Elon Musk says Tesla's software needs work, particularly the web browser that's 'worse than some iPad from 5 years ago'

• Elon Musk said Tesla has a lot of work to do on its basic car software.
• Tesla's web browser, in particular, is "trash," he said.

Elon Musk isn't happy with Tesla's in-car software.

The electric automaker is regarded as a leader in car software, selling vehicles with sprawling touchscreens that can run video games, play YouTube videos, and control everything from a car's air vents to its windshield wipers. Still, Musk says there's room for improvement, particularly when it comes to the company's "trash" web browser.

"I think we've got a lot of work to do actually with the basic software in the car. Our web browser sucks," Musk said during an interview posted to the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley YouTube channel on Tuesday. "If you try to use the web browser in the car, it takes a long time to load and it's a trash browser. It's worse than some iPad from five years ago, by a lot."

Musk noted that some owners have complained about Tesla's user interface, which got a controversial update late last year.

In many ways, Tesla has been ahead of the curve when it comes to in-car software. It pioneered over-the-air updates, which allow it remotely upgrade vehicles, just like Apple does with its iPhones. It equipped the Model S sedan with a large touchscreen in 2009, before Apple's iPad popularized tablets. Now big screens that control most of a vehicle's main functions are becoming the norm.

Another potential area of improvement: Musk said Tesla should give rear passengers their own audio system linked to the screen in the back seat, "so that people can listen to music in the front and not get blasted by the YouTube kid show audio in the front, which is currently the situation."

"There's a bunch of stuff like that that we need to fix," he added. Still, Musk said Tesla's "overwhelming focus" is achieving fully autonomous driving, which he has promised for years and has yet to deliver.