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bcsteeve
Member
I just did that. And I also just saw a video that I saw months ago which was an influence for me.. and yeah, you can guess who the author was 
I also see that my other thread did have responses, I just wasn't subscribed. So I'm now caught up a little, and I know who Bjorn is.
I also see that my other thread did have responses, I just wasn't subscribed. So I'm now caught up a little, and I know who Bjorn is.
iKhalid
Member
He deserves the referrals and the Model X. I wish him nothing but the best.I just did that. And I also just saw a video that I saw months ago which was an influence for me.. and yeah, you can guess who the author was
I also see that my other thread did have responses, I just wasn't subscribed. So I'm now caught up a little, and I know who Bjorn is.
bcsteeve
Member
From the look on his wife's face on the video I'm watching now, I'd say she deserves the Model X.
10 minutes might be a stretch, but I've done several trips in the US where essentially, it's 15-20 minutes at the supercharger and the car is ready to go with a good buffer to the next stop. However we often (sometimes?) wouldn't be ready ourselves, and the car ended up getting even more than needed for the next destination. If we cared about down-to-the-minute stops, perhaps we could shave that 15-20 down to 10-15. But we like taking it a little more relaxed.
Because it's a HUGE purchase price for "a car"! As I've said in other threads, for me it was really weird handing over a cashier's cheque for an amount that was more than my first two houses. That said, although we really stretched to get the car, I have no regrets -- it's just a whole different, better, incomparable driving experience.
Power to you! [pun intended] But a risky path IMHO since Tesla is so new and doesn't give out repair manuals or even give access to parts (yet?).
Good luck in your eventual final decision. Hope it works out for the best, whichever you decide.
bcsteeve
Member
I'd expect that to be the case. It was no different with the smart. I had to work blind developing the cruise control for that. That's my advantage... being able to. If there was a manual for everything, I'd have a lot more competition
It all starts with plugging my laptop into the car and beginning the long process of decoding the data. Next up is carefully pulling things apart to generate a wiring diagram. That's the fun part of my job I love that stuff.
Canuck
Well-Known Member
If you're going to buy it, do so knowing you will lose money on it. I doubt any money you can make on selling improvements to other owners will compensate for the depreciation you will experience. It's more like buying a computer than a car. Also, like buying a computer, it's far from perfect.
However, if you can afford it, and are prepared to lose money on it, then I say without any hesitation "buy it". It has made my life so much more enjoyable just being able to drive it everyday. Plus, I get to support Tesla and my kid's future at the same time. Life's far too short for me to wait to buy a Tesla.
Oh, and about that 10 minutes at the Supercharger -- I spent 10 minutes at the Hope Supercharger yesterday while grabbing a coffee at the Blue Moose on the way home from my cabin in Tulameen and it made a huge difference to me, as it does most weekends when I go to and from my cabin. Other than that, I'm charging overnight, so it doesn't really matter. I know on a roadtrip between superchargers I have to spend longer, but I usually want to eat and check things out anyway. It's not like you have to spend hours.
bcsteeve
Member
I'm not bold enough to say I *will* be able to make something that owners want to buy in droves, but I'm not going to sell myself short either. I sold nearly half a million worth of one single item to North American smart car owners, and all that was direct to owners. I think there are probably similar numbers of Tesla owners (smart never sold as well as they hoped in the USA), and I would suspect the average Tesla owner would be much more able to part with their money than the average smart car owner. Of course, there was a glaring deficiency to the smart (no cruise control) combined with my ability to make one where others failed, combined with timing... I had the advantage of having the car 3 months before anyone else. Of course that's not the case here. There's an advantage to being late too... since the market is already there and I can see what problems people have and what is (or more to the point, isn't) being done to meet the need.
Anyway, of course it is a risk and I can't bank on it being a certainty, or even a likely outcome. But I know my abilities and my history. The trick is deciding in the next 48 hours what my odds are.
I'm going for an extended over-night test drive tomorrow. I'll at least know if it is comfortable for me. The rest will be what it will be.
Jgdixon
Active Member
I don't get your logic at all. How will you benefit from Superchargers near the 407? You would have to drive an awful lot of km daily to need them on a regular basis. Is it that you are worried about buying a car without auto pilot features fully functional? What other car in the world gets improvements on a regular basis and for free? As for so called 'pressure' this is the first time people have know in advance of an increase. In the past Tesla took lots of flack for raising prices with no warning.Our sales rep did his best to get us to pull the trigger before the price increase. The single biggest reason we decided against it for now is the whole "Tesla Time" thing. When (if?) they open superchargers are the start and end of the 407 we will revisit whether or not it's time to buy a Model S. Also, pre-paying less now for something now that won't be functional until later should be outlawed.
The sales employees may not work on commission but they must have some sort of bonus system in place. The pressure wasn't exactly like a traditional dealership but it was a close second.
We travel through the GTA via the 407 every 2 or 3 weeks. Without said superchargers, we wouldn't be able to effectively bypass the worst of the traffic / congestion on our trips through Toronto. It's a convenience thing for us, I apologize if this doesn't make sense to you.
What does free improvements over time have to do with selling people something that does not exist?
What does free improvements over time have to do with selling people something that does not exist?
Jgdixon
Active Member
My point is that although all the features are not enabled they will be. Why would you hold off because you don't have steering assist or parallel parking yet? We all get new features continually that we didn't have or expect to get.
