Firmware 5.8

[bosgig]

Nah, that's not it. This is a "comfort" thing. The change in regen is trivially small. It eases in the regen in less than a second - faster than I could lift my foot. It only makes a difference for me if I turn off cruise control with my foot already completely off the accelerator.

I actually don't think it's trivially small, at least from a driving experience standpoint. I find it to be quite significant on the highway in traffic--I used to almost never have to use my brake, now I use it frequently. It's a big change in my opinion.

In a bigger picture sense, though, I find this to be disconcerting. Unlike most of the changes in other firmware updates, they've fundamentally changed the way the car drives with this change. It sets a worrying precedent in my mind that they feel entitled to alter the driving experience against the will and expectations of the owners. We bought the car based on an expectation of how it drives--they can't just go and change that. Ditto for the suspension height issue (at least until January) and ditto for making the air suspension's sport mode less tight if indeed they also did that with 5.6/5.8.

 

[ZBB]

At work today I "lost" 8.5 miles. 1.0 miles was from charging the 12V, and the remaining 7.5 was due to the change in pack temperature between charging in my warm (4 ˚C) garage this morning and sitting out in the cold (-3 ˚C) all day. The 12V lasted 8 hours and 40 minutes before needing a charge, compared to the previous (v4.5) average of 2 hours and 37 minutes.

If you haven't noticed, I'm in AZ... Our temps rarely get down to what you consider "warm" for your garage. My garage at home was ~21C when I left yesterday morning. Low along the drive was ~12C. Ambient in the garage at work was 12-25C...

 

[flybob08]

Tesla has once again really stepped up to the plate with the warranty change!!

In case you missed it. The Mission of Tesla | Blog | Tesla Motors

Fires now covered by warranty, including driver error.

Suspension height increased, but full suspension height control being released to owners in January.

 

[efusco]

Again, I am thrilled with the blog. Just a week later than it should have been.

Yep, this...

Tells what you're gonna do to our cars and why before you implement. There will still be complaints, but the lack of communication of fundamental changes to the vehicle are not acceptable.

 

[mnx]

and ditto for making the air suspension's sport mode less tight if indeed they also did that with 5.6/5.8.

I think you mean steering mode/feel?

 

[scaesare]

In case you missed it. The Mission of Tesla | Blog | Tesla Motors

Fires now covered by warranty, including driver error.

Suspension height increased, but full suspension height control being released to owners in January.

I'm not so sure... the blog reads that the update will "give the driver direct control of the air suspension ride height transitions."

This would appear to me that we will be given some option to control whether or not the car lowers at highway speed (i.e. the "transition" to "LOW" ), but not necessarily the ultimate height at each set point.

- - - Updated - - -

The blog is excellent..but long overdue, and IMO, not proactive. Proactive was the rear seat recall. No one even knew there was an issue and Tesla owners (mine was one of the cars) and the market looked favorably on TM making a fix that they detected before anyone knew/complained. The blog, although good, is reactive. It is reacting after the 'third fire' when a storm started to grow around the battery pack and travel height at high speed. IMO, it would have been better released the day after the third fire. It would have shown that TM was out ahead of a possible NHTSA investigation....Stressing the safety vs ICE vehicles, taking action to see if raising the height may reduce future road debris/battery pack fires and including a replacement vehicle in the event of a collision fire.

Again, I am thrilled with the blog. Just a week later than it should have been.

I disagree. The seat issue was something discovered and directly observable in-house. For all we know they spent some time internally investigating the issue and formulating a plan before they announced it to us. The fires have a number of external variables that they needed to investigate and then they would need some time to devise possible solutions and then test.

I see ASKING the NHTSA to investigate, and then offering any necessary retrofit to the car that may be deemed necessary free of charge very proactive. As is the extension of the warranty, as well as the attempts to address it via software (even if I'm not sure I like the idea of the "LOW" ride height setting being higher than previous).

Think about what this would have looked lik from another manufacturer... it would like have taken far longer, and the I suspect less comprehensive.

 

[mknox]

I always found people's opposition to the metric system a little strange.

I shouldn't have ranted in this forum. My apologies.

 

[bosgig]

I think you mean steering mode/feel?

Sorry. . .memory failing. I swapped to winter tires at the same time as the switch to 5.6 so I consider my direct observations on this to be unreliable. But yes, I believe you are correct--and I stand corrected. Point remains, though.

 

[Doug_G]

I actually don't think it's trivially small, at least from a driving experience standpoint. I find it to be quite significant on the highway in traffic--I used to almost never have to use my brake, now I use it frequently. It's a big change in my opinion.

You are aware of the regen limits caused by cold weather, right? When the battery pack is cold the Model S starts to dial back the regen power. If the car is soaked to ambient the limits start to kick in a few degrees above freezing. You end up using your brake pedal a LOT more in winter because of this. (Trust me, I've already been through one winter with the car. I rarely get full regen power.)

From what I saw the regen still came on very quickly after the change. It is a fraction of a second slower than before, just enough so you don't get a jerk when releasing cruise control. But still quite a bit faster than I lift my foot.

