Tesla strangely brings back premium connectivity to some owners

Tesla has strangely brought back premium connectivity to some Model 3 owners who are technically not supposed to have it at this point.

The situation is still unclear.

For the longest time, all of Tesla’s vehicles came with internet connectivity included — something that is often a premium option in the industry.

The automaker made extensive use of that connectivity in many of its features — including driver assist features to help develop its Autopilot system.

In 2018, Tesla indicated that it would be introducing different tiers of connectivity with the more data-heavy features moving to paid subscription service:

• Standard Connectivity offers basic maps & navigation, music & media over Bluetooth® and software updates over Wi-Fi. Note: Important safety updates will continue to be available over the car’s cellular connection.
• Premium Connectivity adds satellite-view maps with live traffic visualization, in-car streaming music & media, an internet browser (for Model S and Model X), and over-the-air software updates via Wi-Fi and cellular.

The result is that all Tesla vehicles ordered before July 2018 still have full connectivity for free and vehicles produced after have to pay $10 per month for the premium connectivity features after a period of time.

However, several Tesla owners who had to pay for premium connectivity are now reporting that Tesla changed their tier over the last few days.

Here Tesla added a premium connectivity subscription to a 2019 Model 3 owner who wasn’t paying for it:

Tesla appears to have updated its eligibility requirements for premium connectivity, but it’s unclear to what extent.

Three Tesla owners in the same situation have reached out to Electrek over the last two days.

Like many recent updates from Tesla, it’s hard to tell who it applies to, but all three owners were from Canada.

If Tesla has changed your premium connectivity, please let us know where and on what vehicle in the comment section below.

Again, normally, we would ask Tesla’s PR department to clarify the situation, but as we recently reported, it has been disbanded and it’s now hard to understand Tesla’s moves at times.