Photo: Tesla | Edited
Tesla advertised the refreshed Model S and Model X with a rear screen on which you can play games. However, a potential customer who test-drove a Tesla Model S discovered that the feature doesn't exist in reality. This makes the $100K sedan a bummer for families with kids.
One of the most popular car options for families with kids is the entertainment screens in the back. They help keep the offspring busy during long road trips so that everyone keeps a smile on when arriving at the destination. Usually, these systems have a dedicated audio amplifier, allowing the rear passengers to watch movies without disrupting the music in front. They can even connect to Bluetooth headphones for more privacy.
When Tesla launched the refreshed Model S and Model X in 2021, many were blown away by the integrated rear screen that promised gaming abilities. The new infotainment system featuring a state-of-the-art Ryzen chip was so powerful that Tesla advertised it with the ability to play Steam games. Not only that, but the official Tesla website claims that you can "play from any seat with wireless controller and headset compatibility." It turns out this is only true as long as you use the main infotainment screen only, as a prospective Model S buyer learned.
Even so, there are severe limitations. Despite the advertised "10 teraflops of processing power," Tesla's mighty infotainment system can only handle one audio stream. This means that it's either your kids watching cartoons in the back or you listening to music in the front because the Tesla can't do both at the same time. To add insult to injury, the promised support for Bluetooth headphones is still missing, so the adults in front have to hear the Netflix movie played by the kids in the rear.
Tesla Model S and Model X press photos clearly show a game being played on the rear screen while the front screen displays a different image, but the reality is different. The rear screen can only show a few pre-installed streaming apps, such as Netflix and YouTube, but no games. After speaking with the sales rep, the prospective Model S buyer learned that Tesla has no timeline for offering this feature in the future.
On the plus side, you can play games on the front screen and do it "from any seat" as long as you have a wireless controller and a line of sight to the center display. But this cannot be done while the vehicle is moving, as you can imagine, or the folks at the NHTSA would freak out. Still, the Tesla Model S infotainment system appears to have insufficient memory or lousy memory management because games are quickly purged from memory if you minimize them. After just a few seconds, if you return to the app, the game will restart, which is a bummer.
The potential Tesla customer shared their disappointment on Reddit, where others were surprised to learn that a $100K Tesla cannot do things that a Chrysler Pacifica did 20 years ago. After all, Tesla builds the most advanced electric vehicles on the planet. It should be able to offer a more capable infotainment system so that the whole family benefits.
When Tesla launched the refreshed Model S and Model X in 2021, many were blown away by the integrated rear screen that promised gaming abilities. The new infotainment system featuring a state-of-the-art Ryzen chip was so powerful that Tesla advertised it with the ability to play Steam games. Not only that, but the official Tesla website claims that you can "play from any seat with wireless controller and headset compatibility." It turns out this is only true as long as you use the main infotainment screen only, as a prospective Model S buyer learned.
Even so, there are severe limitations. Despite the advertised "10 teraflops of processing power," Tesla's mighty infotainment system can only handle one audio stream. This means that it's either your kids watching cartoons in the back or you listening to music in the front because the Tesla can't do both at the same time. To add insult to injury, the promised support for Bluetooth headphones is still missing, so the adults in front have to hear the Netflix movie played by the kids in the rear.
Tesla Model S and Model X press photos clearly show a game being played on the rear screen while the front screen displays a different image, but the reality is different. The rear screen can only show a few pre-installed streaming apps, such as Netflix and YouTube, but no games. After speaking with the sales rep, the prospective Model S buyer learned that Tesla has no timeline for offering this feature in the future.
On the plus side, you can play games on the front screen and do it "from any seat" as long as you have a wireless controller and a line of sight to the center display. But this cannot be done while the vehicle is moving, as you can imagine, or the folks at the NHTSA would freak out. Still, the Tesla Model S infotainment system appears to have insufficient memory or lousy memory management because games are quickly purged from memory if you minimize them. After just a few seconds, if you return to the app, the game will restart, which is a bummer.
The potential Tesla customer shared their disappointment on Reddit, where others were surprised to learn that a $100K Tesla cannot do things that a Chrysler Pacifica did 20 years ago. After all, Tesla builds the most advanced electric vehicles on the planet. It should be able to offer a more capable infotainment system so that the whole family benefits.
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