AP1 ONLY Please -- life after 2018.50.6

[jeremymc7]

TeslaFi, TeslaScope and the like should tell you all the versions on AP1 cars.

 

[wdolson]

Landscape orientation screen for S/X. Not sure for 3/Y since they were always landscape. At some point there was a switch from Intel to AMD CPU too Sorry, I've stopped tracking all the Tesla hardware changes as I stopped buying Teslas after the yoke was introduced (stalkless yoke was not the only reason, but it sure made me buying a 5th Model S a non-starter). Still have one (had 2 until today), so still participating in Tesla forums as it's the only way to get any information, Tesla not having any official communication channels to customers.

The yoke is a turn off for me too. I actually thought about getting a Rivian and I might have done it if there wasn't a year plus waiting list.

This site describes all the MCUs
Tesla MCU Generations and Upgrade (Infotainment Computer)

 

[whitex]

The yoke is a turn off for me too. I actually thought about getting a Rivian and I might have done it if there wasn't a year plus waiting list.

Really, still a year? I thought the situation has improved this year. When I was shopping my Tesla last couple of weeks, at just one local used car dealer I saw 7 used 2022 Rivian R1T's for sale, same day availability. I also saw a few Rivian's at EA chargers last month when I drove 3,500 miles across the continent in the Taycan. Rivian owners seemed happy, though some were brand new, so still learning. Are you on the waitlist at least? As a side note, I waited 20 months to get the Taycan, it was worth the wait. Taycan waitlists are also improving this year, though situation depends on which trim.

 

[dannycamps]

when did Tesla move onto MCU3? How can you tell for a used car?

'17('18) - '21 Model 3 and Y used Intel Atom-based landscape oriented screens (referred to as MCU3). In '22, this changed to AMD Ryzen to match the refreshed S and X (which are referred to as MCU Z).

In all seriousness, the AMD screens are no joke. I have a new Model Y and the MCU runs circles around my MCU 2 in the Model S.

 

[Barry]

Too bad there hasn't been an upgrade to CEO2

 

[whitex]

Too bad there hasn't been an upgrade to CEO2

Why? What Elon does has been working for Tesla as a company pretty well. May not be my cup of tea anymore, but plenty of customers love their Teslas, some pay thousands extra to work for Elon testing the most bleeding edge designs like FSD. Show us another automotive company started in the last 50 years as successful as Tesla. If you want fixed model years refreshing every few years, go with the traditional auto-makers. Nothing wrong with wanting that. If you want bleeding edge technology, go with Tesla, but don't complain if your car is not the latest hardware a few months later. If you want a reasonable guarantee of owning the latest hardware of a particular model, buy the newest discontinued model (a Ford Model T perhaps?).

 

[Barry]

Whitex - He's great at start-ups, but sucks at maturing companies. As you can see from my sig line, I've ordered a BMW iX as my next EV. I joined a couple of BMW forums and it's interesting that many of the iX owners were early adopters of Tesla and despise what the company has become, just as I do. He was the golden boy as long as there was no competition, and I give him credit for evolving the industry. However his treatment of customers (responding to a service complaint at a shareholders meeting with "the best service is no service") is horrid and, like me, his customer base will dwindle as other companies grow their EV lines.

 

[wdolson]

Really, still a year? I thought the situation has improved this year. When I was shopping my Tesla last couple of weeks, at just one local used car dealer I saw 7 used 2022 Rivian R1T's for sale, same day availability. I also saw a few Rivian's at EA chargers last month when I drove 3,500 miles across the continent in the Taycan. Rivian owners seemed happy, though some were brand new, so still learning. Are you on the waitlist at least? As a side note, I waited 20 months to get the Taycan, it was worth the wait. Taycan waitlists are also improving this year, though situation depends on which trim.

I'm not really in a position for a new car right now. Money is somewhat tight. I also have free supercharging with the S.

Unless things change at Tesla, I probably won't be buying another one though. I do like that Tesla still makes the most efficient cars per weight in the world, and my Model S is a nice car to drive. When I have dealt with humans in the service centers, they have all been great, but communication with service is painfully bad.

The firmware UI has gone downhill for years. The interface in 2016 was the best version I've had. There are some more features that weren't there years ago, but they broke a lot of things along the way.

I also don't like the reliance on soft controls. There are a lot of controls like adjusting the HVAC system that should be physical controls that once you learn where they are, you can find them without taking your eyes off the road. There are voice controls, but they don't always do what I expect them to do.

