Firmware 6.0 (beta version discussion)

[jacobp]

I've travelled all over Cali and I always need to keep a wide margin on how much charge to get to a destination.
I've had a few close calls... Due to wind, cold, elevation surprises etc.

Currently, I use the EVPlanner website. It's essential for me. I'd rather have this functionality built-in to the car

I guess if you've never had range anxiety then then trip planner isn't essential. I firmly believe the majority of EV owners have range anxiety on some occasions.

I use what others have suggested. Charge up to 150% of actual miles to next supercharger plus 25 miles. Works great.

 

[Haggy]

Had a 2010 Infiniti. I could drive across the country without the fob as long as I didn't turn the car off. Once it's off, then it won't start again without the fob being detected inside (and the antennas could tell the difference between the fob being near the door for unlocking and inside for driving). It would beep at you (external beep) when it detected the fob leaving the inside of the car, if it was running.

I'm pretty sure no car actually turns off (or even slows down) in this situation, as this would be a law suit waiting to happen. Say bye to wife who has fob in her purse as you drive off and enter the highway on-ramp. Then the car turns off...

Mine was a 2007. That's what I was told when I bought the car. I never actually tried it, so I Googled it and found somebody who reported that it did exactly that. Even if it didn't, that wouldn't really bother me. Once it's started, I have no problem with people driving away. I also assume your 2010 Infiniti wouldn't start in the first place without the fob inside the car itself. With the MS, there's nothing to start. It would simply be a matter of not letting it drive away without the fob inside the car. I understand there could be false alarms if somebody places the fob on the windshield, but I'm talking about the vehicle knowing that the fob was outside the car and still outside the car when a person shifted into drive or reverse.

In any event, the idea was for the engine to die within a matter of feet, not within a matter of miles. So you could drive into the garage or look under the hood, but not drive onto the freeway.

With the Infiniti, there was some justification for allowing the engine to run without the fob in the car. But without the engine running, you didn't risk somebody stepping into the car when you were nearby and driving away. Indeed, running toward the car to stop somebody might make it even easier for them to drive away if it's a matter of the fob being nearby.

 

[brianman]

No comment....

I find this post unsatisfying. Quoting a bunch of stuff and providing no new value is something I've seen moderators chastise people for before...quite recently in fact. Perhaps we need moderator moderators.

 

[AlMc]

I find this post unsatisfying. Quoting a bunch of stuff and providing no new value is something I've seen moderators chastise people for before...quite recently in fact. Perhaps we need moderator moderators.

Nigel certainly can defend himself. However, I understand his comment perfectly and it reflects what he and a few others have been saying in previous posts on this thread.

 

[NigelM]

Tesla sometimes claim they want to be a game changer. Then why not be that completely? Publicize the sw plans. Target dates, target features etc. Then as the plans change, communicate the changes. this can be extended to even more things. Publicly communicate production figures in real time, model x and 3 dev progress, etc, etc. THAT would make them a real game changer...

You can't do stuff like that in a public company. Product development information is tricky when it potentially has an impact on share price.

I was excited to read the notes, but I'm disappointed in the Leaker. Hopefully this wasn't anything that will change the way Tesla does things in he future. Hopefully, it was a coordinated release by Tesla who was hoping to build hype, show progress to the masses, or gauge a response.

This wasn't a coordinated release by Tesla; they have always contacted TMC on the rare occasions they've asked to publicize something here.

There's also been a few journalists who've written stories about how they ran out of juice on the freeway and had a miserable time getting a flatbed tow truck (leading to negative publicity). Some people might say those journalists should have did their homework first, but the reality is it's Tesla job to make the car as dummy-proof as possible.

Those journalists weren't stupid and they knew what they were doing. A trip planner is a good idea but please let's not dumb-down the car because someone wanted a different headline.

I firmly believe the majority of EV owners have range anxiety on some occasions.

Nope, never had it, not once, hand on heart, in 3.5 years driving Tesla(s).

I find this post unsatisfying. Quoting a bunch of stuff and providing no new value is something I've seen moderators chastise people for before...quite recently in fact. Perhaps we need moderator moderators.

