Some things: this might have come from the clamoring of people who suggested this exact "fix" in response to the fires in other threads. Tesla responded to the customers' apparent collective desires, and the silent majority got screwed. Thanks guys... :tongue:
As for decreasing range, clearly this does. The question is how much? Tesla has stated it does, but a definition of how much probably varies greatly dependent on other factors. I doubt those that state "it's the same shaped object, just lower" have much background in aerodynamic studies. There are likely other factors, similar to ground effect on an airplane, that come into play that can cause a very significant difference in the aerodynamics of the vehicle. For ground effect in An aircraft, it can mean (if I remember correctly) up to a 50% reduction in drag. Ground effect is more apparent in low wing aircraft.
i don't think this will really change what trips were feasible though. Many factors all come into play affecting this, and any trip should have allowed for enough slop that this wont make or break it.
i doubt this will be a lasting change, but it will be very frustrating if it is. Not everything in life is risk mitigation/avoidance, instead sometimes it is risk acceptance. Sometimes we accept the risk and deal with it to get things done. Sometimes we prefer the risk because that's part of life. We could all just sit at home, otherwise, but life is more fun when enjoyed. There will always be a risk in driving, flying, jumping out of planes, etc. but that doesn't mean we should stop. Some of us bought aspects of this car to be as sporty as it can be, and we are willing to accept the risk that we might not be able to dodge road debris in time and burn up our vehicle. That's why we have insurance, anyway. That's why an option for "on" or "off" would be nice.
but if you want your life controlled for you, hey, to each their own...
as for this update as a whole, we now know that there are more serious issues being worked out. Unfortunately this has sneaked in and has destroyed the idea that the software developers can start working on bringing more functionality for our cars now that they are caught up with the nagging issues (sleep mode/optionality, map issues, screen clean mode)....
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What are the odds this has nothing to do with the fires and is only a bug that was introduced with the Autobahn upgrade? It would explain why it's not in the release notes.
It seems some have seen email traffic regarding the relationship between this and the fires.
further, they wouldn't have rushed this update out so much faster than any other update if that was the case.