Whitex - He's great at start-ups, but sucks at maturing companies. As you can see from my sig line, I've ordered a BMW iX as my next EV. I joined a couple of BMW forums and it's interesting that many of the iX owners were early adopters of Tesla and despise what the company has become, just as I do. He was the golden boy as long as there was no competition, and I give him credit for evolving the industry. However his treatment of customers (responding to a service complaint at a shareholders meeting with "the best service is no service") is horrid and, like me, his customer base will dwindle as other companies grow their EV lines.

Tesla doesn't need a entrepreneur at the helm, it needs a good engineer with good business skills as CEO.

 

[whitex]

Whitex - He's great at start-ups, but sucks at maturing companies. As you can see from my sig line, I've ordered a BMW iX as my next EV. I joined a couple of BMW forums and it's interesting that many of the iX owners were early adopters of Tesla and despise what the company has become, just as I do. He was the golden boy as long as there was no competition, and I give him credit for evolving the industry. However his treatment of customers (responding to a service complaint at a shareholders meeting with "the best service is no service") is horrid and, like me, his customer base will dwindle as other companies grow their EV lines.

I fully understand you. I moved on from a Model S to a Taycan. I don't regret my decade and driving Model S'es . We still have one left, but not buying any more. The yoke was actually a blessing in disguise, as it killed any inkling I hand of wanting to buy one more. I almost got a Plaid for 3 while waiting for the Taycan, but yoke killed that idea and motivated me to actively search nationwide instead, resulting in me picking it up and driving it across the country last month - it took 20 months, but would have been probably 3 years, prefect for an intermediate placeholder lease of a Plaid., if I just stayed on my local dealership's waitlist. But Elon solved my dilemma with the yoke and motivated me to work harder to get the Taycan. I was even willing to test drive the yoke, in case I was wrong, but Tesla told me no test drives, have to buy one on faith, so no go for me. Maybe that was on purpose, only people who blindly believe Elon should be buying Teslas?

As for Elon losing customers, not an issue right now. At first he got the curious early adopters with money, Then he capitalized on the hype and sold a bunch more cars. He's now reached the next stage, price wars. Regardless of what you think of all the experimentation on customers, M3/Y are really the best bang for your buck for an EV under $60K. The only Model S allure left is 1000hp straight line acceleration, which is weak (personally I will take 670hp Taycan with PDCC, PTV and proper brakes, over 1000hp Plaid any day). Elon's plan is in fact working, this "continuous integration on customers" gives Tesla an advantage above other cars. Tesla is no longer competing in the high end EV market. they are now competing for mass market EV's. Notice Elon no longer talks about "fastest production car" or " longest range production EV" since Tesla no longer has hold those titles, but they don't have to. They have "longest range per dollar spent" and probably "fastest acceleration per dollar spent" too. Think of Tesla as the next Kia, not the next Mercedes, and Elon is perfect for it.

 

[whitex]

Unless things change at Tesla, I probably won't be buying another one though. I do like that Tesla still makes the most efficient cars per weight in the world, and my Model S is a nice car to drive. When I have dealt with humans in the service centers, they have all been great, but communication with service is painfully bad.

Having been a Tesla customer for a decade, I agree that service went from stellar, to complete *sugar*, but it did seem to bounce back a little. My experience with mobile techs has always been great. The experience with the service center, while amazing in the first few years (2013-2018), went to *sugar* when Model 3's came out. All the people I got to know, mangers, foremen, engineers, all moved on to other places (burned out?). Things like "yellow screen is still showing correct information, so it's your own fault for exposing the screen to oxygen" bullshit came out, as did "we see the problem in your video, but unless this happens at the service center we'll have to charge you $198 per hour for diagnosis of your 3 month old car". It did seem to improve a little bit lately, but still no loaners, and got a lot more expensive, plus pushy sales techniques like adding stuff you didn't order ("for your convenience") or lowballing the quote only to up it 70% once in the shop, started to appear at Tesla. I recommended a Model Y to my parents who were on an ID.4 waitlist when Elon dropped prices, and once they got it they ordered the garage door opener, for which a mobile tech came out and was unable to set it up with a standard intellicode opener (she told them they need to get a WiFi and google enabled garage opener, or Tesla will never work it it) - worse, she took the opener back as they decided they didn't want it if it requires a new garage opener, but the credit took over a month, an in person visit and a few emails (actually still pending last I checked, but at least the order status changed to cancelled). Maybe mobile tech quality varies from region to region (mu parents live clear on the opposite side of the continent from me).

