Fed up with the OTA updates (non-AP car)

[jaguar36]

I've gotten fed up with the OTA updates on our car. When we got our car back in 2014 the whole idea of OTA updates sounded awesome, and indeed up until that point Tesla had routinely pushed meaningful updates to the entire fleet. However with the release of AP in Sept 2014 the useful updates have basically stopped. The updates now are really just a hassle providing no real benefit. Perhaps their are security benefits, but who knows since Tesla doesn't provide detailed release notes.

Just this week we've gotten two updates that as far as I can tell did absolutely nothing, but waste my time going out to the car to accept them.

The sad thing with all of this is that there is so much low hanging fruit to improve the UI. There are a large number of changes that could easily be accomplished by an intern in a few hours that would actually fulfill Tesla's promise of continually improving the fleet.

 

[thx1139]

Why do you bother to go out to the car? Why not just wait until you go to use the car and accept and set the time that will work for you?

 

[Tiger]

I volunteer myself to be an intern for fixing all the small things ...

Or even better, there could be an app store where customers could choose and vote on improvements ... actually there already is TeslaTap.

 

[jelloslug]

Talk about first world problems...

 

[jaguar36]

Talk about first world problems...

This whole message board is for first world problems, or hadn't you noticed that we are talking about >$50k cars here?

 

[ahkahn]

I don't care what the OTA updates fix or not, just the fact that we can and do get them is one of my biggest selling points of the car. If you don't like it, don't do them.

I had a 2010 Ford Taurus with Sync and was told that it was software upgradable. Remember the SyncMyRide.com website with update checkers, etc? It never received one single update in the 4 years I owned the car. Then...

I got a 2014 Ford Fusion with MyFordTouch (Sync v2). I was told that they switched hardware and that's why the Sync v1 was never updated... but v2 was going to be updated all the time for new features! I got 1 update after owning the car for a month. After that, nothing. I was told that Ford abandoned the v2 hardware in favor of the new v3 hardware. I owned that car up until 2 months ago when I purchased the Tesla.

Keep them coming, Tesla!

 

[jaguar36]

I got a 2014 Ford Fusion with MyFordTouch (Sync v2). I was told that they switched hardware and that's why the Sync v1 was never updated... but v2 was going to be updated all the time for new features! I got 1 update after owning the car for a month. After that, nothing. I was told that Ford abandoned the v2 hardware in favor of the new v3 hardware. I owned that car up until 2 months ago when I purchased the Tesla.

Err, this is exactly what I'm saying has happened with Tesla. The updates only seem to matter to the cars with the newest hardware. Certainly not to the Pre-AP cars.

 

[calisnow]

I've gotten fed up with the OTA updates on our car. When we got our car back in 2014 the whole idea of OTA updates sounded awesome, and indeed up until that point Tesla had routinely pushed meaningful updates to the entire fleet. However with the release of AP in Sept 2014 the useful updates have basically stopped. The updates now are really just a hassle providing no real benefit. Perhaps their are security benefits, but who knows since Tesla doesn't provide detailed release notes.

Just this week we've gotten two updates that as far as I can tell did absolutely nothing, but waste my time going out to the car to accept them.

The sad thing with all of this is that there is so much low hanging fruit to improve the UI. There are a large number of changes that could easily be accomplished by an intern in a few hours that would actually fulfill Tesla's promise of continually improving the fleet.

I can't believe Elon wasted your time making you walk to your car. Twice. Not cool.

 

[drklain]

Actually I suspect those updates do matter to all cars. Think of them as being similar to the patches Microsoft puts out for Windows on patch Wednesday. 90% (or higher) of the patches are totally transparent to the user. They are fixing a security vulnerability or a bug that is only apparent as an edge case under specific circumstances. Still, they are fixing and upgrading the software in your car. The fact you don't have visible/detectable features as a result of the update does not mean that the update didn't do anything to improve the software in your car...

 

[jeffro01]

I don't get what the OPs issue is here which is why I disliked the post... Seems like an awfully petty thing to complain about considering Tesla is sending out bug fixes and the like... Do I wish they detailed, reasonably that is, what's different about each release? Yes. However, I'm not going to complain about trying to improve the numerous bugs in the software...

Jeff

 

[Merrill]

I have a pre AP model S and I love the updates but would like some meaningful improvements, such as the USB music interface. This seems to be so easy to do but not important to Tesla.

