Additions and changes (or “What has Tesla ever done for me?”)

One of the features of Tesla cars is their ability to be updated via software. In days gone by you were stuck with the car as delivered ... it was never going to improve. Tesla's cars really do change over time, features are added ... and at no cost. We have now moved from a time when nothing could ever change without workshop attention to a time when drivers of Teslas expect a whole lot of changes ... preferably with a new instalment every couple of weeks! For all the frustration that we may feel it's worth looking at what has happened with the Model 3 in the UK over the past couple of years purely via free software updates.

I should have more carefully noted the changes as they occurred but although I don't have a definitive list I do have a note of quite a number of things that have been added via software since September 2019 (when I got my car). This list clearly doesn't take account of the much greater number of changes that are made "under the hood". Unfortunately we rarely get much detail about those, but that's potentially another list, though one which would be more difficult to substantiate.

So here we go:

“What has Tesla ever done for me?”

5% increase in power
addition of “hold” for true one pedal driving
user profiles save more settings
Tesla Theatre .. Netflix, Youtube etc
“Caraoke” entertainment feature
umpteen games !
“Joe Mode” for slightly quieter bing bongs
Scheduled departure setting in charging controls
auto navigation setting available from linked calendar
notifications to app if car is left unlocked or windows open - windows auto close feature
visualization items increased eg cones, bins, pedestrians, traffic lights
increased CCS peak charging rate (from 100kW to 170kW for SR+)
more voice controls (needs excellent LTE connectivity to work)
auto closing of windows left open
wiper performance improvements (still work to do)
Supercharger preconditioning when navigating to site
car now shows if Superchargers are out of order or site is busy
ability to wake for externally timed charging
reverse camera views now includes views from side cameras
ability to detect speed limit signs (not on motorways)
Pin to drive: only number required now without confirmatory button press
rear camera on dash cam footage
in-car screen viewer of recorded dash cam clips
ability to format data drives for dash cam
TACC able to set at current speed rather than just at speed limit
car data e-sim changed to UK (from NL) for access to iPlayer etc
ability to set mirror dimming manually
car wash mode
ability to tap battery icon to instantly swap between showing percentage or miles
navigation can now have waypoints
Blind spot camera display when indicating
ability to switch miles or battery percentage with a tap on battery icon


Specifically App related:
ability to unlock boot and frunk
notifications to app if car is left unlocked or windows open - windows auto close feature and via app
Battery heater temperature icon in app shows when pre-conditioning
ability to change charging parameters via the app e.g. amps and timer
live view from car cameras in app when Sentry Mode is on
charging stats graphing and “savings” through EV charging Vs fuel pricing

(“2019 Tesla Model 3 Performance AWD Front” by Vauxford is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.)

 

[Adopado]

Isnt all this stuff:


notifications to app if car is left unlocked or windows open - windows auto close feature
auto closing of windows left open
wiper performance improvements (still work to do)
reverse camera views now includes views from side cameras
ability to detect speed limit signs (not on motorways)
TACC able to set at current speed rather than just at speed limit
car data e-sim changed to UK (from NL) for access to iPlayer etc
ability to set mirror dimming manually
navigation can now have waypoints

stuff that was bloody obviously necessary from the start (and pretty commonplace on rivals)? I dont think Tesla should be given much credit for realising that people wanted cruise control to work as it did on every other car, or connected services to be linked to the country of supply, or to be guided on journeys that have more than one stop.

And now it's trying literally to reinvent the (steering) wheel

The thread is about documenting the changes that have been implemented via software updates. This is a good thing! Whether any of these changes should have been part of the car to start with is a separate issue. The car has developed and improved in several areas since 2019 ... that's what this thread is intended to recognise and document. The scope for further developments is vast... and always will be ... because that's the potential that software updating offers.

 

[GRiLLA]

What’s this about describing people as “moaners” if there are some aspects of their cars they’re not happy with, or if they feel distinctly underwhelmed by light shows and fart modes. Teslas are not perfect. These people own Teslas and speak from experience. Their opinions are valid and welcomed by the majority. In fact I think their opinion is far more balanced than that of the fanboys who will tolerate no criticism of Tesla, however valid that criticism might be.

OTA software updates are fantastic but it’s not always plain sailing. Sometimes they break things that previously worked flawlessly and need another update to fix it. The last two major holiday updates, which people looked forward to for weeks with barely suppressed excitement and huge anticipation, have not been particularly well received. Software updates seem incapable of fixing phantom braking and crap wipers and auto headlights.