Bottom line Elon is aiming for mass production, cheapest EV, which of course will not result in service comparable to more expensive brands. Personally I think he has a good chance to become the affordable EV leader of the world. I don't think Elon can compete with the premium brands, even though Tesla started off as one. I don't think he wants to. My personal opinion, Elon's wet dream is a disposable and recyclable, dirt cheap EV. Think disposable razor blades, not worth sharpening or repairing. Buy a Tesla for $10K, 3 year warranty during which you just get a new one if yours breaks, then it's cheaper to buy another one for $10K than fix your current one.

 

[wdolson]

I fully understand you. I moved on from a Model S to a Taycan. I don't regret my decade and driving Model S'es . We still have one left, but not buying any more. The yoke was actually a blessing in disguise, as it killed any inkling I hand of wanting to buy one more. I almost got a Plaid for 3 while waiting for the Taycan, but yoke killed that idea and motivated me to actively search nationwide instead, resulting in me picking it up and driving it across the country last month - it took 20 months, but would have been probably 3 years, prefect for an intermediate placeholder lease of a Plaid., if I just stayed on my local dealership's waitlist. But Elon solved my dilemma with the yoke and motivated me to work harder to get the Taycan. I was even willing to test drive the yoke, in case I was wrong, but Tesla told me no test drives, have to buy one on faith, so no go for me. Maybe that was on purpose, only people who blindly believe Elon should be buying Teslas?

As for Elon losing customers, not an issue right now. At first he got the curious early adopters with money, Then he capitalized on the hype and sold a bunch more cars. He's now reached the next stage, price wars. Regardless of what you think of all the experimentation on customers, M3/Y are really the best bang for your buck for an EV under $60K. The only Model S allure left is 1000hp straight line acceleration, which is weak (personally I will take 670hp Taycan with PDCC, PTV and proper brakes, over 1000hp Plaid any day). Elon's plan is in fact working, this "continuous integration on customers" gives Tesla an advantage above other cars. Tesla is no longer competing in the high end EV market. they are now competing for mass market EV's. Notice Elon no longer talks about "fastest production car" or " longest range production EV" since Tesla no longer has hold those titles, but they don't have to. They have "longest range per dollar spent" and probably "fastest acceleration per dollar spent" too. Think of Tesla as the next Kia, not the next Mercedes, and Elon is perfect for it.

My dentist is on his third Model S. He said he likes the new landscape screen, but the yoke sucks.

Interesting story about your trip home with the Taycan. That's jumping in the deep end to fly to the other side of the country to pick up the car and risk getting stranded with the Russian roulette of non-Tesla fast chargers.

Having been a Tesla customer for a decade, I agree that service went from stellar, to complete *sugar*, but it did seem to bounce back a little. My experience with mobile techs has always been great. The experience with the service center, while amazing in the first few years (2013-2018), went to *sugar* when Model 3's came out. All the people I got to know, mangers, foremen, engineers, all moved on to other places (burned out?). Things like "yellow screen is still showing correct information, so it's your own fault for exposing the screen to oxygen" bullshit came out, as did "we see the problem in your video, but unless this happens at the service center we'll have to charge you $198 per hour for diagnosis of your 3 month old car". It did seem to improve a little bit lately, but still no loaners, and got a lot more expensive, plus pushy sales techniques like adding stuff you didn't order ("for your convenience") or lowballing the quote only to up it 70% once in the shop, started to appear at Tesla. I recommended a Model Y to my parents who were on an ID.4 waitlist when Elon dropped prices, and once they got it they ordered the garage door opener, for which a mobile tech came out and was unable to set it up with a standard intellicode opener (she told them they need to get a WiFi and google enabled garage opener, or Tesla will never work it it) - worse, she took the opener back as they decided they didn't want it if it requires a new garage opener, but the credit took over a month, an in person visit and a few emails (actually still pending last I checked, but at least the order status changed to cancelled). Maybe mobile tech quality varies from region to region (mu parents live clear on the opposite side of the continent from me).

Bottom line Elon is aiming for mass production, cheapest EV, which of course will not result in service comparable to more expensive brands. Personally I think he has a good chance to become the affordable EV leader of the world. I don't think Elon can compete with the premium brands, even though Tesla started off as one. I don't think he wants to. My personal opinion, Elon's wet dream is a disposable and recyclable, dirt cheap EV. Think disposable razor blades, not worth sharpening or repairing. Buy a Tesla for $10K, 3 year warranty during which you just get a new one if yours breaks, then it's cheaper to buy another one for $10K than fix your current one.

In the Portland area I've had good experiences with both service center and mobile techs. It's just become such a pain to get to the point where you can talk directly with a real human being. There is now a service center in Vancouver, WA which makes going to the SC vastly easier. It used to be a minimum hour trip each way, now it's about 30 minutes, but no weird traffic issues.