 

[dennis]

I've gotten fed up with the OTA updates on our car. When we got our car back in 2014 the whole idea of OTA updates sounded awesome, and indeed up until that point Tesla had routinely pushed meaningful updates to the entire fleet. However with the release of AP in Sept 2014 the useful updates have basically stopped. The updates now are really just a hassle providing no real benefit.

IIRC the updates for traffic aware routing in the nav system and supercharger port real time availability both came after September 2014. Do you not consider these useful?

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Updates are fine so long as they don't remove functionality. Unfortunately, Tesla updates have been doing exactly that.

 

[kort677]

I've gotten fed up with the OTA updates on our car. When we got our car back in 2014 the whole idea of OTA updates sounded awesome, and indeed up until that point Tesla had routinely pushed meaningful updates to the entire fleet. However with the release of AP in Sept 2014 the useful updates have basically stopped. The updates now are really just a hassle providing no real benefit. Perhaps their are security benefits, but who knows since Tesla doesn't provide detailed release notes.

Just this week we've gotten two updates that as far as I can tell did absolutely nothing, but waste my time going out to the car to accept them.

The sad thing with all of this is that there is so much low hanging fruit to improve the UI. There are a large number of changes that could easily be accomplished by an intern in a few hours that would actually fulfill Tesla's promise of continually improving the fleet.

I hate to be the one that has to break the news to you but your early model S is functionally obsolete. as soon as the AP system was released I traded my '14 in for a newer AP1 equipped car, which is IMHO superior to the AP2 cars but I realize that fewer resources will be devoted to my car. This is the downside of being an early adopter in the rapidly changing technology based consumer products. how many of us owned brick sized cell phones? $5k 50 inch plasma TVs?
My only advice would be to enjoy the car you have and not be so bitter about the rate of changes in the car.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I hate to be the one that has to break the news to you but your early model S is functionally obsolete. as soon as the AP system was released I traded my '14 in for a newer AP1 equipped car, which is IMHO superior to the AP2 cars but I realize that fewer resources will be devoted to my car. This is the downside of being an early adopter in the rapidly changing technology based consumer products. how many of us owned brick sized cell phones? $5k 50 inch plasma TVs?
My only advice would be to enjoy the car you have and not be so bitter about the rate of changes in the car.

Every Tesla ever sold, including those rolling off the line today, are also obsolete.

 

[kort677]

Every Tesla ever sold, including those rolling off the line today, are also obsolete.

having that view of the purchase of the tesla would save the OP a lot of his agony

 

[ahkahn]

Every Tesla ever sold, including those rolling off the line today, are also obsolete.

That's a little pessimistic, but it is indeed like buying a piece of technology (computer or cell phone)... It's not immediately obsolete, but it is, indeed, obsolete pretty quick.

I'm not sure that the obsolescence is as rapid as a regular car, though, as these can at least be upgraded to handle new features and a traditional car cannot be. Is your original 2014 Model S identical to the day you picked it up (features and/or UI)? Doubt it.

 

[Nick B]

The OP has a point, there hasn't been any specific nor interesting update in the last year or so for the pre AP cars.

For example, Tesla could easily focus on some mainstream improvements like the navigator, who could use additional waypoints (as everyone has been saying/asking since day one). The browser is another example or the usb functions, etc.

Nothing really prevents tesla from both improving AP as well as other more general features.

 

[apacheguy]

Updates are fine so long as they don't remove functionality. Unfortunately, Tesla updates have been doing exactly that.

Agree. I'll just add that in addition to removing functionality Tesla has been known to degrade functionality (hint: ludicrous and supercharging). This really is not ok unless the owner is given an appropriate disclaimer or given the ability to opt out.

 

[CHG-ON]

I've gotten fed up with the OTA updates on our car. When we got our car back in 2014 the whole idea of OTA updates sounded awesome, and indeed up until that point Tesla had routinely pushed meaningful updates to the entire fleet. However with the release of AP in Sept 2014 the useful updates have basically stopped. The updates now are really just a hassle providing no real benefit. Perhaps their are security benefits, but who knows since Tesla doesn't provide detailed release notes.

Just this week we've gotten two updates that as far as I can tell did absolutely nothing, but waste my time going out to the car to accept them.

The sad thing with all of this is that there is so much low hanging fruit to improve the UI. There are a large number of changes that could easily be accomplished by an intern in a few hours that would actually fulfill Tesla's promise of continually improving the fleet.

All you need to do is say yes when you get in the car...Set the schedule and it will always follow it. What's the big deal?