This Week in Tesla: First Megacharger Deployed, Tesla App Update Hints at Features to Come

First Megacharger Deployed -

Tesla was recently spotted deploying their first Megacharger for the upcoming Tesla Semi at its Gigafactory Nevada. The purpose of the Megacharger is to supply one megawatt of power, while taking advantage of low electricity rates. As can be seen, each stall is much longer than a typical supercharger, likely to accommodate long trucks with trailers. With the Semi delayed until next year, we likely will not see the Megacharger open to the public any time soon, but it will be cool to see it when it does, and hopefully we will get some Megachargers installed in the Northeast to support electric trucking. 

Tesla App Update Hints at Features to Come -

Tesla has just released a new mobile app update (v4.2) that adds iOS widgets, and some new Powerwall features. More interestingly, the update hints that Tesla is progressing towards giving owners a live view of their car’s cameras as has been heavily requested. Here are the official release notes for the update: 

• Improvements to larger iOS widget to include quick controls
• Solar and Powerwall supports Tesla-maintained utility rate plans. Utility rate plans now support seasons, multiple peak periods, and buy & sell energy prices
• Powerwall’s Time-Based Control mode supports the updated rate plans to more accurately use energy from Powerwall when power is expensive and charge from other sources when power is at its cheapest

This tweet from Teslascope shows that the user interface for the live Sentry Mode viewer is already in the app, just not activated yet. Hopefully this long awaited feature is released soon, and owners can add one extra level of safety to what already are the safest cars ever produced.