Firmware 4.5

[jomo25]

Zanka, you da man! Now that's how you report on a stealth peek at a new firmware release!

Love them all, esp. the %-based charge target as I described above.

I've not kept up with CA SC locations cuz they are irrelevant to me until there are SCs that help me get to CA But there appear to be 4 locations. I thought there were only 3 currently?

In any case, next time someone gets in front of a 4.5-upgraded MS screen, can you perhaps search around the US and see if you notice any other SCs noted on the maps besides the known/active ones? And of course, snap some pics if you see some! (Doubtful they are there, but just thought it would be good to check!) Sounds like 4.5 might go out the same time as the SC announcement (4th of 5 announcements).

Finally, with the elimination of the "range charge" concept. I wonder if there is language to "warn" that setting the setting to 93% or higher "could have negative impact on battery". Or are they just eliminating that caution as well? (Again might be in line with their new policy on battery guarantee and confidence in its durability, though battery experts may know better).

And wither the corresponding "range mode climate control" when the Range mode che was previously engaged?

- - - Updated - - -

Perhaps the posts related to the 4.5 peek should be carved out into a new 4.5 Firmware thread (as the 4.4 one was started before official release).

 

[MikeC]

Zanka, you da man! Now that's how you report on a stealth peek at a new firmware release!

Love them all, esp. the %-based charge target as I described above.

I've not kept up with CA SC locations cuz they are irrelevant to me until there are SCs that help me get to CA But there appear to be 4 locations. I thought there were only 3 currently?

In any case, next time someone gets in front of a 4.5-upgraded MS screen, can you perhaps search around the US and see if you notice any other SCs noted on the maps besides the known/active ones? And of course, snap some pics if you see some! (Doubtful they are there, but just thought it would be good to check!) Sounds like 4.5 might go out the same time as the SC announcement (4th of 5 announcements).

Thanks for posting the pics, Zankaman. This looks like a pretty substantial update to me, at least compared to 4.3 (timed charging only) and 4.4 (nothing really?).

jomo, I was looking for new leaked SuperChargers in the release notes, too. The 6 it shows in the list and the 4 it shows in the map are from the 6 already in California: Folsom, Gilroy, Harris Ranch, Tejon Ranch, Hawthorne, and Barstow. But that is just the picture in the release notes, maybe one of our European friends can explore the new feature and see if they can discover any that have yet to be announced?

 

[ppl]

Updates are pushed to the car and only after that do you receive the clock symbol for installation. You won't get a different update by waiting unless you mean that you want to skip a version completely; do that and you risk mis-matched versions in the different modules.

I suspect that is not true. Never got request to update to 4.3 and when update prompted surprised to see version 4.4 installed. Works perfectly

 

[NigelM]

Thanks Zankaman for the photos! Seems strange that Norway gets the first 4.5 release, but perhaps it also has features/options required for the European market.

There are no deliveries in Europe yet but Tesla has been testing new FW versions in certain test drive cars, including in Europe.

- - - Updated - - -

I suspect that is not true. Never got request to update to 4.3 and when update prompted surprised to see version 4.4 installed. Works perfectly

I believe v4.3 was stopped and rolled into v4.4.

 

[bob_p]

Maybe 4.5 will be rolled out with the supercharger announcement...

 

[thedonald]

I'm still waiting the option where the top of the map shows the relative direction the cars going rather than north is always up. Extra credit would place the current location in the bottom third allowing the top two thirds to show what's ahead.

 

[Vger]

Maybe 4.5 will be rolled out with the supercharger announcement...

Reasonable supposition! Hope so-- only two weeks to wait then!

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

I'm assuming that the list of supercharger stations will be dynamically fetched by the car over its data connection rather than having that list baked into the firmware itself (as otherwise, the firmware would need updates with every new SC that's added).

Wonder if this list will be made available via the REST API to the mobile app as well eventually.

 

[Vger]

I wonder if they now (or soon) will indicate availability of the superchargers listed on the map?! If Recargo and ChargePoint and others can do this, they must to keep up! Anyone know for sure if the superchargers are wired for telematics?

 

[Puyallup Bill]

I wonder if that charge percentage slider will show up on the phone apps. I hope so - it probably will, since the timer did. I like it. LEAF drivers have been clamoring for such a feature since day one, but never happened.

Feeding the Vamp with shore power is also nice, but it still dumps kWh down the drain.

