Tesla has released its latest update for the iOS mobile app this week, including a useful feature that makes it easier to access key car controls from an iPhone.
On Friday, Tesla launched mobile app v4.38.0 on iOS, including a feature that lets owners add certain car commands to the control center on their iPhone. Owners will now be able to access controls such as lock, climate control, charging port access, honk, and even fart from the convenience of the swipe-up control center menu.
The menu can also access commands for flashing your headlights, opening and closing your frunk or trunk, though it’s only available for those using iOS 18. You can see a screenshot a few of the control center commands for Tesla’s vehicles below, as shared over the weekend by Not a Tesla App.
Credit: Not a Tesla App
Along with the ability to add certain commands to the iPhone control center, Tesla mobile app v4.38.0 includes a useful Energy Power Meter feature that makes it easier for users to monitor and manage the system’s power limits when using the Powerwall or Powershare off-grid.
As noted by Tesla mobile app engineer Alex Guichet on X, the metering feature should help owners with smaller systems avoid overloading them, as it makes it easy to see how many backup hours the system has left, along with best practices during outages.
Credit: Alex Guichet | X
Credit: Alex Guichet | X
Credit: Alex Guichet | X
Tesla releases mobile app updates fairly regularly, often adding new features or simple improvements to existing ones. As just a few recent examples, Tesla added home energy demos to the iOS app earlier this year, and it added a range of destination filtering options in an update over the summer. In August, the company also hinted at the release of Autopark in a mobile update alongside a simple release notes button that hadn’t been there before.
In May, J.D. Power ranked Tesla’s mobile app the best out of any OEM, due to the overall ease of use and experience for owners of the company’s vehicles. Tesla has been developing its mobile app since the early days of the Model S and X, and it’s focused more heavily on software than any other manufacturer in the industry.
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What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
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Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
