Elon Musk says Tesla automobiles will connect with Starlink’s new cellular-broadcasting satellites

Elon Musk simply introduced that the upcoming second-generation Starlink web satellites embrace mobile antennas for connections with telephones from T-Mobile within the US, and probably different operators as nicely.

Following the occasion, he responded to tweets asking whether or not the connections will work with Tesla’s electrical automobiles, which at the moment connect with AT&T’s LTE community. According to Musk, the reply is sure.

He didn’t go into element about the way it will all work or how a lot information homeowners might count on to entry from the connections once they’re someplace out of attain by terrestrial cellphone towers. Musk stated throughout the occasion that the satellite-to-cellular protection from Starlink shall be able to offering a 2 – 4 Mbps hyperlink, which is shared by everybody within the satellite tv for pc’s protection space. That doubtless gained’t be sufficient for some premium connectivity options, like live-streaming video out of your automobile’s cameras. Still, a connection that works in any respect, “anywhere you have a view of the sky,” is best than no connection, probably.

In a remark to The Verge, LightShed Partners analyst Walter Piecyk identified that enabling entry might work equally to an MVNO like Google Fi, which makes use of a number of carriers as its spine, or that Musk might change the service deal away from AT&T sooner or later.

Over the years, Tesla has scaled again the connectivity packages that come commonplace with its electrical automobiles. As defined right here, automobiles bought earlier than the tip of June 2018 embrace Premium Connectivity at no additional cost, whereas automobiles bought earlier than July twentieth, 2022, all embrace no less than the usual connectivity bundle with in-car maps and navigation. Those connections can be found for the lifetime of the automobile, “excluding retrofits or upgrades required for any features or services externally supplied to the vehicle.” Adding the Premium Connectivity subscription to a Tesla that doesn’t have it at the moment prices $9.99 per thirty days, or $99 yearly.

The latest shutdown of AT&T’s 3G community confirmed how that may come into play, as older automobiles constructed previous to mid-2015 with out an LTE-capable modem might have required a $200 upgrade to stay connected.

For new or used electrical automobiles bought immediately from Tesla, they “will have Standard Connectivity for the remainder of the eight years from the first day your vehicle was delivered as new by Tesla, or the first day it is put into service (for example used as a demonstrator or service vehicle), whichever comes first.”

Update August twenty fifth, 11PM ET: Added further details about Tesla’s connectivity packages.