Tesla recently added glovebox USB ports with the introduction of the refresh 2021 Model 3. The new feature has also now appeared on recent builds of the Model Y, and is meant in part to provide an extra layer of security to prevent thieves from stealing valuable footage of them breaking into your car when it is paired with the glovebox PIN feature.
The goods news for those owners is that not only is the port more secure, it is also much faster at transferring data.
Tesla hacker @greentheonly revealed this afternoon that the new ports are USB 3.0, sharing two snippets of a schematic confirming the news.
USB 3.0 in your glovebox! https://t.co/ox4kuGZo51
— Drive Tesla 🇨🇦 #FSDBetaCanada (@DriveTeslaca) December 15, 2020
According to green, the main advantage of the new high-speed USB port is better quality video stream from the car’s built-in cameras. Although the videos are natively recorded in full resolution, they are compressed resulting in poor quality video that can often be seen by artifacts in your Sentry Mode footage.
The hacker also noted that all other USB-C ports have not been upgraded, and are still USB 2.0 underneath.
Related: 2021 Tesla Model 3 walkthrough [Video]
If you’re wondering about a retrofit, green says while it is possible, it is highly unlikely as it would require a computer replacement to go along with the new USB 3.0 cord.
