In early November Tesla began delivering Model 3 and Model Y cars without USB-C ports in the center console.
The ports were not included during production due to a parts shortage, with Tesla promising to add them for free at a later date.
Whether you will take delivery today with or without the USB ports is hit or miss, as we have received reports of both scenarios still happening to this day.
If yours does come with them included, there might still be one catch.
According to the Model 3/Y owner’s manual, the center console USB ports in cars built after November 1, 2021 only support charging devices.
Tesla recommends using the USB port in the glove box “for all other functions.”
https://twitter.com/RyanZohoury/status/1475587985030537222
It might not sound like a big deal, but Tesla has not been notifying customers of this limitation, similar to what happened with the original missing parts in November.
This has resulted in many frustrated owners who couldn’t figure out why their USB game controllers wouldn’t work, or why they couldn’t play music from their USB drive, or couldn’t play custom Boombox sounds.
It is unclear at this time if Tesla will again offer a free retrofit to add the ability to do more than just charge devices with the front USB ports.
This will hopefully be the case as Tesla uses the wording “some vehicles”, indicating not all of them suffer from this and it will be added at some point in the future.
Do your center console USB ports in your new Model 3 or Model Y only charge devices? Let us know in the comments below.
