Air Suspension no longer lowers at highway speeds (FW update v5.8)

[Doug_G]

I applaud everyone who can be patient, but truth is that Tesla has made a material change to the way the car performs without telling anyone in advance, no e-mail, no blog post, no announcement, beta testers apparently were unaware and Tesla didn't include anything in the release notes. That's hardly textbook communications whether we stay patient or not.

It's true that this was done with zero communication. But the sudden rapid rollout was obviously triggered by the air suspension change. So this may have all happened very quickly for them. They may not have all their ducks in a row. They're probably planning some more firmware changes, and are likely working on their communications on the topic. It's also possible that they wanted it to be a "fait accompli" before making a public announcement.

I've personally been very supportive of Tesla, but I am now seeing this company as a FOR PROFIT company.

Well, of course it is. It needs to be. If we're going to transition to an environmentally sustainable future, that future also MUST be economically sustainable or it will NOT happen.

We can't be naive about this. I support Tesla because I think what they're doing is incredibly important. I have supported them very directly by buying two of their vehicles, AND by showing them to people in the real world. I've taken hundreds of people for rides. I've probably helped sell 50+ cars. Even while doing this I'm fully cognizant that they are a for-profit business.

Business without profit is just risk without reward. Who would ever want to do that? But making profit does not have to be at odds with improving the world. Yes some businesses are fighting against the transition to a sustainable economy, but in the long run they are shooting themselves in the foot. The best companies have a mission to improve the world AND make profit doing it. Tesla is one of those companies.

Give me a choice.

Agreed, but I suspect this happened because they are scrambling. Give them some time to sort it out. Right now they can be criticized for poor communications. But if they are scrambling then it's not entirely surprising that it happened.

If they do leave the active air suspension disabled, then yes I will indeed be annoyed because it's something I paid for. If I had control then I would lower it only when I needed to, i.e. on a long highway trip.

Air suspension still gives you a better ride over less than perfect pavement. It still allows you to raise up so you don't ruin your spoiler on dips, etc. Not lowering at highway speeds will also keep the camber from increasing, and will save the rear tires from increased shoulder wear.

All true, but nevertheless I wouldn't have been that interested in the air suspension without the lowering feature. The raising feature activates too slowly, so I rarely activate it for bumps; I just take them at an angle instead. It only operates below 8 mph so I can't raise the car when driving in snow. So that feature is of limited value to me. Never mind that I bought a Sig so I didn't have a choice in the matter. :biggrin:

 

[brianman]

I just took some video. I'll post after some uploading, etc.

It's probably longer than most people are interested in watching, but I decided to get it out quickly without trying to trim out "the uninteresting parts" (which inevitably I would probably get wrong anyway).

Some points of interest from watching it while waiting for the upload:

• 05:15 0-60mph Very High -> High -> Standard
• 10:00 83mph still on Standard
• 11:52 94mph still on Standard
• 13:30 66mph Low manual attempt: "Selected Level Not Allowed"
• 16:40 68mph CC Low manual attempt: "Selected Level Not Allowed"
  (stupid Expression screwed up the cropping on stitching second MP4)
• 24:00 70mph CC Low manual attempt: "Selected Level Not Allowed"
• 26:30 80mph CC Low manual attempt: Success

From there I tried around 80 and it hit or miss whether it would engage or disallow the action.

 

[omarsultan]

It's true that this was done with zero communication. But the sudden rapid rollout was obviously triggered by the air suspension change. So this may have all happened very quickly for them. They may not have all their ducks in a row. They're probably planning some more firmware changes, and are likely working on their communications on the topic. It's also possible that they wanted it to be a "fait accompli" before making a public announcement.

That is probably worse--if the primary driver of the rapid rollout of 5.8 was the the air suspension change, then you'd think that would be the one thing they would manage to cover in the release notes.

 

[SCW-Greg]

It's probably longer than most people are interested in watching, but I decided to get it out quickly without trying to trim out "the uninteresting parts" (which inevitably I would probably get wrong anyway).

Some points of interest from watching it while waiting for the upload:

• 05:15 0-60mph Very High -> High -> Standard
• 10:00 83mph still on Standard
• 11:52 94mph still on Standard
• 13:30 66mph Low manual attempt: "Selected Level Not Allowed"
• 16:40 68mph CC Low manual attempt: "Selected Level Not Allowed"
  (stupid Expression screwed up the cropping on stitching second MP4)
• 24:00 70mph CC Low manual attempt: "Selected Level Not Allowed"
• 26:30 80mph CC Low manual attempt: Success

From there I tried around 80 and it hit or miss whether it would engage or disallow the action.

Brian try and get you car into Low again. For me I was (in theory) able to do it today at around 57 and 63ish. But it stayed there, even when I finally slowed and then parked. Yet when I got out to visually confirm... I don't believe it actually dropped down.

