It will soon be possible to catch up on your favourite Netflix shows and check out YouTube videos live-streamed on the in-car screen of your Tesla. Announcement of the new feature came via a Twitter post by company boss Elon Musk.
To be clear, it’s a bit premature to imagine yourself catching up on missed episodes while you’re speeding along on the highway. Musk specified that at the outset, the feature will only be usable when the vehicle is immobile. He did, however, say that as soon as self-driving cars get the go-ahead from regulators and governments, occupants of a Tesla will be able to watch video feeds on their screen while the vehicle is in motion.
And it won’t be just any two-bit feed – Tesla is promising a cinema-like experience thanks to comfortable seats and a premium audio system.
Ironically, the company’s lower-priced models will be the ones to offer the best viewing experience. And that’s because the next editions of the Model 3 and Model Y will get horizontally arrayed screens. The Model S and Model Y feature multimedia screens in a vertical position, making video-watching less than optimal.
To some, this is a supremely interesting new feature; to others, it represents a dangerous additional distraction. Ultimately, as always with these kinds of new systems, the responsibility will lie with users.