 

[jomo25]

I wonder if that charge percentage slider will show up on the phone apps. I hope so - it probably will, since the timer did. I like it. LEAF drivers have been clamoring for such a feature since day one, but never happened.

It would have be I think. I was thinking about this today and it does present a bit of a timing challenge I would guess due to Apple's app store process and its timing. I guess there needs to be some backwards compatibility. Something like if the older version of the app is still being used by the user (due to app store delay or the user not upgrading in time) it may just use defaults of 93% and 100% for the "normal" and "range" amounts. and if you set it from the old app, it'll override the in-car setting to those figures...My guess. Otherwise, it might be tricky - would need to upgrade both the car firmware and the phone at the same time.

I'm assuming that the list of supercharger stations will be dynamically fetched by the car over its data connection rather than having that list baked into the firmware itself (as otherwise, the firmware would need updates with every new SC that's added).

Yes, I would agree they wouldnt be hardcoded into the firmware. But there's probably code in 4.5 to read the locations from a database, that likely isn't in the current firmware. And its possible that that table in the database may already be filled with the existing and about-to-be-announced locations. That's what I meant.

- - - Updated - - -

I wonder if they now (or soon) will indicate availability of the superchargers listed on the map?! If Recargo and ChargePoint and others can do this, they must to keep up! Anyone know for sure if the superchargers are wired for telematics?

Yes, status/availability of the chargers would be great for the SCs. Like Blink also does.

 

[contaygious]

Thanks for the pics. I have no use for most of that stuff though except the superchargers on maps since I couldnt find some before on there. I was hoping for one more fun updates.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Still no sleep mode? Looks like I'll be sticking with v4.1 for a while longer.

 

[brianman]

EarlyAdopter: Still no sleep mode? Looks like I'll be sticking with v4.1 for a while longer.

Cognitive dissonance detected.

 

[twinklejet]

Front red oscillating lights like that are illegal in California. You can have any other color up there, or red on any other side of the car other than front. But front + red = no.

I'm really curious.. What & who do you seem to be replying to?
(Can't seem to find any cool photo of a Tesla with "front red oscillating lights like that" in the entire thread before your post..)

 

[DavidM]

I'm still waiting the option where the top of the map shows the relative direction the cars going rather than north is always up. Extra credit would place the current location in the bottom third allowing the top two thirds to show what's ahead.

We will probably need a 4G connection for that. As it stands now, the map refresh while driving down the highway can barely keep up. Refreshes to maintain north while turning are an equal challenge on a 3G connection.

 

[DriverOne]

Why would anyone ever want to only charge to 30%?

 

[bob_p]

We will probably need a 4G connection for that. As it stands now, the map refresh while driving down the highway can barely keep up. Refreshes to maintain north while turning are an equal challenge on a 3G connection.

Map rotation should be done locally in the car - and not require a new download as the car turns. I've had this in my Toyota/Lexus nav systems - and the Tegra processors in the Model S should be able to handle the rotation.

 

[Todd Burch]

Hopefully the supercharger list is fetched when an internet connection is available, and cached when not.

Yes, status/availability of the chargers would be great for the SCs. Like Blink also does.

There would be some use for SC availibility, but IMO current availability of superchargers would be much less useful than a reservation system. Since they're spaced so far apart, you wouldn't know if it would be available until you got close, and of course by then you can't go on to the next one. So would probably wait anyway.

I'm really curious.. What and who do you seem to be replying to?

I think he was responding to a comment about having the red "Knight Rider" lights on the front of the car?

I have no problem with a charge slider instead of the standard/range options, but Tesla's going to need to give us more official guidance about what we should ideally be doing. Yes, you can lower the max charge to keep the battery closer to 50% SOC, but that also means you'll be doing more of a deep discharge.

 

[Tempus]

I have no problem with a charge slider instead of the standard/range options, but Tesla's going to need to give us more official guidance about what we should ideally be doing. Yes, you can lower the max charge to keep the battery closer to 50% SOC, but that also means you'll be doing more of a deep discharge.

That was my first thought as well on reading the notes. I know some of the folks here love the flexibility, but what im most interested in is keeping my battery in as good a condition as possible when not range charging for a trip. Thats what the current standard charge purports to do, so should i keep charging to 90% or whatever, or will there be updated guidance? Really, i liked not having to think about it.