Whoops, I was determined not to mention wipers and headlights. I’m clearly a serial moaning minnie.

Well, by this I mean the folks that add the same complaints to every single thread, often when it's entirely out of context but they can't help themselves repeating it. We know there are issues, we talk about them plenty, no one's being cancelled. There are also positive things about these cars and frankly it's annoying that on every thread there is some grumpy old misery talking about wipers. This thread was started to highlight all that's new, why is so hard to just let that be?

Specifically nothing anyone says here makes any difference, Tesla aren't sat around waiting for the 10 billion mention of "phantom breaking" before having a look at it.

 

[Adopado]

What’s this about describing people as “moaners” if there are some aspects of their cars they’re not happy with, or if they feel distinctly underwhelmed by light shows and fart modes. Teslas are not perfect. These people own Teslas and speak from experience. Their opinions are valid and welcomed by the majority. In fact I think their opinion is far more balanced than that of the fanboys who will tolerate no criticism of Tesla, however valid that criticism might be.

OTA software updates are fantastic but it’s not always plain sailing. Sometimes they break things that previously worked flawlessly and need another update to fix it. The last two major holiday updates, which people looked forward to for weeks with barely suppressed excitement and huge anticipation, have not been particularly well received. Software updates seem incapable of fixing phantom braking and crap wipers and auto headlights.

Whoops, I was determined not to mention wipers and headlights. I’m clearly a serial moaning minnie.

There was a jocular post by @debrooker .... I don't see any other theme in this thread of describing people as "moaners". The thread as whole is intended to recognise the number of changes, significant and insignificant, over the past couple of years. This demonstrates the hugely positive potential of developing the car through software updates. It's useful for more recent owners to appreciate the journey that has been taking place. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to try and remember what changes there have been to date. There are lots of other threads where people can, and do, propose further changes.

 

[debrooker]

Just to be clear that my earlier post was a tongue in cheek comment - of course people should feel free to vent/complain when basic functions that other car makers get right and Tesla doesn't.

I had a nice example this morning when I came out to the car to find all windows down an inch and because it was raining, all my seats were soaking wet.

So basically stop moaning everybody

 

[Yondu]

On the list above there are several items that will be of little interest to many and several that will be of great interest to some. I even forgot to add the recent “light show” entertainment…. it doesn’t even register in my brain. Same with games and the like; take them or leave them… but we’re all different. But even without the lesser valued items there’s surely something for everyone here.

Changes that were specifically of value to me were:

Power increase
CCS charging speed increase
One pedal driving
Joe mode
Auto window closing and with app control plus notifications
On screen dash cam viewer
Supercharger pre conditioning
Supercharger busy or out of order info
Wiper performance improvement
Extra reversing camera views
Blind spot camera view (getting used to it now)
TACC setting at current speed option
Nav waypoints
Car data sim change to UK
Ability to alter charging rate and times via app
Ability to live stream cameras from car

I only occasionally drive on roads to benefit from AP but follow the comments from regular users with interest… from those who insist it’s improving and those who say the opposite! I’ll look forward to my next try out!

As an owner of an EV for 7 days now and the EV being a Model Y collected from Southampton I can say I am absolutely blown away with the car and what it is capable of.

Of course like all things, I consider there are a few issues which need some improvement, music from a USB source seems to have to be selected manually nearly every time a new drive is taken because it looks to me that Tidal is the default selection on startup. The auto wipers are the worse I have experienced on any car and the ride quality is not good enough in this price bracket on UK roads.

The hope is improvements can be delivered via OTA updates, unlike the F Pace I previously owned which always necessitated a wasted day visiting the dealer for any software issues.

 

[RichardTheKing]

One of the features of Tesla cars is their ability to be updated via software. In days gone by you were stuck with the car as delivered ... it was never going to improve. Tesla's cars really do change over time, features are added ... and at no cost. We have now moved from a time when nothing could ever change without workshop attention to a time when drivers of Teslas expect a whole lot of changes ... preferably with a new instalment every couple of weeks! For all the frustration that we may feel it's worth looking at what has happened with the Model 3 in the UK over the past couple of years purely via free software updates.

I should have more carefully noted the changes as they occurred but although I don't have a definitive list I do have a note of quite a number of things that have been added via software since September 2019 (when I got my car). This list clearly doesn't take account of the much greater number of changes that are made "under the hood". Unfortunately we rarely get much detail about those, but that's potentially another list, though one which would be more difficult to substantiate.