See if you can confirm it actually drops down. This might be the glitch that I'm now talking about.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

@SCW-Greg

IMO it's not a glitch but a wished feature with the intention to allow air suspensions to lower at very high speeds (> 80mph) if wanted by the Model S driver. We will know more about this subject when we will see Elon's blog.
If this is the case it would mean that the full air suspensions functionality has not been abandoned by Tesla even in this crisis situation but only slightly modified.

 

[aznt1217]

You guys do realize this can be changed with a quick update...

 

[brianman]

Brian try and get you car into Low again. For me I was (in theory) able to do it today at around 57 and 63ish. But it stayed there, even when I finally slowed and then parked. Yet when I got out to visually confirm... I don't believe it actually dropped down.

See if you can confirm it actually drops down. This might be the glitch that I'm now talking about.

I had a similar suspicion that "low in the UI" doesn't (any longer) line up with "low in the actual suspension". This makes me quite nervous as (so far) I've somewhat blindly trusted that these line up reliably, but I didn't want to be the first to mention it since drama tends to light up quickly around here.

Anyway, regarding the actual suspension position I also took some video on my GoPro (that I haven't gone through yet) with the camera positioned pointing at the rear driver wheel and the road. In some early skimming, I can clearly see the Standard -> High -> Very High transition but I haven't looked yet at the freeway footage to evaluate Low yet.

 

[SCW-Greg]

@SCW-Greg

IMO it's not a glitch but a wished feature with the intention to allow air suspensions to lower at very high speeds (> 80mph) if wanted by the Model S driver. We will know more about this subject when we will see Elon's blog.
If this is the case it would mean that the full air suspensions functionality has not been abandoned by Tesla even in this crisis situation but only slightly modified.

Except that I did a very similar drive and attempts as Brian has done his video, only I was able to get it in to Low (manually) at about 54, 57, and 63mph. And every time I got it into Low, it would stay there, even as I slowed all the way down to 0mph. Which it should not do. It was inconsistent when it would take, and happening at speeds that were out of norm.

Normal operation "was" anything 60 and above, it would do automatically, or allow manually... and then rise up to Standard at anything <=25mph.

- - - Updated - - -

I had a similar suspicion that "low in the UI" doesn't (any longer) line up with "low in the actual suspension". This makes me quite nervous as (so far) I've somewhat blindly trusted that these line up reliably, but I didn't want to be the first to mention it since drama tends to light up quickly around here.

Anyway, regarding the actual suspension position I also took some video on my GoPro (that I haven't gone through yet) with the camera positioned pointing at the rear driver wheel and the road. In some early skimming, I can clearly see the Standard -> High -> Very High transition but I haven't looked yet at the freeway footage to evaluate Low yet.

Totally agree. I don't want to jump to flippant or unverified comments too.

I know for certain that in 5.6 and below, the ride height was changing as it should, in and out of low, as I could hear and feel it. Today was another story though.

I think this needs more testing. You and I are demonstrating similar behaviors today.
Test tomorrow, and see what happens if you just leave it in Low. Assuming you can get it there.

 

[rlcordeiro]

I'm a lucky man. I am usually on the teslamotors site but as it is currently down I came here. Thank my luck! I will not be accepting the version 5.8 which was offered to me today. I'm currently on 5.6 which I got less than a week ago, of which, I like most features except the fact that the blue line on the nav hides the traffic.Disabling a choice I made with hard earned dollars is not my idea of how a business succeeds. I am not willing to accept this on the basis that the omniscient TM may give this choice back to me in the unseen future. We are adults and should be given a choice whether we want to retain the auto lowering or not.

 

[NoMoGas]

Cover the battery with the steel plates that are under my Jeep GC (off road package), and problem solved.... I like the fact the cars don't lower for now. We can't have anymore Teslas totaled by fires.

Already has 1/4 inch steel plate

 

[ebbrey]

I paid money for the air suspension because it offers a more aerodynamic profile at freeway speeds as well as improved range. That is why I bought it. Now Tesla is taking that away, so I would like my money back. How can they legally remove a feature that I paid for, after I paid for it? That seems like stealing, doesn't it?

This.. ^

They should give us a timeframe of when this is returning or if they need to do some recall before they can return this setting. Or start refunding. My commute is mainly highway and a stretch on the range in cold weather. So went for the air suspension because of the "Aerodynamic and extra range".

 

[sbroker]

We are adults and should be given a choice whether we want to retain the auto lowering or not.

Very well put and I agree with everyone here. It just seems fundamentally wrong to remove an entire feature-set that was so heavily marketed by every Tesla sales rep. Having a car that auto-lowered to maximize EV range certainly wasn't the main reason I purchased the car, but that 'wow' factor definitely had an influence.

