Apps, Tech, and Experience (or.. the industry needs to wake up)

So this has been on my mind, curious what others are thinking.

I’m currently driving a ‘22 M3P with a ‘24 MSP on order (EDD Sept). In the spring I test drove and ordered a BMW i5 M60 that ended up having a production issue (wrong packages added so I rejected the car) and while waiting for it to be built I obsessed (or so my spouse would say) over different cars. I had convinced myself not to go back to Tesla (I haven’t had problems with my M3P but honesty I feel like it drives like a kleenex box).

In my research, I kept hitting wall upon wall upon wall of other manufacturers and they app/tech stack being so much of a dumpster fire that when I found out a few weeks ago that my BMW wasn’t built to my exact specs (they didn’t add the ADAS system), I rejected the car, got my deposit back, and put the $250 down on an MSP while I figure things out.

My beef is that, while I think we can all agree Tesla isn’t up to some of the germans and other manufacturers in terms of quality (fit, finish, build, etc.) and arguably for some, driving dynamics, it absolutely trounces any company when it comes to sheer QOL or the “whole” experience, in my opinion of course.

If you care about driving, handling, “luxury” feel, then I think what I’m about to say may not apply to you, but if you care about the end-to-end experience, hear me out.

The flaming pile dog sh*t that is most manufacturers tech and app stack is mind boggling, especially in 2024. We all carry smart phones and I’m utterly convinced that this is affecting sales of some legacy manufacturers, especially with millennials, gen z, etc.

Take BMW for example (who some would say is probably pretty advanced in terms of tech) - their iDrive system, while good, is a confusing mess of menus. On the app side of things, it can turn on/off the car, put down the windows, pre-condition the car, but that’s about it. It also doesn’t connect (to my knowledge) directly to the car but goes through the BMW cloud servers (which if you read the forums, often has issues and makes the app inoperable) vs. Tesla which uses Bluetooth when in range, etc.

I’ve drawn up this list of things that keep me coming back to Tesla (even though I fundamentally disagree with some things - esp. the company direction). There are no other manufacturers that come close to this.

1. Mobile app experience: nothing compares in the industry. BMW’s app is hot garbage, as are most of the others. The amount of things you can do to your Tesla via the app is amazing. Many manufacturers have an app, but their functionality is very limited, slow, etc. IMO, app functionality (esp. in an EV) are really important if you’re in a climate like me and want to defrost your car, turn your seat heaters/steering wheel heaters on, or even the A/C without having to go to the garage.
2. Shortcuts / Automation: similar to #1, I’ve got a bunch of Shortcuts automations on my iPhone to pre-heat the car, open the frunk, trunk, etc. I can just ask Siri (on my watch no less!) to control my tesla.
3. Walk away lock/unlock: some companies are catching up, but many are still far away here, why?!
4. Not having to start the car: my my this annoys me that BMWs and other EVs have a start button! Why? The car’s electric, you don’t need it - it makes much more sense to hit the break to effectively “turn on” the car. As an aside, owning a Tesla has messed me up so much that I often forget to turn off my wife’s ICE car - she calls me out on it every time
5. API / 3rd party access: love that you can hook up a 3rd party app like Tessie, TeslaFi, etc etc to get additional functionality, stats, metrics.
6. In-depth stats/metrics: similar to #5, but most manufacturers will provide you very little data and mostly provide avec mi/kw, range, etc.
7. Autopilot / FSD: yes it’s not perfect, but for some type of driving (e.g.: highways) it’s really good. Some companies are catching up here, but none really have an FSD equivalent.
8. OTA Updates: don’t get me started here, my M3P has had so many new features added in the last 2.5 years - nobody does it like Tesla. BMW does “OTA” but they are small bug fixes and they hold back functionality for new MYs. When I got my M3P, I did not have Apple Music, Apple Podcast, turn signal camera indicators, just to name a few. I’d probably have to buy a whole new car to get those.
9. Dog mode / camp mode: why doesn’t every EV provide this? It’s not like you’re idling an ICE car - give people the option! In BMWs for example, you can’t even keep the car “on” (ugh, there it is again) when exiting the vehicle.
10. Frunk / storage: EVs have less parts, why are there so few companies that offer a functional frunk + additional storage? the i5 for example is a massive vehicle and would likely be able to accommodate a nice size frunk if BMW has gave two sh*ts about it.
11. Sentry mode / clip recording: most cars have a ton of cameras these days, so why not offer this? BMW has Drive Recorder which is laughable. The amount of times I record a clip “just in case” is significant (because I can). For example, recently sold some high value items on Marketplace and ended up taking sentry clips of the exchange / licence plates for my protection.
12. Live camera view: another feature I did not have when I bought my M3P, but the ability to see the cameras when you’re not in the car (even inside!). Again, BMW has this but it takes a “screenshot” and shows it to you in the app, you can’t see the cameras live. ugh.
13. Cabin overheat protection: even up here in Canada in the summer it can get in the 90’s (and even warmer in the car), so this is really nice to have so you’re not entering a scorching car when you get in.
14. Buying experience: ok, not tech/app related, but kind of as I just ordered a 125K CAD car through the mobile app! When I ordered my BMW and had to go through the sales process in a dealer, I got reminded why this is a damn sh*tshow. Holy hell I prefer the Tesla hands-off, no pressure experience - and at least here, the advisors at the Tesla SC are super nice, always (but it is Canada, eh?)

