Data plan update?

[Knightowl]

So back in an old shareholder letter Tesla said this:

To further enhance the driver experience, new Model S customers will now receive free data connectivity and Internet radio for four years. As an added benefit to our existing Model S customers, the free four year period starts on January 1, 2014. To be fair to all, in rare cases a customer may be charged for extreme data use.

So that means in theory that those of us with old cars are going to have to start paying for data in about three months. What are the odds that Tesla is going to say anything about this one way or another in the next 3 months? I suppose they are going to have to release details of the Model 3 data plans at some point, and they might update us on the Model S at the same time.

On this note I asked about this directly when I was up at the new Littleton CO service center on Sat during their weekend social. Short answer is they had no answer for me, they said either I could get my own plan from AT&T for the car just as you would for a laptop card or that it may just continue to work and I wont need to do anything. I would very much like to know one way or the other on this with some degree of certanty but looks like we will just have to wait for something official.

 

[Skipdd]

If i have to pay, then i would like the choice of which music streaming service I use. I know this has been discussed in other threads. I've always just sort of accepted that they can pick the service because I dont pay for it, nor the connectivity. If they are going to start to go ala carte, then they need to provide us with the ability to choose other services. While its true for many, that the performance and feel of a Tesla is such that it makes up for other deficits, the more they adjust the construct and when there is real competition, they could have an unpleasant surprise.

As it is, i was going to trade in my 85D for a S 100D in the summer, but have delayed to see what the potential refresh might bring, as well as to see if they will get closer or exceed AP1. I no longer see the value prop of the extra range as sufficient..

 

[SeminoleFSU]

I am guessing you are on Android as I don't think you can do some of these things that you mentioned, like NFC, with an iPhone - and that is about 50% of the Tesla drivers.

I am on Android but you should be able to find apps like tasker on iPhones and create a rule to turn on hotspot when the phone pairs with the Tesla over Bluetooth. The real problem is what @Cyclone pointed out... It sounds like in a recent update they changed the firmware so that it won't auto-join previously used WiFi access points automatically anymore. This will mean even if you have NFC or tasker set to enable hotspot when you get in the car, you'll have to manually join to it in the MS menus.... and it sounds like that will be the case anytime you put it in park too.... Still do-able just a lot more tapping on the center screen to make things work each time you get in the car or put it in park

 

[Cyclone]

Just to clarify, not that it won’t auto-join at all anymore. It just disconnects when you come out of Park and won’t auto-join until back into park. The “idea” was that it wouldn’t download half a song before you started driving off and it held onto a useless connection for too long (my cell phone won’t drop the House WiFi until a quarter mile away, but Waze sure can’t get any data once I’m three houses down).

 

[bob_p]

This "improvement" could have been better. Since the onboard software knows where the car is located, all the software really needs to do is disconnect when the car is leaving the house, like how Homelink works to trigger the door opener. And the software could mark the WiFi network that is located at the house, and not re-connect to that specific network until the car is back in park.

Using that algorithm would still allow the car to auto-connect to other networks, such as a phone hot-spot.

It's features like this that raises concerns about how Tesla designs and tests software, and releases changes that may cause more problems than they are fixing (such as removing the time-of-day clock on the center console, removing the first letter scroll bar in the media player, removing the XM radio station slider, and removing the media player source select from the steering wheel).

Especially if Tesla ever does start charging for the data plan - which seems very likely for the Model 3's, they need to make connection to a phone's hotspot automatic.

 

[SeminoleFSU]

Just to clarify, not that it won’t auto-join at all anymore. It just disconnects when you come out of Park and won’t auto-join until back into park. The “idea” was that it wouldn’t download half a song before you started driving off and it held onto a useless connection for too long (my cell phone won’t drop the House WiFi until a quarter mile away, but Waze sure can’t get any data once I’m three houses down).

Ouch if it disconnects when you come OUT OF park that's much worse than what I was thinking... I thought you meant it disconnected when you put it INTO park... *sigh* If that's the behavior it sounds like we won't be able to use our own hotspot to fulfill the car's data needs at all.