View attachment 773958

So here we go:

“What has Tesla ever done for me?”

5% increase in power
addition of “hold” for true one pedal driving
user profiles save more settings
Tesla Theatre .. Netflix, Youtube etc
“Caraoke” entertainment feature
umpteen games !
“Joe Mode” for slightly quieter bing bongs
Scheduled departure setting in charging controls
auto navigation setting available from linked calendar
notifications to app if car is left unlocked or windows open - windows auto close feature
visualization items increased eg cones, bins, pedestrians, traffic lights
increased CCS peak charging rate (from 100kW to 170kW for SR+)
more voice controls (needs excellent LTE connectivity to work)
auto closing of windows left open
wiper performance improvements (still work to do)
Supercharger preconditioning when navigating to site
car now shows if Superchargers are out of order or site is busy
ability to wake for externally timed charging
reverse camera views now includes views from side cameras
ability to detect speed limit signs (not on motorways)
Pin to drive: only number required now without confirmatory button press
rear camera on dash cam footage
in-car screen viewer of recorded dash cam clips
ability to format data drives for dash cam
TACC able to set at current speed rather than just at speed limit
car data e-sim changed to UK (from NL) for access to iPlayer etc
ability to set mirror dimming manually
car wash mode
ability to tap battery icon to instantly swap between showing percentage or miles
navigation can now have waypoints
Blind spot camera display when indicating
ability to switch miles or battery percentage with a tap on battery icon


Specifically App related:
ability to unlock boot and frunk
notifications to app if car is left unlocked or windows open - windows auto close feature and via app
Battery heater temperature icon in app shows when pre-conditioning
ability to change charging parameters via the app e.g. amps and timer
live view from car cameras in app when Sentry Mode is on
charging stats graphing and “savings” through EV charging Vs fuel pricing

(“2019 Tesla Model 3 Performance AWD Front” by Vauxford is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.)

This is impressive!

 

[JonB]

Lots of interesting points here and if I could just add my £0.02's worth, I think moans are just a means to express what we want Tesla to change. That's a much nicer way of putting it. For my part (and I said this before lots of time) I am not impressed much by the light show, fart mode and other fripperies but I recognise they are part of what makes the car different to other more stuffy manufacturers' offerings. Just let me access Siri from the voice command button (with a long click).

 

[Adopado]

Just let me access Siri from the voice command button (with a long click).

Don't you find that you can access Siri via the phone when it's on the phone charger? I use use Siri voice activation for phone calls rather than the car voice activation.

 

[David T]

Has your auto wiper performance not improved since 2019? Mine certainly has. Not as good as I would like it to be but definitely improved.

My auto wipers improved significantly after 2022.4.5 updates. Got a good try out with the storms - snow, drizzle, torrential rain, etc - and were fine. Just hope another update doesn’t undo this

 

[init6]

I'd also add the "cold weather improvements" to the list. I know we joke about these on this forum, but its an indication that changes are being made 'under the hood' to improve the car. So it's not just the visible things that are changed.

 

[DrJFoster]

Being pedantic, some of the things on the list have been there as long as I can remember, other things should really have been there from the start and some updates are just trying to get a feature to work like it should, wipers anyone? I fear I'm now entering the "moan" camp, but it's sometimes important to get things into perspective.

I think its fair that Tesla have pushed the agenda regarding over the air software updates but my wife still drives a BMW and she also gets over the air updates (yes, many think only Tesla do but it's no longer true on newer models)
- quarterly map updates, in my Tesla it was 2 years old before being updated
- she was given siri integration, can't say its that useful, but it's been used more than the fart machine in my Tesla
- she was given the option to have speed camera alerts added to the nav. Subscription model, but then Tesla now want money for premium connectivity
- voice commands were extended and work fairly reliably without pressing a button to activate, you can't say butthole but you can say I'm hot, cold, open the window, etc. just like Tesla
- automation was added, below a certain outside temp the heated steering wheel would turn on automatically, this was rolled out before Tesla did and I wondered if that's where Tesla got the idea.
- a news app was added, as have others but to me it's like adding a game I won't play
- you now get bad weather alerts on your route, useful if you're driving a distance, so not just traffic.

And of course it came with waypoints, ability to send destinations and even routes to the car, blind spot warnings etc etc. from the factory

What she's never had is something stop working after a software update.