Anyway I’m sure I’ve forgotten things.

So while I much much preferred the build, driving, fit/finish on the BMW i5 I ordered over the Model S, when that order went sideways I took it as a sign to go back to Tesla for my next car. I cross shopped a lot of different brands as well and to me, there is no real competitor to the Model S - the “closest” for me would be the i5 Touring (which you can’t get in North America), or the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo which in Canada is about 30K more than the Plaid - and I’d be giving up a ton of what I mentioned above.

My wife tells me I would have been happy with the BMW for about 3 months before the sheen wore off and I would come to regret all the little things - and in the end, it’s often the little things that count and make us appreciate the whole experience of owning a Tesla (for good or for bad).

/Rant off.

"KIA Future Infotainment System - CES 2014 - (4) - SMADEMEDIA.COM Galleria" by THE SMADE JOURNAL is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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[Calliope]

Dog mode / camp mode: why doesn’t every EV provide this?

This is a very useful - and I think would be a highly desirable/sellable - feature to add to every EV. I too don't know why they all don't have it.

Actually, I do know why: They're thinking like ICE vehicle manufacturers, not EV manufacturers. And I think that will strangle them.

 

[ewoodrick]

When you but a Tesla, you don't just buy an electric vehicle, you buy the Tesla ecosystem.

There's a lot to be said about the Tesla ecosystem that is seldom said. And new Tesla buyers have no idea that it even exists.

Some of my Tesla Ecosystems points....

• How many cars come with integrated garage door openers? Nearly all. How many actually open the door when you pull into the driveway?
• When you are changing lanes, you half-flip the turn signal and it blinks 3 or 4 times. Not in a Tesla, when you do it, it actually watches for you to complete the lane change.
• To extend on what was said. I now approach the car, open the door, sit down and buckle up. Then press the brake and then the accelerator in my Cybertruck. I never unlocked the car, I never started the car, I didn't even have to put it in gear.

 

[Stokkes]

Yes, yes, and yes. Don’t have the auto-shift in my M3P, but your 3 items are definitely things I had forgotten! Thanks for adding them.

 

[Earl]

Dog mode / camp mode: why doesn’t every EV provide this?

Don't worry. Eventually, someone's puppy dog, or worse, kid, is going to die a miserable, agonized death due to a failure of the HVAC system on a car. Tesla is going to have to remove this dangerous feature or spend a lot of money to upgrade its reliability.
It is dangerous because it offers a false sense of security for which it was not designed.
If one can/will die due to the failure of a system, it needs to be designed as a safety-critical/life-support system.
Car HVAC systems were only designed for comfort so they tolerate failure because it will only cause a bit of discomfort.
Safety-critical systems (eg: ABS systems, air bag actuators, drive-by-wire steering, etc.) are designed with much more strict software design assurance, often accompanied by redundant backups and system health monitoring.
I'm sure I will continue to be unpopular with the cool folks who like their 'tech' but, unfortunately, eventually, I'll come back here and refer to this posting while telling you that I told you so.

 

[Calliope]

It is dangerous because it offers a false sense of security for which it was not designed.

No, it's dangerous because people will use it inappropriately. Don't blame tech for people's hubris.

 

[Earl]

dangerous because people will use it inappropriately

If "inappropriately" is leaving your dog or child in the car on a hot day and counting on "dog mode" to keep them alive then yes. How do you expect people to use it?

While, as someone who has worked with high-reliability systems for decades, I can think of a way to safely use it, it is a hassle and I'll guarantee nobody uses it that way, nor would they be willing to.

