XBOX One Controller works perfectly!

With the release of software 2019.28.x the use of a game controller has finally become available for Beach Buggy Racing 2 game. That is much better solution than playing the game with your steering wheel, where you keep rubbing your tires on the pavement while standing still. So it was the perfect time to buy a game controller for those lost minutes while charging, or when my wife goes out for shopping 😉 I was not able to find clear online advice on which game controller to buy. What I could extract from different websites and forums was that an original XBOX One controller, an original XBOX 360 controller, and a PlayStation 4 Dualshock V2 work well. There are also some cheaper alternatives that people in different forums had reported working, but those were brands I couldn’t find in local stores. A Playstation 4 Dualshock V1 (so first generation) does not work, and I did not get a PlayStation 3 controller to work either.

It is important that the mentioned working controllers have to be connected via a USB cable in your Tesla, and then to one of the 2 USB ports that are located in the front of the car. The 2 USB ports in the back of your Tesla Model 3 can only charge devices and not exchange data with them. I have a USB splitter on both ports in the front, to which a USB stick (DashCam and Sentry) and 2x wireless chargers are connected. So that leaves 1 free USB port USB port on one of the two splitters. Wirelessly, via Bluetooth, you will not be able to get a game controller paired with your Tesla, because your Tesla does not have a protocol on how to communicate with a game controller.

Of the 3 working controllers, I chose the XBOX One Controller, because I can also use it in ARMA3 when my iMac is running under Windows 10 … the PlayStation 4 Dualshock V2 controller can also do this but needs extra software to enable it to work with ARMA3. At the local Mediamarkt I could chose from 2 different XBOX One Controller packages: the XBOX Controller + Cable for Windows and the XBOX Wireless Controller. Both controllers are exactly the same, but the first one has an XBOX One Controller with a long USB cable in the package and no 2x AA batteries, and the second package has an XBOX One Controller with 2x AA batteries and no long USB cable. Because a USB cable is a must to use the controller in your Tesla, I have bought the first package (XBOX Controller + Cable for Windows).

Since I still had to charge an additional 150 km, I immediately tried to use my new purchase. But it simply did not want to work … at all: not after a soft reset of my Model 3, not after removing all connected devices on the USB ports, not after connecting the controller after the game was started or when it was not yet started, and what else. With no possibility the XBOX One Controller wanted to communicate with my Tesla and its games. So decided to fill time with playing 2048 till my battery was filled till 90%.

When I arrived home, I booted up my iMac under Windows 10, connected the XBOX One Controller, and low and behold, the game controller was recognized immediately and drivers were installed instantly. So there was clearly nothing wrong with the controller. Since 2 AA batteries can be installed into the controller I installed them, just to be sure. No difference, everything continued to work properly. Time for hooking up the XBOX One Controller to my Tesla. And indeed, it worked immediately and I could play right out of the box Beach Buggy Racing 2 and Asteroids. Awesome! Now I have to experiment a bit, and tried to connect the game controller without batteries … and the XBOX One Controller worked, and even if I have all USB devices connected.

My conclusion: the XBOX One Controller + Cable for Windows is the right version to buy if you are looking for a game controller for your Tesla. You do need to connect the XBOX One Controller to your Windows computer / laptop before use in your Tesla, because that (likely) triggers a certain setting in the game controller to make it work in your Tesla.

Update 2019.10.04: and with the new AppleTV OS, also my described XBOX One Controller gets supported too. So now you have an extra use for a XBOX One Controller with AppleTV games.