I tried lowering the vehicle while doing a short burst to around 85mph this evening, but was unsuccessful. The only time I'm able to set the car to Low is while parked and even then the car seems higher than the previous Low mode (at least comparing my pictures from before 5.8 to current).

 

[Al Sherman]

Aside from the obvious communication "issues" it seems to me that we're beating a dead horse at this point. Yes we paid for automatic lowering, and yes we (me included) want it back. I think it's way too early, and we'll just have to wait to see what TM does, and how TM responds. I can't imagine that they'd disable this cool, and costly feature permanently.

For the record, I bought the air suspension because:

1. Increased range, and better handling at highway speeds.
2. Elon told me it was the coolest feature on the car and I should get it.
3. I wanted to impress my gear head friends who made fun of me for 6 years for driving a Prius.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

@Al

IMO Tesla disabled the full functionality of air suspensions only temporarily not to have problem with NHTSA. I also think that in Elon's blog Tesla will give precise hints and directions for the future on this matter.

 

[Electric1]

It just amazes me to no end how people can defend a company that removes functionality that was paid for after the fact. In some cases people have paid for the air suspension specifically for the lowering at highway speeds to reduce range. Tesla has pushed the air suspension using that exact reasoning. Removing it like they have done is not acceptable, and frankly unless Elon's blog talks about the partial refund they plan to issue to the people who have paid for the air suspension I really don't see how what he has to say is going to matter.

Not to mention the music storage and lighted visor mirrors!

 

[ModelS8794]

I was with you up till this part. The hard work would have been last minute changes in the software; someone other than a SW engineer would have been writing the release notes and they could have included something in not much more time than it took me to write this post.

I am only half way thru the thread so apologies if we got here already but... The hard part may very well have been programming a user-selectable option here, and so the disabling may just be part 1 of the change being implemented. Given how vociferous owners have been on this thread, it is perhaps useful to check out the other threads with owners and shareholders equally vociferous about ZOMG Elon MUST DO SOMETHING!!! About the PR aspects of these fire incidents. You (collectively, not just the poster I am responding to) may not agree with just how he threaded this needle, but perhaps recognize that it's equally likely this is just step one of a more complete solution that is aimed at satisfying both customers who value this option, AND those who demand Tesla be seen to be "doing something" from a PR angle.

 

[yobigd20]

I believe it is more of a safety issue that they took away this feature and did not tell you about it. Handling, cornering and effeciency has changed without this feature.

Yeah this is huge for me. I have a long trip coming up Dec 19th. 265mi exactly one way, with no superchargers in between. I was already worried about getting there and hypermiling to max my wh/mile, but this change is going to put me over that limit where I don't think I can make it now and I'll have to drive my wife's 18mpg ford flex instead.

 

[wormhole]

wow. This is great they are making this change!!

i agree with above comments

Why is this great? Seems like a huge over reaction to the two car fires. Ferraris/Lambos/Porsches...all low to the ground cars. The MS lowering at higher speeds was an advertised benefit of the air suspension...now what is the point of having Air Suspension?

 

[Chipper]

If they were permantly disabling the lowering of the car at high speeds wouldn't they have removed it from thier features page by now? Model S Features | Tesla Motors

No, I don't think so. Tesla is notoriously slow about updating ANYthing on their web pages. The Owner's Manual on the website is still v.4.5 now four versions out of date, and the P85 still says Priority One Month Delivery when it takes two months to deliver a P. I could point out other issues but this should suffice.

 

[yobigd20]

Here is a thought - I think Elon may have outwitted all of us on this one. He's two steps ahead of all of us.

Here is Elon's play:

Disable lowering and push out ASAP to all owners to satisfy NHSTA as a proactive PR response.

Intentionally do not mention in release notes.

Make a blog release stating that this is a temporarily change as a safety precaution while NHSTA investigates for any defects.

And here is Elon's checkmate move: he knows that all the owners are going to get pisssssed and light up a firestorm stating that these fires were the result of idiot drivers not paying attention driving unsafely and getting into accidents and that there is no actual defect with the battery pack and shield. Owners demand feature is reenabled and we should not be held accountable for others poor judgement.

Tesla uses this as leverage and puts pressure on NHSTA to complete.

EDITING for clarity (per one of the responses below, my statement here was mis-interpreted):

Conclusion:

I was simply merely trying to state that they may have thought ahead and wanted owners to stand up for the Model S so that they can re-enable this feature for owners sooner than later!! and as a side effect - not intentional by Tesla - but I'm sure the stock would go up at the conclusion of these fire incidents and 1) the NHSTA finds no defects with the battery packs and 2) the the air suspension is renabled for all owners and 3) Tesla is noted for being proactive about the safety of their owners.