So while its great that Tesla add stuff, I'm more in the camp that it annoys me that some things don't work very well, and some things should have been there already. You can't really praise waypoints being added when just about every nav has had them since 2010, and "cold weather improvements" appear to be a positive slant on changes to the heat pump software as they got it wrong initially resulting in poor performance when the cars came out (Bjorn did a video on it). My coffee cup is half empty this morning!

 

[Xdama]

I remember when I got the car 2.5 years ago that the voice control for phone contacts was excellent, then they did an update a few months later and it’s not worked properly since.

Funny I read a comment about a new Y owner being told they are working on the British accent, well it used to work perfect 2 years ago!

So with the good side there is also a not so good side and that’s not including the lagging camera for over 2 months now despite several updates in the meantime

They do realise there isn’t a “British” accent there are a multitude of “British” accents. I for one certainly can’t pronounce things like the BBC “British“ accent nor the “Eastenders” mockney one either. Good luck with them trying to break the software Holy Grail ….. VC for Scots too. 11 ,,,,11,,,,11 ……….FREEEEEEEDOM

 

[init6]

They do realise there isn’t a “British” accent there are a multitude of “British” accents. I for one certainly can’t pronounce things like the BBC “British“ accent nor the “Eastenders” mockney one either. Good luck with them trying to break the software Holy Grail ….. VC for Scots too. 11 ,,,,11,,,,11 ……….FREEEEEEEDOM

Do you realise there isn't a "Scots" accent there are a multitude of "Scots" accents.

 

[RichardTheKing]

They do realise there isn’t a “British” accent there are a multitude of “British” accents. I for one certainly can’t pronounce things like the BBC “British“ accent nor the “Eastenders” mockney one either. Good luck with them trying to break the software Holy Grail ….. VC for Scots too. 11 ,,,,11,,,,11 ……….FREEEEEEEDOM

And with my French accent in UK, this is not going easy

 

[Xdama]

Do you realise there isn't a "Scots" accent there are a multitude of "Scots" accents.

They’re classed in with British until they vote out

 

[Adopado]

You can't really praise waypoints being added when just about every nav has had them since 2010, and "cold weather improvements" appear to be a positive slant on changes to the heat pump software as they got it wrong initially resulting in poor performance when the cars came out (Bjorn did a video on it). My coffee cup is half empty this morning!

Good example. The car nav wasn't capable of incorporating waypoints. People asked for waypoints. Whether you think waypoints should have been a feature at the beginning or not the reality is that Tesla subsequently added this feature through a software update. Starting with those facts in mind we now need to reflect on how we should react to Tesla providing this feature. We can either say "great stuff, that solves that issue with the navigation, it's much more useful now" or we can say "well it should have been there before and they still haven't solved x,y,z completely different issues". I lean towards the former rather than the latter... that's the only difference! (I say "lean towards" because obviously we all feel aspects of both.)

 

[init6]

They’re classed in with British until they vote out

They do realise there isn’t a “British” accent there are a multitude of “British” accents.

 

[m3gt2]

I’m going to be an outlier and say … very little that I would actually pay for if there was an additional charge. Lots of gimmicks and nice to have. Light shows and computer games don’t add much value for me. V11 re-write, so what?

Same car. Same range. AP not really any better - just different.

Admittedly far better than a software vendor that doesn’t even bother supporting stuff.

Do wish Tesla would listen more to what we ask for and not what they think we want or that they feel like giving us. Finally we get waypoints. Let’s start with:

• Basic timed charging- Start & Stop.
• Pre- heat for 3rd Party UK CCS Rapids
• Apple Shortcuts Support

I don't really use anything other than Superchargers but I'm sure I tried it on an IONITY charger to test and it started preheating?

How do I get this? £1500 in used twenties waiting.

Angelwax H2go, brilliant stuff, don't really need wipers for anything other than legal reasons! Thank me later when I send my address for the used twenties

 

[init6]

Angelwax H2go, brilliant stuff, don't really need wipers for anything other than legal reasons! Thank me later when I send my address for the used twenties

Don't forget my cut

Tesla anti-ice window treatment

Anyone had this done? Interesting to hear what it involves. Anti-Ice Window Treatment ‘Tesla Service offers an anti-ice window coating to help break ice buildup on windows. This is a paid procedure that can be scheduled just like any other service appointment. If you’re interested, schedule a...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[JonB]

Don't you find that you can access Siri via the phone when it's on the phone charger? I use use Siri voice activation for phone calls rather than the car voice activation.

Yes, but as you know it's illegal in the UK to handle a phone when driving. Low risk I suppose, but one copper in a van passing by and boom! You're nicked.