For Elon service has been an afterthought. Even if you get a very reliable car, you're going to end up dealing with the service people more than you will the sales people. Service is a big deal for whether the customer has a warm and fuzzy feeling about owning the car or not. On top of that Tesla has done everything they can to keep owners in the Tesla service universe. For out of warranty work, it would be nice to go to the local car repair shop.

Improving the after sales experience would be one of the tasks for a new CEO.

I'm not sure Tesla wants to be a bargain car company, I think the aim is to be more of the Ford of EV companies. A company that mostly makes cars aimed at the typical middle class family in large volumes. Not econo-boxes, but not super luxurious either. The Model S has never been comparable to something like a Mercedes except in price. It has features roughly comparable to a Lincoln or a Buick, but it isn't really all that comparable to European luxury cars.

I drove a 1992 Buick before getting my Model S. There were a lot of higher tech than my 24 year old Buick and the seats in the S were not as nice as the old car, but the features were generally similar.

I feel kind of saddened to see Tesla degrade like it has. It had the potential to be a great car company end to end, but they have messed up in a number of areas.

 

[Barry]

Seems to me that the lower end of the market would be a good spot for Tesla to morph into, as they're into quantity, not quality.

 

[bmah]

Ok and this screenful of posts has what to do with software for AP1 cars?

Bruce.

 

[henderrj]

Ok and this screenful of posts has what to do with software for AP1 cars?

Bruce.

Does this count?

The avatar on my screen is not always the right color. In backup mode and with ultrasonic "noise" it shows me a light blue avatar. Everywhere else it is the correct midnight blue. Am I alone in this?

I have an AP1 car with mcu-2 update.

 

[jgs]

The avatar on my screen is not always the right color. In backup mode and with ultrasonic "noise" it shows me a light blue avatar. Everywhere else it is the correct midnight blue. Am I alone in this?

I have an AP1 car with mcu-2 update.

What do you mean by "ultrasonic 'noise'"?

FWIW I haven't noticed any funnies about the avatar of my AP1/MCU2 car.

 

[Droschke]

Does this count?

The avatar on my screen is not always the right color. In backup mode and with ultrasonic "noise" it shows me a light blue avatar. Everywhere else it is the correct midnight blue. Am I alone in this?

I have an AP1 car with mcu-2 update.

Are you talking about the ongoing issue with the incorrect colorizing of your car discussed here:

Tesla colorizer not working on 2014 Model S

If yes, the issue has not been fixed.

 

[vickh]

'17('18) - '21 Model 3 and Y used Intel Atom-based landscape oriented screens (referred to as MCU3). In '22, this changed to AMD Ryzen to match the refreshed S and X (which are referred to as MCU Z).

In all seriousness, the AMD screens are no joke. I have a new Model Y and the MCU runs circles around my MCU 2 in the Model S.

Good to know. Will I feel much difference b/t 2 and and MCU 3 (in my 19 3) ?

 

[henderrj]

Are you talking about the ongoing issue with the incorrect colorizing of your car discussed here:

Tesla colorizer not working on 2014 Model S

If yes, the issue has not been fixed.

That's the one. Thanks! I guess.

 

[rsg123]

by "streaming audio freezing" every few minutes, do you mean the sound randomly cuts out for a fraction of a second - almost as if someone just momentarily disconnected then reconnects the speaker? If so, I've been having that problem the past couple months or so, I'm assuming its some media player bug introduced recently in one of the latest updates.

Now that I think of it, the problem started just after Tesla added Apple Music support and I signed up for an Apple Music free trial to test it out. I first noticed the audio gaps during Apple Music playback. However I've since confirmed the problem also occurs with Spotify, Slacker and USB audio - never had this audio issue with those latter 3 sources before.

My MCU2 upgrade is working fine otherwise. Currently on 2023.6.1 The audio cutting out momentarily is mentioned in a bunch of other threads elsewhere, I think some reports from newer cars not just old MS with MCU2 upgrade.

Thanks for this. I did some of the deeper reboots and the screens have stopped being delayed. But of course I still have the audio issue.

Ok and this screenful of posts has what to do with software for AP1 cars?

Bruce.

I guess it started with me mentioning my AP1 car software issues but it morphed into something fairly off topic.

 

[whitex]

I guess it started with me mentioning my AP1 car software issues but it morphed into something fairly off topic.

I think it morphed into "Life with any car equipped with AP1 after 2018-50-6.14169"