 

[APotatoGod]

Now that I'm currently driving a rental of a Lexus RZ 450e, I definitely agree! Yes, the seats and wheel are comfy, but the software is at least a decade behind! There's so many little frustrations:

• constant beeps
• needing to make certain adjustments (like enabling regen, which requires four pulls of a lever on the steering wheel) on every single drive
• how the car will randomly and unpredictably stop charging sometimes when you close the doors (especially a headache when this means cancelling and restarting a charge session on public EVSEs, as it often does).
• Oh and also there's no way to see the current charge percentage, and it's very unpredictable as to whether it'll bother to show you the charging progress at all as it charges, with no menu item to explicitly view that info if it doesn't decide to show it as a little alert on the dashboard.
• no app for viewing any status info or control, though that may be just the fault of the rental company not setting us up with it

Despite the fact that this is a luxury car that costs far more than my 2018 model 3, I'd definitely choose the model 3 any day over this vehicle. The comfy self-cooling seats just don't make up for the otherwise archaic feeling experience. I know it's a cousin of the Toyota BZ4X, so practically just a compliance car, but I'd really have expected that at least for their luxury line-up they'd take the basic software at least semi-seriously.

 

[Earl]

the software is at least a decade behind!

Everything from Lexus is at least a decade behind. Toyotas are copied from other companies' mature, successful products, then tested through sales in Japan for several years before being put on the US and other European markets, then features are tested in Toyotas in the international markets for several years before going into Lexus.
Lexus is for the best execution of old technology, not innovative new stuff. I'm not saying this as negative, it just is what it is.

 

[karlos22]

I used to think the bmw idrive system was advanced until I bought a Tesla, now it is laughable.

Remote controlling the car from the app, no key, car tracking, sentry mode, OTA updates just to name a few. Other manufacturers are laughably backwards.

 

[sleepydoc]

Totally agree. Tesla needs to hire some engineers from Audi to design their interior (although it's definitely gotten better.) I still miss CarPlay, mainly for the seamless texting and group texting capabilities at this point, but Tesla makes everyone else's software look like it was designed by Fisher Price

 

[ElectricAnt54]

I still miss CarPlay, mainly for the seamless texting and group texting capabilities at this point,

I have CarPlay in my tesla for this reason. I get many texts. The product I use “Tesla android project” doesn’t add a second screen behind steering wheel or involve any removal of interior trim. It makes CarPlay appear in the Tesla web browser app. **Best of all, you don’t need the CarPlay interface visible to have Siri Eyes Free mode enabled**, this is what provides the 100% voice based workflows for handling texts, phone calls, voicemail and anything Siri once asked you to keep unlocking iPhone to use while driving. This is pretty much how I operate. When I need to see CarPlay I issue Tesla voice command “open browser”. System works simultaneously with Tesla nav and FSD.

 

[Zer0t]

As far as complete integration goes, everyone is lacking in comparison to Tesla. Hardware, software, app they are all trailing. Rivian is probably the next best, IMHO, and that’s why VW made the investment. VW’s EVs may be nice but their integration and software is horrid.

My wife’s EQS MBUX is quite good but a bit complicated and the app has gotten better but lacks the fine grained control that Tesla’s app has. I don’t even wanna discuss the Hummer, infotainment is serviceable the app is among the worst I’ve seen. It’s basically legacy carmakers using their legacy apps on EVs, same with infotainment in a lot of cases.

A friend of mine had a GV60 and it was quite a nicely fit and finished car, design a bit quirky but I liked. The app was unusable and the navigation had no charging software. So you plan a trip and you need to separately plan your charging stops using only external apps like ABRP.

 

[Mikecm1]

I have CarPlay in my tesla for this reason. I get many texts. The product I use “Tesla android project” doesn’t add a second screen behind steering wheel or involve any removal of interior trim. It makes CarPlay appear in the Tesla web browser app. **Best of all, you don’t need the CarPlay interface visible to have Siri Eyes Free mode enabled**, this is what provides the 100% voice based workflows for handling texts, phone calls, voicemail and anything Siri once asked you to keep unlocking iPhone to use while driving. This is pretty much how I operate. When I need to see CarPlay I issue Tesla voice command “open browser”. System works simultaneously with Tesla nav and FSD.

Wait, you can use Siri Eyes Free in a Tesla with Tesla android project? For real?

 

[ElectricAnt54]

Wait, you can use Siri Eyes Free in a Tesla with Tesla android project? For real?

Yes, while driving I can ask Siri to compose a new outgoing text & which normally would require someone to have sent me a message to reply to. There are other Siri Eyes Free actions such as listening to voicemail & starting a call while driving.

 

[APotatoGod]

Yes, while driving I can ask Siri to compose a new outgoing text & which normally would require someone to have sent me a message to reply to. There are other Siri Eyes Free actions such as listening to voicemail & starting a call while driving.

