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Starlink V2 Launching Next Year Will Power Tesla Cars To Eliminate Dead Zones

Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla vehicles would be connected to Starlink V2 satellites starting next year. This should eliminate dead zones and provide always-on connectivity around the globe.
Starlink V2 launching next year will power Tesla cars to eliminate dead zones 6 photos
Photo: SpaceX
Starlink V2 launching next year will power Tesla cars to eliminate dead zonesStarlink V2 launching next year will power Tesla cars to eliminate dead zonesStarlink V2 launching next year will power Tesla cars to eliminate dead zonesStarlink V2 launching next year will power Tesla cars to eliminate dead zonesStarlink V2 launching next year will power Tesla cars to eliminate dead zones
Tesla cars are always connected to the internet, thanks to a cellular connection. For owners with the Premium Connectivity package, the connection is fast enough to be used for streaming and gaming. This is great in areas with good coverage, but it doesn’t work where there’s no signal. This will be rectified once the Starlink V2 starts operation next year, as confirmed by Elon Musk.

Current Starlink services are too precious and need expensive antennas to access, two reasons why Tesla avoided connecting its cars to SpaceX’s satellite internet service. Instead, Tesla offers a cellular connection. This can be a basic tier, used for telemetry and whatever data Tesla exchanges with its fleet, or a premium tier, suitable for streaming and other data-intensive applications. To access the latter, owners need to activate the Premium Connectivity package, which is now at $9.99 a month or $99 annually.

Earlier this week, SpaceX and T-Mobile announced a partnership to make cellphones connect directly to the Starlink satellites. Starlink V2, as it was named, works “like having a cell tower in the sky,” as the T-Mobile boss explained. It’s a little more complicated than that, but that is beyond our goal to explain. Starlink V2 can potentially eliminate dead zones for millions of cell phone users. T-Mobile announced that the service would be free on most of its plans.

As you’d expect, this includes connected infotainment systems in vehicles, as long as they are compatible with the system. Most cellphones are, and probably many cars too, so a connectivity bonanza is upon us. As long as you do business with T-Mobile, that is. Or drive a Tesla, as confirmed by Elon Musk.

Asked on Twitter whether Starlink V2 will become available to users with the Premium Connectivity package, Musk replied with a laconic “Yes.” This is good news for Tesla owners, but given that the Starlink V2 does not offer a high-speed cellular connection, it’s more beneficial to Tesla than to Tesla owners. Indeed, Elon Musk spilled the beans and said that connection speed is limited to 2-4 Mbps per cell zone. This makes the Starlink V2 good for texts and voice calls, probably some telemetry, but nothing more.

We wonder why Tesla would keep this for the Premium tier customers only. It’s not offering any improvement in quality, only an emergency connection. And we see Musk did not say it would be exclusively provided to Premium Connectivity customers. He only confirmed it would be offered. Given the benefits that Tesla gets from having all its fleet permanently connected to a service it controls, we are all but sure that all Teslas will be linked to Starlink V2 in the future.

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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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