 

[SeminoleFSU]

removing the media player source select from the steering wheel

This one gets me every single time I drive the car.... still.... can't believe they took this feature out.. WHY??? and why hasn't it been added back in yet??? WTH

 

[GWord]

This one gets me every single time I drive the car.... still.... can't believe they took this feature out.. WHY??? and why hasn't it been added back in yet??? WTH

Try holding the track forward/back button. This sort of replicates that if you have favorites for each source (it switched sources if you are at the last favorite in that source).

 

[Cyclone]

Ouch if it disconnects when you come OUT OF park that's much worse than what I was thinking... I thought you meant it disconnected when you put it INTO park... *sigh* If that's the behavior it sounds like we won't be able to use our own hotspot to fulfill the car's data needs at all.

Oh, you can. You just have to use the drop down after getting underway. You know, not pay attention to the road and all.

 

[gregincal]

I guess you could be right - I never thought of Tesla setting up the billing for data but this means that they then have to maintain accounts with all Tesla owners for this service. And then you may get complaints from some folks complaining that the carrier that Tesla is using doesn't have good coverage in their area.

They already have to have accounts with Tesla owners to charge for supercharging charges, and you don't get to choose your service provider today in your Tesla, so it wouldn't be any different.

 

[lucy]

This is a very timely thread for me, going in for my 2 year service next week.
So are the chances they have any data plan info at my Kansas City service center a) slim or b) none?

 

[shady]

This is a very timely thread for me, going in for my 2 year service next week.
So are the chances they have any data plan info at my Kansas City service center a) slim or b) none?

Why rock the boat? Are you dissatisfied that you're not paying anything at the moment?

 

[wayner]

And my experience is that the folks in the service centre are last to know about stuff like this or new SuperChargers, etc.

 

[lucy]

The guys in the KC service center knew nothing about any data changes, but did an awesome job with my service. (Plus I had a flashy red Model S loaner to drive all over KC! WOO!)
No news is good news with the data I guess. You folks are right.

 

[Canuck]

I note that the email I got from Tesla today for my Model 3 reservation says this about data:

Which features come standard with Model 3 for $35,000 USD?
Model 3 is designed to be the safest car in its class, with 220 miles of range, and zero to 60 mph acceleration in 5.6 seconds. Standard features also include full self-driving hardware, Supercharging capability, a rear glass roof, a 15” touchscreen display, Wi-Fi and LTE internet connectivity capability, free over-the-air software updates, full LED lighting, and an 8-year, 100,000 mile battery warranty.

Capability means payments but we all knew that anyway with the Model 3. The only question is how much.

i think they'll just keep offering free data.

Not a chance, although you probably said that "tongue-in-cheek". Tesla is in dire need of revenue and every little bit helps. This will not only bring in revenue but also eliminate an expense. It's going to happen, the only question is when.

My opinion is that we will see it implemented some time next year for vehicles that are over 4 years old since the Model 3 will put in place the infrastructure at Tesla to allow for it.

It bothers me that Tesla says this in their email to me today:

Standard features also include full self-driving hardware,

I have two problems with this statement:

1. It makes it sound like FSD is here -- it's not and may not be for a while.
2. It fails to mention that you have to pay a significant amount (in relation to the price of the vehicle) in order to activate it -- in addition to paying for EAP since you can't get FSD without EAP. So yes, it has the hardware, but it doesn't do anything.

My mother has a reservation and I know when she reads this she won't know the difference between getting the hardware and paying to activate the software. I'm certain a lot of other people will think the same, then be disappointed when it's explained. Why Tesla sets people up for disappointment for some puffery makes no sense to me.

Don't get me wrong -- it's great to get the hardware when not paying to activate EAP or FSD. Tesla should promote that. But they should also explain it better when they do, and it only takes a * -- then at the bottom of the page:

*EAP/FSD hardware comes standard but there is a fee of $ to activate EAP and $ to activate FSD. FSD is currently not available, it is still in development, and subject to regulatory approval.

If you wanted to use your phone as a WiFi hotspot, you could use an app like tasker or something similar to create an action rule that anytime your phone pairs with the Tesla's bluetooth to turn on your phone's hotspot.

But that makes the Tesla app pretty much useless unless you always park where there's wifi. I like to check the supercharging status while at the coffee shop down the street, or preheat or cool the car while at the slopes or the beach. All that's out if you're tethering unless you have a devoted device to tether in which case you might as well just get your own sim card for the vehicle.