech won’t remain free forever. Tesla has started monetizing connectivity by charging its customers an annual fee to use the best features it packs into its cars, and Digital Trends expects the automotive paywall will keep getting taller in the 2020s.

Data is expensive; add up how much you’ve given your cell carrier since 2010 if you don’t believe us. Tesla owners use a lot of it, because the company’s cars tend to be more connected than those made by rivals, and it’s done bearing the cost burden. If you bought your Tesla on or after July 1, 2019, the company will soon begin passing the data charges onto you.

Recommended Videos

Every Tesla regardless of how it’s configured now comes with what the company calls Standard Connectivity, according to Interesting Engineering. The bundle includes basic step-by-step navigation, music and media streaming via Bluetooth, plus over-the-air software updates when the car is connected to Wi-Fi. Buyers who want more need to step up to the Premium Connectivity package, which gives them access to the satellite view navigation system we love because it shows landmarks, live traffic data, and in-car video streaming from popular platforms like YouTube and Netflix. Some of these features were beamed to Tesla’s infotainment system wirelessly when the firm released its software version 10.0.

Tesla wants its customers to buy in, so it includes a free one-year trial with the purchase of a Model S, a Model X, and a Model 3 with what it calls its premium interior. Buyers who settle for a Model 3 with a standard or partial premium interior only get a 30-day free trial. There’s no word yet on what the Model Y will and won’t come standard with, but it’s closely related to the Model 3 so expect a very similar trim level hierarchy.

Unlocking Premium Connectivity costs $10 a month. And, while YouTube is evidently free if you’re willing to put up with endless ads, Netflix requires a monthly subscription as well. The cheapest plan starts at $9 a month. In other words, streaming your favorite car movie or television show in your Tesla will cost about $230 annually. Tesla doesn’t do cheap, so nearly all of its owners can effortless afford that, but it will be interesting to watch how they respond to being charged for data, and what it means for the automaker, its rivals, and tech companies like Apple moving forward. What’s certain is that the infotainment system will become one of the automotive industry’s most lucrative cash cows during the 2020s.

Digital Trends reached out to Tesla to learn more about its decision. We’ll update this story if we learn more.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Ronan Glon
Contributor
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
Don’t let the gimmicks fool you. The Ioniq 5 N is a serious track car

We’re finally getting to the fun part of automakers’ methodical quest to replicate their lineups with electric cars.

Performance versions of ordinary cars have been a staple of the auto industry for decades. But while we’ve already seen some variants of EVs boasting more power and more impressive stats — think Tesla Model S Plaid or Lucid Air Sapphire — the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is the first to truly apply that format to an EV.

Read more
The Maserati GranCabrio Folgore is one of the best-looking EVs yet

Maserati is adopting electrified vehicles with open arms, and while that could potentially signal an identity crisis for the luxury Italian brand, that’s probably a good thing in the long run.

The company recently took the wraps off of the new Maserati GranCabrio Folgore, which is essentially a convertible version of its already released GranTurismo Folgore electric car. The new EV is its third go at electrified vehicles so far, and it flew us out to Rimini, Italy, to witness the big reveal in person.

Read more
EV warranties aren’t like those for non-electric cars. Here’s what you should know

EVs are on the rise. With awesome new models finally rolling out and charging networks rapidly expanding, it feels like we're at the tipping point of electric cars being as mainstream as non-electric vehicles. But with a whole new type of vehicle come new challenges. One challenge is adapting to charging times. Another is paying closer to attention to range. And another, as some drivers are finding out, has to do with electric car warranties.

Turns out, the warranty that comes with electric cars isn't necessarily quite the same as the one that you might get with your non-electric car. If you really think about it, that's probably not all that surprising -- after all, while they can look the same, electric cars have a completely different makeup under the hood compared to their gas-powered cousins. But understanding an EV warranty could be the difference between winding up having to pay thousands for a battery replacement, or getting one repaired on the house.
It's not all new
Before diving into things like battery warranties, it's worth doing a quick primer on car warranties in general. EVs and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles usually come with two different warranties -- at least when they're bought new. First, there's the basic warranty (also known as bumper-to-bumper warranty), which covers every part of a car except for basic maintenance, usually for up to three years or 36,000 miles.

Read more