Tesla’s infotainment system is already the market leader for its functionality and features, and Elon Musk wants this to remain so well into the future.
Speaking with reporters during Tesla’s most recent earnings call, Musk said that the electric automaker’s goal is to have an infotainment system that provides “the most amount of fun you can have in a car.”
Tesla has long offered unique infotainment features not found elsewhere on the market. For example, Easter eggs such as a sketch pad, romance mode, a gaming mode, and the ability to ‘drive’ the vehicle on Mars are popular across Tesla’s ownership base. More recently, the marque added a ‘Caraoke’ mode while also giving Model S, Model X, and Model 3 owners the ability to connect their Netflix, Hulu and YouTube accounts to the infotainment display when the vehicle is in park.
Also Read: Tesla Infotainment Could Eventually Support Third-Party Apps
In a bid to catch up with Tesla, many other car manufacturers are working on making their infotainment systems more diverse and fun to use, content strategist at Edmunds, Will Kaufman, revealed to CNBC.
“Especially the luxury automakers — they are definitely looking at ways to make their offerings something that stands out from competitors,” he said. “There’s no sense in selling a car with a DVD player for the backseat anymore. Whose kid in this day and age would really want that?”
One way car manufacturers are looking to improve their infotainment systems is to partner with large technology company’s like Google, Apple and Amazon to make for a more seamless experience.
Moving forward, carmakers may start to look at ways to monetize their infotainment systems. Musk says Tesla has yet to do this, but it’s thought that, at some stage, this practice may become commonplace.
