Musk: All Future Teslas to Come Standard With Starlink, Peak Download 375 Mbps

Musk Vows Starlink as Standard Across All Tesla Models

Elon Musk took to X on August 10 to announce that every future Tesla vehicle would come standard with Starlink satellite internet. He described it as the only viable way to deliver ultra-high bandwidth to billions of cars worldwide. The same declaration was made during Tesla's recent earnings call.

On August 11, Tesla's official robotaxi account @robotaxi shared images of the first Cybercab featuring an integrated Starlink system. A compact antenna is hidden inside a rectangular compartment on the vehicle's rear, concealing the array's familiar grid pattern.

Performance and Hardware Details

Tesla first revealed the Starlink solution for the Cybercab at its San Jose showroom in July. The vehicle will use the latest V5 automotive-grade antenna, capable of peak download speeds of 375 Mbps — figures that match the maximum throughput Tesla's consumer terminals can achieve under ideal conditions.

The automotive V5 variant is a significantly downsized unit. Weighing just 2.4 pounds (about 1.1 kg), it is less than half the mass of the standard stationary V5 antenna at 6.5 pounds (about 3 kg), making roof integration far simpler.

Repair expert Oleg Kutkov reported that Tesla is developing a custom version designated "rev5_pez_auto_proto1." It contains 800 antenna elements, 20 fewer than the 820 used in the standard V5. The reduced element count frees up space for a GNSS receiver module. While the fixed installations omit onboard positioning hardware, the automotive V5 reintegrates the classic STA8090 GNSS chip to maintain location tracking while receiving satellite data.

Use Cases

Musk highlighted that the connectivity will enable passengers to stream 4K live sports, movies, play online games, or work at full productivity from inside the car. For a vehicle that may spend most of its time as a robotaxi, continuous high-bandwidth internet opens doors to new revenue models through in-vehicle advertising and subscription entertainment services.

Tesla's push to make Starlink standard across its lineup positions the automaker differently from competitors still relying on cellular connectivity for infotainment and fleet communication. Whether the technology will roll out to existing Model S, 3, X and Y lineups, or remain Cybercab-exclusive, has not yet been confirmed.