Can't you always do that with Siri and voice commands? Like I'll just say "hey siri, text <name>, and it'll ask me to dictate a text for them, that's been a feature for years and I've never had an issue with that in my Tesla (aside from the fact that when the wireless charger is poorly aligned it seems to interrupt the dictation sometimes).

Is that option not available if you use "Do not disturb while driving" (which I usually don't)? Or is there something else I'm missing?

 

[ElectricAnt54]

Can't you always do that with Siri and voice commands? Like I'll just say "hey siri, text <name>, and it'll ask me to dictate a text for them, that's been a feature for years and I've never had an issue with that in my Tesla (aside from the fact that when the wireless charger is poorly aligned it seems to interrupt the dictation sometimes).

Is that option not available if you use "Do not disturb while driving" (which I usually don't)? Or is there something else I'm missing?

I had a driving focus mode entry but it was set as disabled. I just deleted the driving mode focus entry & rebooted the phone. During my next drive I’ll attempt to use “hey siri” to send a text message after the car has been in motion for a bit. Controlling music has never been an issue via get Siri while driving. I don’t like keeping my phone charging wirelessly although I set phone to only reach 80%. Hopefully keeping phone on a wireless charger is not a requirement.

 

[teslick2]

So this has been on my mind, curious what others are thinking.

I’m currently driving a ‘22 M3P with a ‘24 MSP on order (EDD Sept). In the spring I test drove and ordered a BMW i5 M60 that ended up having a production issue (wrong packages added so I rejected the car) and while waiting for it to be built I obsessed (or so my spouse would say) over different cars. I had convinced myself not to go back to Tesla (I haven’t had problems with my M3P but honesty I feel like it drives like a kleenex box).

In my research, I kept hitting wall upon wall upon wall of other manufacturers and they app/tech stack being so much of a dumpster fire that when I found out a few weeks ago that my BMW wasn’t built to my exact specs (they didn’t add the ADAS system), I rejected the car, got my deposit back, and put the $250 down on an MSP while I figure things out.

My beef is that, while I think we can all agree Tesla isn’t up to some of the germans and other manufacturers in terms of quality (fit, finish, build, etc.) and arguably for some, driving dynamics, it absolutely trounces any company when it comes to sheer QOL or the “whole” experience, in my opinion of course.

If you care about driving, handling, “luxury” feel, then I think what I’m about to say may not apply to you, but if you care about the end-to-end experience, hear me out.

The flaming pile dog sh*t that is most manufacturers tech and app stack is mind boggling, especially in 2024. We all carry smart phones and I’m utterly convinced that this is affecting sales of some legacy manufacturers, especially with millennials, gen z, etc.

Take BMW for example (who some would say is probably pretty advanced in terms of tech) - their iDrive system, while good, is a confusing mess of menus. On the app side of things, it can turn on/off the car, put down the windows, pre-condition the car, but that’s about it. It also doesn’t connect (to my knowledge) directly to the car but goes through the BMW cloud servers (which if you read the forums, often has issues and makes the app inoperable) vs. Tesla which uses Bluetooth when in range, etc.

I’ve drawn up this list of things that keep me coming back to Tesla (even though I fundamentally disagree with some things - esp. the company direction). There are no other manufacturers that come close to this.

