Tesla is basically a giant computer
Have you test driven a Tesla or hopped a ride with a Tesla-owning buddy yet? They’re pretty cool, and worth a lot of the hype (ignore the being set on fire thing, Broncos used to do that too…).
Quantcast analyzed drivers’ in-car browsing habits and discovered that they’re not on Yelp to find the next restaurant, they’re reading the news. Sure, half of all Tesla owners are in California, can afford to drop coin on a Tesla (read: higher income), and are typically early tech adopters, but not all fit into that category, which makes this study fascinating.
Because Tesla has a 17″ touchscreen to control audio, climate, and of course, offers a web browser, behavior is modified only slightly from previous use.
Tesla drivers are news hounds
What Quantast discovered is that in-car browsing was dominated by news sites, much more than the typical online browser, and fully 10 percent of all Tesla page views were to DrudgeReport. Wow. Local news sites made up 26 percent of the news categories, likely for traffic and weather reports, but a significant number to digest.
Less surprising is the fact that Tesla drivers like to read financial news while sitting in traffic, commanding over 13 percent of Tesla browser page views, more than double the average web user.
But this isn’t a California thing
According to the chart, a lot of the browsing (and Tesla ownership) is in California, but despite a ban on selling directly to customers in Texas, the Lone Star State accounts for quite a bit of use.
Being headquartered in Austin, we can attest to this fact – not only is there a sales location here, but a service center (plus, a lot of Teslas cruising the streets). It is no surprise that the most popular spots for the car are tech-centric areas.
What all of this says about the future
We’ve written extensively on technology over the years, and most recently about “The Internet of Things” going mainstream, but also on the fact that it’s not just watches and glasses that are advancing technology, but how devices are talking to each other, even cars.
What Tesla browsers’ use tells us is not only that there is demand and that tech-centric cities love the ability to soak up news while on the go, but that an idea has been validated – that smartphones aren’t the only way to multi-task in the next era.
Quantcast summarizes, “Tesla drivers have validated the value of an in-car browsing experience that goes beyond destination finding—an early indicator that the connected car is a new media platform to watch.”