The car itself isn't what is making us hold off - it's entirely about the convenience related to infrastructure.
That said, I'm not a fan of having options sold with a car that don't exist yet. At best, it's disingenuous. Since it's 100% software related, why not wait to collect the money until it's actually working and available?
That said, I'm not a fan of having options sold with a car that don't exist yet. At best, it's disingenuous. Since it's 100% software related, why not wait to collect the money until it's actually working and available?
Soolim
Member
More power to you. When you get your car and figure out how to show the tire pressure reading on the screen, please let us know. Some of us would like to have that feature (not provided by Tesla for some unknown reason). I am not interested in the FOBO technology due to added cost and risk of loss in tire pressure due to external sensor damage. I expect the Tesla computer to already have that reading in its collected data, but simply not displayed. Maybe in version 7.0?I'd expect that to be the case. It was no different with the smart. I had to work blind developing the cruise control for that. That's my advantage... being able to. If there was a manual for everything, I'd have a lot more competition
bcsteeve
Member
I can guarantee you that if it has a TPS sensor (does it?) that the data is flowing and I'd be able to read it. Every car built since 2007 (and most built since 1998) require sensor data to be on a certain standard. Can I make it display on their 17" screen? Probably not. Grabbing and using the info is one thing... making it display on their proprietary display using their proprietary software involves a [quasi-illegal] skillset that I don't have. It would be possible to integrate it with one of the 3rd party phone apps, provided the author of the app is keen on the idea. I, myself, am not an "app" guy. I don't even have a phone (it is probably time for that to change).
I'm assuming Tesla hasn't released any API for interfacing with the display, right?
Now... if a person has a phone with a data plan in the car that could be used to upload the data to a webserver where the car could then display it using the browser (assuming the browser works while driving?). I don't know the limitations of the browser.
But I could make the hardware that reads the TPS, yes
I'm assuming Tesla hasn't released any API for interfacing with the display, right?
Now... if a person has a phone with a data plan in the car that could be used to upload the data to a webserver where the car could then display it using the browser (assuming the browser works while driving?). I don't know the limitations of the browser.
But I could make the hardware that reads the TPS, yes
mknox
Well-Known Member
Not entirely true. Cars have to have the ability to alert the driver of low tire pressure, but it doesn't have to be via a sensor. I have a 2007 Pontiac that uses an ABS "hack" to detect when one wheel is rotating at a different speed than the others due to a diameter change caused by low pressure. It actually works. I have had it report low pressure (won't tell you which tire), and sure enough, I had low pressure. At first, I thought Tesla must be doing this, but since they actually employ wheel sensors, likely not.
bcsteeve
Member
It is entirely true, but not how you read it. My statement had nothing to do with TPS specifically. *IF* there's a sensor reporting, it has to report over a standard network. What sensors there are varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, model to model. In the case of your Pontiac, the sensor was the ABS but the reporting had to be on the network.
I'm not aware of any requirement that a car alert the driver of low pressure, although maybe it is in America but certainly not Canada. I have a 2010 Honda that has no pressure monitoring of any sort - not even a "hack". The same car in the USA has TPS standard.
I'm not aware of any requirement that a car alert the driver of low pressure, although maybe it is in America but certainly not Canada. I have a 2010 Honda that has no pressure monitoring of any sort - not even a "hack". The same car in the USA has TPS standard.
mknox
Well-Known Member
Okay, I see what your saying wrt "if". But is that even true? Why would they mandate how the signal has to traverse the car's systems? I don't really know, but it just seems more likely that regulators would require a specific functionality and not get in to how it's implemented. The example of the OBD-II port was mandated, but from an emission control perspective. That's why the Model S OBD-II port has nothing on it other than 12v power.
You might be right about TPMS being a US thing. Often, US requirements get carried over to Canadian cars even if not required. The CHMSL (3rd brake light) wasn't required until 1987 models in Canada, but because it was a 1986 requirement in the US, a lot of 1986 Canadian cars had it. I had a 1986 Chrysler with the CHMSL and my buddy's 1986 Honda didn't.
Jaff
Active Member
Sorry, but I had to chuckle at this...the entire computer software industry is built on "pre-paying less now for something that won't be functional until later"...if ever!
Hey, I agree with you, but ship of "pre-paying" has long since sailed...
Soolim
Member
For Tesla, I don't think TPMS is a USA thing. Tesla SC can sell me TPMS for my winter tire. There is already third party product such as Fobo that can send tire pressure reading to your phone App. But Fobo requires a pressure sensor attached to the outside of the valve stem, which I don't like for risk of getting loss, vandalism and curb damage.
Maybe Tesla should add the tire pressure reading to the iphone and android apps as a start, until they upgrade to V7.0 which I hope will have the reading on display screen.
mknox
Well-Known Member
I meant that in the context of my reply to @bcsteeve in that TPMS may be mandated in the US and not in Canada.
I bought a second set of rims from Tire Rack two years ago and had them install after-market compatible sensors for me. Interestingly, those sensors have been rock solid, but the ones that came from Tesla gave me a lot of grief. Tesla has replaced 6 of their sensors that came with the car thus far (along with the receiver in the car and an antenna kit for it). They replaced one, that didn't fix the problem, so they replaced all 4, then one of the 4 new ones went bad.
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