1. Mobile app experience: nothing compares in the industry. BMW’s app is hot garbage, as are most of the others. The amount of things you can do to your Tesla via the app is amazing. Many manufacturers have an app, but their functionality is very limited, slow, etc. IMO, app functionality (esp. in an EV) are really important if you’re in a climate like me and want to defrost your car, turn your seat heaters/steering wheel heaters on, or even the A/C without having to go to the garage.
2. Shortcuts / Automation: similar to #1, I’ve got a bunch of Shortcuts automations on my iPhone to pre-heat the car, open the frunk, trunk, etc. I can just ask Siri (on my watch no less!) to control my tesla.
3. Walk away lock/unlock: some companies are catching up, but many are still far away here, why?!
4. Not having to start the car: my my this annoys me that BMWs and other EVs have a start button! Why? The car’s electric, you don’t need it - it makes much more sense to hit the break to effectively “turn on” the car. As an aside, owning a Tesla has messed me up so much that I often forget to turn off my wife’s ICE car - she calls me out on it every time
5. API / 3rd party access: love that you can hook up a 3rd party app like Tessie, TeslaFi, etc etc to get additional functionality, stats, metrics.
6. In-depth stats/metrics: similar to #5, but most manufacturers will provide you very little data and mostly provide avec mi/kw, range, etc.
7. Autopilot / FSD: yes it’s not perfect, but for some type of driving (e.g.: highways) it’s really good. Some companies are catching up here, but none really have an FSD equivalent.
8. OTA Updates: don’t get me started here, my M3P has had so many new features added in the last 2.5 years - nobody does it like Tesla. BMW does “OTA” but they are small bug fixes and they hold back functionality for new MYs. When I got my M3P, I did not have Apple Music, Apple Podcast, turn signal camera indicators, just to name a few. I’d probably have to buy a whole new car to get those.
9. Dog mode / camp mode: why doesn’t every EV provide this? It’s not like you’re idling an ICE car - give people the option! In BMWs for example, you can’t even keep the car “on” (ugh, there it is again) when exiting the vehicle.
10. Frunk / storage: EVs have less parts, why are there so few companies that offer a functional frunk + additional storage? the i5 for example is a massive vehicle and would likely be able to accommodate a nice size frunk if BMW has gave two sh*ts about it.
11. Sentry mode / clip recording: most cars have a ton of cameras these days, so why not offer this? BMW has Drive Recorder which is laughable. The amount of times I record a clip “just in case” is significant (because I can). For example, recently sold some high value items on Marketplace and ended up taking sentry clips of the exchange / licence plates for my protection.
12. Live camera view: another feature I did not have when I bought my M3P, but the ability to see the cameras when you’re not in the car (even inside!). Again, BMW has this but it takes a “screenshot” and shows it to you in the app, you can’t see the cameras live. ugh.
13. Cabin overheat protection: even up here in Canada in the summer it can get in the 90’s (and even warmer in the car), so this is really nice to have so you’re not entering a scorching car when you get in.
14. Buying experience: ok, not tech/app related, but kind of as I just ordered a 125K CAD car through the mobile app! When I ordered my BMW and had to go through the sales process in a dealer, I got reminded why this is a damn sh*tshow. Holy hell I prefer the Tesla hands-off, no pressure experience - and at least here, the advisors at the Tesla SC are super nice, always (but it is Canada, eh?)

Anyway I’m sure I’ve forgotten things.

So while I much much preferred the build, driving, fit/finish on the BMW i5 I ordered over the Model S, when that order went sideways I took it as a sign to go back to Tesla for my next car. I cross shopped a lot of different brands as well and to me, there is no real competitor to the Model S - the “closest” for me would be the i5 Touring (which you can’t get in North America), or the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo which in Canada is about 30K more than the Plaid - and I’d be giving up a ton of what I mentioned above.

My wife tells me I would have been happy with the BMW for about 3 months before the sheen wore off and I would come to regret all the little things - and in the end, it’s often the little things that count and make us appreciate the whole experience of owning a Tesla (for good or for bad).

/Rant off.

View attachment 1071874
"KIA Future Infotainment System - CES 2014 - (4) - SMADEMEDIA.COM Galleria" by THE SMADE JOURNAL is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Admin note:: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

Tesla’s infotainment system is not perfect, but it is by far the best out there today. Every other manufacturers system feels like a 1999 blackberry.

I recently traveled for work and had a Kia EV6 as a rental. Using the voice commands I asked it to play some music. Instead of turning on the radio, it played “soothing tones”. After several seconds I asked it to stop playing the music. Command not recognized. I tried phrasing it ten different ways, same result. On the 11th time it assumed I asked to turned off the AC. Then I had to fumble with trying to turn it back on, while it was 95F outside and I was wearing a suit and tie. Long story short, I’ll never be buying a Kia or Hyundai because their infotainment systems are garbage.

 

[ElectricAnt54]

Can't you always do that with Siri and voice commands? Like I'll just say "hey siri, text <name>, and it'll ask me to dictate a text for them, that's been a feature for years and I've never had an issue with that in my Tesla (aside from the fact that when the wireless charger is poorly aligned it seems to interrupt the dictation sometimes).

Is that option not available if you use "Do not disturb while driving" (which I usually don't)? Or is there something else I'm missing?

No luck. I erased the driving focus mode (it was already disabled). Rebooted phone. Even disabled phone auto lock. Put phone on Tesla wireless charger.

I drive around for a minute & then said “hey siri read my voice email”. Siri said I need to unlock my phone & my phone screen had an image of a car. This is how the more recent iPhones & ios17 behave unless your car Bluetooth supports Siri Eyes Free ;Tesla doesn’t). An older iPhone with older iOS might have a Siri which doesn’t care if your phone is in a car. Older phones might not detect car movement.

 

[EVnut]

Another for the list: packagkng

Packaging of hardware is "tech" and Tesla excels at this. See octavalve for one example.

I think that the Supercharging experience must also be included.