Apple Music Audio Quality in Your Tesla Compared to Spotify and Tidal

Apple Music may be available in Tesla’s new holiday update, but don’t expect the lossless audio quality that Apple Music subscribers are enjoying… at least not yet.

Tesla owner and software developer Dan Berkland We recently ran some tests on the audio quality of in-car streaming from Tesla’s in-car streaming service TIDAL, Spotify, and now Apple Music.

Burkland had previously tested TIDAL on different Tesla software versions, but chose to run the tests again due to Tesla’s ever-changing software and the rollout of holiday updates.

Setup and songs used for testing

I was able to connect the Model Y to my home WiFi network and use DHCP reservations to force the vehicle to use a specific IP address. Next, I installed ntopng on the OPNsense firewall to monitor vehicle traffic statistics. After zeroing out Model Y’s host stats, we tested a total of nine songs, including Prince’s “Purple Rain,” Boston’s “Foreplay,” and Red He Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.”

result

Burkland’s test results came to the conclusion that TIDAL still offers the best listening experience. TIDAL had an average bitrate of ~1165 kbps. TIDAL has always stood for the highest quality audio streaming experience, so this is not too shocking.

Surprisingly, Spotify’s sound quality overtook Apple Music to take second place. Burkland’s tests show that Spotify streaming has an average bitrate of ~157 kbps, while Apple Music has a sub-par ~118 kbps.

Burkland added that he believes Apple Music is limiting the bitrate of the in-car app, but hopes a future update to Tesla’s software will fix this. Enabling lossless streaming will allow TIDAL to compete in high-fidelity streaming via in-car apps.

Check out some of Dan’s test results below, or see his Reddit thread for the full list.

Other Tesla owners are running similar tests

Reddit user u/OverlyOptimisticNerd ran a similar test with a slightly different configuration. I used an iPhone 14 as my mobile hotspot, Hotspot Monitor Data Usage from Apple’s App Store, and a 2019 Model 3 running version 2022.44.25.1.

During the test, they observed the same pattern for all songs, citing a large amount of data creeping in at the start of the test and then slowly trickling in. It seems to match the HE-AAC codec.

u/OverlyOptimisticNerd wrote: “On average, we saw ~2MB per track, ~1.7MB during the first burst, and ~0.3MB for the entire track. – Consistent with AAC standards.”

It’s important to note that Apple Music may have the lowest average bitrate among all three services we tested, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it has the lowest quality. Quality comes down to many factors. Some of them are the bitrate used, whether it is variable, and the efficiency of the codec.

Apple Music’s HE-ACC codec is optimized for low-bandwidth applications, so it performs better than ACC-encoded files in low-bandwidth situations. In the real world, Tesla’s Apple Music should be very similar to streaming music from Spotify, but it’s not as good as TIDAL’s offering.

According to Recurrent’s research, Tesla is one of the most efficient electric vehicles in cold weather.

Cold weather often affects the range of electric vehicles for two reasons. When it gets cold, the battery chemistry changes slightly. Therefore the range is reduced. Shorter range could mean some owners may have to change their trips during the winter months compared to the warmer months.

electric car heater

However, the biggest contributor to reducing the cruising range of electric vehicles is heat generation. Electric vehicles are much more efficient than internal combustion engines, so they produce very little extra heat. Heat is a by-product of gasoline engines and can be pumped into the cabin to keep passengers warm, but electric vehicles must produce additional heat to keep passengers comfortable.

resistance heater

This is typically done in two ways: electrical resistance heating or heat pumps. A resistance heater is like a space heater that you can use at home. A current is passed through the wire to heat it up and release the heat into the room.

heat pump

Heat pumps are more complex and very different from resistive heaters, but they are often more efficient. They work by using outside air to warm the refrigerant and then pressurizing it to raise the temperature of the refrigerant. The refrigerant then flows inside the cabin through which the vehicle’s air passes and is heated before entering the cabin. Heat pumps are much more efficient than electric heaters, but their efficiency decreases the colder it gets outside.

Which tesla has a heat pump

All new Teslas use heat pumps instead of resistance heaters due to their improved efficiency. All redesigned Model S and Model X vehicles use heat pumps, as do all Model Y vehicles. However, some 2017-2020 Model 3 vehicles use resistance heaters to heat the cabin, which is less efficient in cold weather.

Check heater type

If you’re not sure if your Tesla has a heat pump or a resistance heater, look in your car’s software.[コントロール]>[ソフトウェア]Go to[追加の車両情報]Tap to view the vehicle heater type.

With Tesla’s unique heating system and its efficiency, Recurrent found that Tesla cars hold the best range among electric vehicles. So Tesla owners may not have to make many changes to their commute. They can manage this because they use state-of-the-art battery technology and localized heating with heated seats, steering wheels, cabins and advanced heat pumps.

A new study published by Recurrent pulled data from 7,000 electric vehicles from 14 of the most popular brands, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, and Tesla. Data for each vehicle was collected via on-board telemetry and real-time usage. Vehicles were used in temperatures below freezing (20-30 degrees Fahrenheit) and warm temperatures of 70 degrees Fahrenheit. When temperatures drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, heat pump efficiency begins to decline.

According to Recurrent’s findings, Tesla’s long range AWD Model Y and Model X 75D lost 15%, the long range Model 3 with a 75kWh battery lost 17%, and the Model S P100D lost 19%. Compared to the 32%-slumped Chevrolet Volt and his 30%-slumped Ford Mustang Mach E, Tesla’s vehicle looks well-equipped for the cold weather. Unfortunately Recurrent tested an older Tesla without a heat pump. So if Recurrent had used the new model, Tesla’s numbers would have been even better. Still, Tesla has had some of the best performing vehicles.

Comparison of heat pumps and resistance heaters in Tesla

As Tesla continues to improve its vehicles, battery supplier CATL recently announced that it has produced a battery that offers a range of 430 miles.

After gaining experience through Virtual Power Plants (VPP), Tesla launched “Tesla Electric” and became an electricity retailer through Powerwall infrastructure.

Tesla’s virtual power plants are a series of connected distributed energy storage systems that work together to power the grid, avoiding the dirty and costly peak power plants that help stabilize the grid. Essentially, when the grid is strained, Tesla’s VPP kicks in and draws power from Powerwall owners enrolled in the program to avoid brownouts and give Tesla owners extra cash. You can get

However, Tesla Electric differs from Tesla’s VPP in that it is intended to manage surplus power. Tesla Electric is a power plan for Powerwall owners, including owners in Texas. With Tesla Electric, Powerwall automatically decides when to use electricity and when to sell it to the grid, maximizing the owner’s profit.

The service brings Tesla’s expertise in energy markets and energy storage to the home, adding more renewable power to the grid with Powerwall storage while maximizing the value of solar energy.

Tesla Electric extracts more value from the energy you send to the grid using an algorithm that monitors electricity prices in your area and tells Powerwall to sell energy when prices are at their highest. .

Unlike other solar buy-back plans that are “buyed” when excess solar is abundant and cheap, Tesla Electric allows customers to sell energy when demand is high and value is high.

Solar and Powerwall can help you and your community accelerate the transition to sustainable energy. When importing electricity from the grid, Tesla Electric offsets its usage with energy from 100% renewable sources.

“Working with other Tesla Electric members, we can maximize the value of our solar energy while adding renewable power to the grid with Powerwall storage.”

The Tesla Electric is currently only available in Texas, with Tesla looking to support other states in the future. To qualify, you must have a Tesla Solar and at least one of his Powerwalls and live in an area with retail options in Texas.