Car needs charge interruption notification feature now more than ever

[SteveW25561]

I do think its important that Tesla continue to address charging safety, and despite the growing pains of automatic charge throttling, UMC charger recalls, etc, I think it's becoming more and more critical that the Model S has a way to notify the user of any changes in charging (voltage reduction, charge complete, charger disconnected, charging stopped, error codes, overheating detection etc).

While users can check in on the car via the mobile apps, this is hardly practical. I think we should actively petition Telsa to add this feature to MS. Since the car may not have an SMS plan, the software could very easily be configured to email the user when any change in the car is detected (this could also include car alarm, door opened etc, but charging status is the most critical). I'd like the car to have at least 2 or more addresses to email to. That way, you can configure the email to go to your cell phone's email to SMS gateway (eg [email protected]) plus your own email account as a backup (I've found SMS gateways occasionally be slow or unreliable).

Right now, I'm using visibletesla's email notification feature to emulate this but really this functionality should be native to the car.

 

[efusco]

Yea, was thinking exactly the same thing today. Now the car can lower the charge rate by 25% and/or can cut charging all together. If I leave the car anticipating it charging steadily for 4-5 hours, or more, and it's interrupted at some point and I'm not notified (perhaps while sleeping at a hotel or something) it could be pretty devastating for a trip or even a short drive to an important meeting if I arrived at the car to find it hadn't charged much, if at all.

 

[Rainbow]

A notification feature might not just be a convenience, it might be an added safety feature. If power is lost, or if there is a major voltage change, or if significant arcing; I think many customers would want a page or text alerts to their cell phones. It might save lives and property.

 

[widodh]

+100 !

I already say false positives with this on a public charging station. My colleague borrowed my Model S. He arrived with 3km of range left. Plugged it in, verified it started charging and left the car. Charging stopped 5 minutes later and 12 hours later I found out that the range had dropped to 0km due to the vampire drain.

Maybe it's a feature in the App which they can build in. If the App is still running in the background it could send notifications to you as a user. No need for SMS or e-mail.

Yes, I'm sure this was due to the new firmware. The car has been charging at that station multiple times, but since I got the new firmware it's giving issues. Voltage is a steady 235V at 16A.

 

[ChadS]

I agree; I am just not sure it will come quickly. After a long trip almost four years ago I told Tesla that telling the user when charging stops unexpectedly was the ONLY thing they had to add to make road trips reasonable. They agreed it was a high priority feature and said they were working on it. I guess they are still working...

 

[SteveW25561]

I just emailed ownership as well as Jerome G the following email (I made up a new term of "charge anxiety" replacing "range anxiety"). I fully expect a boiler plate of "thanks, we'll forward to development" like they usually do for feature suggestions, but I really do think this simple feature will help mitigate bad press, charge stranding and potentially enhance safety.

=====

Given recent developments (new firmware with automatic charge throttling, UMC adapter recalls, garage fire), it is now a CRITICAL feature that the Model S can reach out and inform the owner of any changes in charge status.


With the new firmware, we now have "charge anxiety" replacing "range anxiety."



This is not just a convenience feature but possibly a critical SAFETY issue: imagine an owner charging at a hotel overnight, but the car decides it needs to throttle or stop charging just minutes after the owner leaves the car. The next morning, the car has zero charge and can't start without a Ranger, and the user is stranded (particularly dangerous in the cold, where the battery will deplete even faster!). Or, if the car detects an overheating situation, the user can be alerted to make sure there isn't a fire in their garage!


The last thing Tesla needs now is more bad publicity (imagine headlines like "I was stranded by my car since it decided to stop charging!" "My car caught fire and never even made a peep!").


I agree that its important that Tesla continue to address charging safety. A notification feature greatly enhances that issue.


While users can check in on the car via the mobile apps, this is hardly practical, and will surely miss a critical event. iOS or app notifications can be unreliable, and shuts out non-smartphone owners.

Since the car does have an SMS plan, the software could very easily be configured to email the user when ANY change in the car is detected (this could also include car alarm, door opened etc, but charging status/emergencies are the most critical).

I'd like the car to have at least 2 or more addresses to email to. That way, you can configure the email to go to your cell phone's email to SMS gateway (eg [email protected]) plus your own email account as a backup (I've found SMS gateways occasionally be slow or unreliable).


I implore Tesla to expedite this functionality. It will go a long way to avoid further bad press, and make the Model S an even better car.
======

Edit:

AMAZING. I literally got an email back from Jerome G 3 minutes after I sent this one (at 1:00 AM no less!). Once again, I'm amazed at how responsive Jerome is.

He agreed it's a great suggestion and forwarded the email to the head of firmware! While I guess it is the expected "we'll forward on" response, the fact it's from Jerome himself, and directly forwarded to the head of firmware by him, it sure feels like a "real" response.

 

[mgemmell]

...
This is not just a convenience feature but possibly a critical SAFETY issue: imagine an owner charging at a hotel overnight, but the car decides it needs to throttle or stop charging just minutes after the owner leaves the car. ...

And this is exactly what happened to us on our Spain to Scotland trip... First night in the UK and we had to charge at a goofy double UK plug outlet. I only had the iphone app and had to keep checking every 30 minutes. The circuit failed after 2 hours, and then at 5am the fuses blew. Then again at 6am. As we were driving to Scotland the next day we needed a full charge and we needed to leave as early as possible, so I was checking the app every 30 minutes in order to catch any issue quickly.

I think I got a better nights sleep when our 3 kids were babies!

This feature is totally vital.

...

AMAZING. I literally got an email back from Jerome G 3 minutes after I sent this one (at 1:00 AM no less!).

Once again, I'm amazed at how responsive Jerome is.

He agreed it's a great suggestion and forwarded the email to the head of firmware! While I guess it is the expected "we'll forward on" response, the fact it's from Jerome himself, and directly forwarded to the head of firmware by him, it sure feels like a "real" response.

That's awesome... hope it appears in the much awaited 6.0

 

[scaesare]

You should look at Joe Pasqua's excellent "Visible Tesla" app. It's multiplatform, and can schedule, monitor, and alert on a variety of events including charging status changes, speed, and location(geofencing).

There's a large thread on it here on the forums.

 

[Gizmotoy]

I agree; I am just not sure it will come quickly. After a long trip almost four years ago I told Tesla that telling the user when charging stops unexpectedly was the ONLY thing they had to add to make road trips reasonable. They agreed it was a high priority feature and said they were working on it. I guess they are still working...

Any day now. You know their software release record. :biggrin:

You should look at Joe Pasqua's excellent "Visible Tesla" app. It's multiplatform, and can schedule, monitor, and alert on a variety of events including charging status changes, speed, and location(geofencing).

There's a large thread in it here on the forums.

Second this. VisibleTesla is great. That said, it has to be running in order for notifications to be sent, and your computer cannot be asleep. Nor can the app itself be asleep.

It works pretty well most of the time, but not reliably enough to count on it if charging status is crucial.

(Edit: I have no idea why it's breaking your post up into two quotes. I delete the superfluous tags and it automatically adds them back in. Huh.)

 

[SteveW25561]

I agree: Visible Tesla is an amazing app, and I love it for the notification features -- it certainly fills the gap for now, but I still think this should be native to the car.