Tesla is Now Offering an Ambient Lighting Retrofit Option in China (2024)

Tesla has begun to offer the ambient lighting feature as a retrofit for certain Model Y vehicles in China.

The kit, including the installation, should cost ¥1,299, or approximately $180 USD. Tesla will have to conduct the installation in service by Tesla technicians. In order for the ambient lighting features to show up in the vehicle’s software, Tesla enables a flag in the vehicle’s firmware.

Ambient Lighting and Dash

This ambient lighting kit, like the updated Model Y in China, only covers the dash and doesn’t flow into the doors, so it’s a little different than the built-in ambient lighting that’s being offered with the refreshed Model 3 Highland and Cybertruck. It also doesn’t have the distinctive curve in the dash that’s in the updated Model 3. This ambient lighting feature is located much lower – at the lower edge of the dash, rather than the top edge in the new Model 3.

In terms of software, this kit should have all the same software options that the Model 3 and Cybertruck have for ambient lighting, including color options, as well as the upcoming brightness control and Night Mode for ambient lighting.

The dashboard upgrade removes the classic Model Y’s wooden dash trim that’s available elsewhere and replaces it with an updated light-grey fabric trim, similar to what’s available in the Model 3 Highland. However, this configuration with the fabric and ambient lighting is only available in China.

Availability

For now, this kit is only available to Model Y vehicles in China – and only a certain subset of them. Only Model Y vehicles built between January 24, 2022, and October 01, 2023, are eligible for the retrofit.

We’re assuming that this may be chalked down to a hardware difference in the electrical harness. Model Y vehicles built in China past October 1st, 2023 all come with Ambient Lighting pre-installed, and this kit is the same upgrade.

We’re not quite sure if this kit will ever make its way out of China – however, many Model Y vehicles in Europe and Canada are built in Giga Shanghai, which means they could also have the same required harness, making them eligible for the update. We’ll wait and see if this retrofit hits other markets in the near future.

Tesla has issued an OTA recall globally, including approximately 1.85 million vehicles in the United States. This recall covers software failing to detect an unlatched hood before driving.

Vehicles began receiving the software update in June to correct the issue.

Hood Recall

An unlatched hood could come loose due to wind and become fully open, obstructing the driver’s view. This could increase the risk of a crash or other incident. The recall affects vehicles with a hood latch produced in China by Magna Closures Co Ltd., including 2021-2024 Model 3, Model S, and Model X vehicles and 2020-2024 Model Y vehicles.

The issue was first noticed in China, initiating latch hardware recovery and vehicle inspections. After an engineering study, Tesla decided to issue a voluntary recall. A few incidents were reported in North America and Europe with the hood sensors not detecting the hoods closing, but no accidents occurred.

On an interesting engineering note – Tesla noticed the deformation associated with the latch sensors failing to detect the open hood in China. North American and European vehicles, even with the same part, were less likely to have the issue.

OTA Update

The issue has already been fixed for most Tesla vehicles, with an OTA software update fixing the issue in software update 2024.20.3 back in June. The release notes however didn’t list the change.

Tesla’s OTA software updates are an excellent example of how modern safety recalls should function, with closely integrated technologies able to be fixed across nearly 2 million vehicles, with just a minor software update.

The update will now detect that the hood is unlatched or open and will alert the driver.

Owner notifications in the United States won’t be mailed out until September 22 – well after nearly every single Tesla has already received the corrective software update. In most other countries, the digital recall notification should arrive in your email inbox sometime soon.

The Model Y Juniper refresh has been rumored to be coming soon, and this time, user Abomb1997 on Reddit has claimed that the two images in this article are the refreshed Juniper.

Previously, we reported that the Model Y Juniper has a Front Bumper Camera, and is expected to be coming sometime in 2025.

Codename Juniper

The refreshed Model Y, codenamed “Juniper” won’t be arriving in 2024 according to Elon Musk, but we’ve started seeing what we expect to be prototype engineering vehicles. We’ve previously seen that front bumper camera, which is already on the Cybertruck and is also expected to arrive on the Model S and Model X.

There was a considerable amount of speculation on the refreshed Model 3 Highland coming with a bumper camera, but it didn’t arrive with one. It could be that the bumper camera upgrade is part of AI5 – the fifth-generation FSD/Autopilot hardware. Elon mentioned today that AI5 is expected to hit high-volume production in 18 months.

Light Bar

It looks like these two leaked images have some unique features – the first being a lightbar on the rear of the vehicle. This looks interesting and it’s something we haven’t seen in a Tesla design, well, excluding the front of the Cybertruck. This could indicate that Tesla is trending towards a Cyber-style with its vehicles, and we’re fans of that.

The second image is a picture of the interior with ambient lighting on the door, along with what looks to be perforated seats. That means the refreshed Model Y - if this is it – will have ventilated seats, a feature that’s on the 2024 Model 3 as well.

Ambient Lighting Changes

In terms of the ambient lighting and dash, it looks distinctly different enough from the refreshed Model 3 to not be the same vehicle. The light bar on the door seems to end midway down the door, rather than going almost to the edge of the door in the 2024 Model 3.

We’re excited to see these improvements, and there is probably so much more around the corner. If these leaks are accurate, it seems that Tesla may be looking to make the refreshed Model Y more than just a larger Model 3, or they may be taking the opportunity to add new features to the Model Y first.

The refreshed Model Y Juniper is going to be an even better version of the best-selling vehicle in the world.