Are you sure you're not conflating the update with the normal thermal regen limits?

 

[contaygious]

Am i the only one who feels the pedal and steering feel different? I could swear you have to press harder to accelerate and it lost the fun jerkiness it had before to fet up to speed.

 

[ACDriveMotor]

Contaygious are you comparing to 4.5 or to 5.6?

 

[ZBB]

I see ASKING the NHTSA to investigate, and then offering any necessary retrofit to the car that may be deemed necessary free of charge very proactive. .

I think a NHTSA investigation would have happened regardless (and may even be underway).

As for any retrofit -- if NHTSA has a finding and requires a design change, that's called a recall. Those are always free of charge to the customer...

 

[contaygious]

5.6 to 5.8

 

[milotron]

We update to 5.8 on Saturday with the same air suspension results as everybody else.

Went out this morning a little colder than usual and noticed that the front defrost ducts are permanently on regardless of the interface settings. I dd a couple of reboots to no avail. All was fine with 4.5 where I was before...

Anybody else have this going on with 5.8?

 

[Beaker]

After my 4.5 -> 5.8 update I noticed that the fog lights don't stay on. I tried to turn them on and the screen shows them light up then turn right off, the physical lights never do turn on (even briefly). Is anyone else seeing this new feature as well?

 

[scaesare]

I think a NHTSA investigation would have happened regardless (and may even be underway).

As for any retrofit -- if NHTSA has a finding and requires a design change, that's called a recall. Those are always free of charge to the customer...

While you may think an investigation may have happened eventually, Tesla requesting one regardless is being proactive (which was the issue raised).

Recalls are typically for defect or engineering failure and/or in some cases are mandated by an agency like the NHTSA. Note Tesla's wording: " if something is discovered that would result in a material improvement in occupant fire safety, we will immediately apply that change to new cars and offer it as a free retrofit to all existing cars." This means that even if it's not determined to be a defect or unsound engineering or even if NOT a NHTSA mandated recall, Tesla will make the improvement anyway.

Most other manufactures, if the current design is "working as intended" with safety rates at or above the average, would wait and roll safety improvements out in the next model. That again is being proactive, in my opinion.

 

[bosgig]

You are aware of the regen limits caused by cold weather, right? When the battery pack is cold the Model S starts to dial back the regen power. If the car is soaked to ambient the limits start to kick in a few degrees above freezing. You end up using your brake pedal a LOT more in winter because of this. (Trust me, I've already been through one winter with the car. I rarely get full regen power.)

From what I saw the regen still came on very quickly after the change. It is a fraction of a second slower than before, just enough so you don't get a jerk when releasing cruise control. But still quite a bit faster than I lift my foot.

Are you sure you're not conflating the update with the normal thermal regen limits?

Of course I'm aware of the normal issues with the cold. . .second winter with the car. . .but good question. This is completely independent of that normal limitation. Standard now behaves like Low. I also watched the power meter closely this morning and it tended to cap out around 40kW of regen under conditions that would have taken it straight to the max previously. Taking the foot off at highway speeds (making sure no one is right behind!) barely slows the car down now. Absolutely positive this isn't my imagination at this point--plus there are too many others thinking the same thing.

- - - Updated - - -

While you may think an investigation may have happened eventually, Tesla requesting one regardless is being proactive (which was the issue raised).

The only question is whether TM really asked for one or if they just got in front of one that was coming anyway so they could claim they asked for it. I don't have an opinion or specific knowledge one way or the other.

 

[Cosmacelf]

I always found people's opposition to the metric system a little strange. To me, metric is rather analogous to EVs. Sure, it was different from what people were used to (ICE), yet it was more efficient, easy to implement, and simpler. Both also encounter more than their share of undue criticism and opposition. Just saying...

When you live with metric you see the problems. When adjusting your home thermostat, people can feel a 1 degree F change and thus adjust it up or down 1 degree F. Celsius thermostats allow you to change 0.5 degree C since that is what people need. Going from a system that has integers as reasonable degree increments to one where you need 0.5 degree increments is a step backwards. Same thing happens for weights. A kilogram is too heavy a basic measurement.

Ziplock bag sizes in the US are measured in pints, quarts and gallons. These are useful sizes and people know roughly what they mean. There is NO analog in the metric system, instead ziplocks come in small, medium, and large size since the equivalent metric volume measures are, like 243 ml.

Centimeters and meters just don't quite cut it either. The cm is too small a measure, inches work better. There is no equivalent of a foot. And meters are slightly too big. Most people can pace out a yard, meters are just that extra bit more.

Acres are a good size for land areas, hectares are way too big.

Look, metric is the way to go for science and engineering, but for everyday use, it doesn't work as well as the Imperial system.

 

[NigelM]

^^^ {{{O/T alert}}}

 

[J in MN]

If you haven't noticed, I'm in AZ... Our temps rarely get down to what you consider "warm" for your garage. My garage at home was ~21C when I left yesterday morning. Low along the drive was ~12C. Ambient in the garage at work was 12-25C...

It's not the absolute temperature that matters, but the change in the pack temperature between the two times when you looked at the range.