Very amusing; but you're far too smart to have missed the subtle, yet major, point I was making.

 

[chickensevil]

I might be tempted to leave my key fob at home on purpose now.

Crap, I forgot my keys AND my phone at home... someone quick... give me your phone so I can start my car! HAHA! The fun times I will have with this one (even if the security side of me knows how very bad this is...)

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Very amusing; but you're far too smart to have missed the subtle, yet major, point I was making.

I'm just glad none of my firmware-must-have requests made it into your hall of shame.

 

[rlang59]

I find this post unsatisfying. Quoting a bunch of stuff and providing no new value is something I've seen moderators chastise people for before...quite recently in fact. Perhaps we need moderator moderators.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

 

[DaveT]

Those journalists weren't stupid and they knew what they were doing. A trip planner is a good idea but please let's not dumb-down the car because someone wanted a different headline.

I never suggested to "dumb-down" the car. Rather, I said to "dummy-proof" the car. To "dummy-proof" the car it requires some rather sophisticated and intelligent software and makes the car much smarter.

For those who know my posts here on TMC, I'm not one that has a lot of random complaints about Tesla or the Model S. I choose my battles very carefully. But I believe leaving out a trip planner system from the software has been a very big mistake on Tesla's part. Sure, you can blame certain experiences journalists had on their motives and I used to think that (ie., in Broder's case) but the more I've thought about it over the past 1.5 years, the more I realize that people shouldn't have to know they need to go to EV Trip Planner to plan a trip to the next supercharger to account for elevation, weather, speed, etc. That's just expecting too much. It's an issue Tesla can and will solve, I just hope it's sooner than later.

For reference, here's some posts I made elsewhere regarding what I mean by "dummy-proofing" the car:

Currently there are just way too many things that could go wrong when going from one supercharger to another. You could look at the navigation and see you need 180 miles, so you charge to 190 miles. But going to the Supercharger is uphill, but you don't know it. So it actually takes 200 rated miles to get to the next Supercharger. But you don't know that because no where on the Model S screen does it say that. So, either you slow up to like 55mph and pray/hope that you make it (now that's range anxiety) or you drive normally and get surprised when you only have 20 rated miles left but you have 30 miles to go. Then, you freak out and see if there's a hotel you can crash at within 20 miles, but if there isn't then I don't know what you do.

The Model S (and future cars) really should be dummy-proof. If you have a Supercharger as your next destination in navigation, then it really should make it next to impossible for you not to reach the next Supercharger. It should make sure you leave with enough charge and if you're using too much energy (ie., going too fast, blasting A/C, etc) then it should tell you exactly how fast you can go and what A/C setting you should use. And if you get to a place where you don't have enough miles to reach the next Supercharger it should alert you that you're not going to make it and you need to charge somewhere.

Even better, the Model S should know my driving patterns (ie., I like driving 5-10mph above the speed limit on freeways) and then calculate how much charge I need at the Supercharger station in order to make it to the next Supercharger station.

No one should really need to read a manual to figure out how to drive the Model S. It should be as easy as hold the brake and press down on the lever to go to drive, then drive.

Range anxiety on long trips is a challenge that needs to be overcome. I personally don't think we should expect people to become educated on energy usage and adjust their driving habits. This is only realistic for Early Adopters. For EVs to get mass adoption we need to dummy-proof the EV experience. A person should be able to drive whatever way they are used to and they shouldn't have to "plan" their trips, if at all possible. They should be able to just get up and go and know for sure that they will make it to the next Supercharger because the car is guaranteeing that it will happen. In other words, software should do its part in eliminating range anxiety. I think Tesla will release this functionality, hopefully sooner the better. I just think that it's overdue and it's resulted in some negative publicity when journalists have been stuck on the side of the road waiting for a flatbed tow truck since for whatever reason they didn't have enough charge to get to the next Supercharger. Perhaps they drove too fast, perhaps too much A/C, perhaps it was too cold outside, or perhaps too much elevation, etc... regardless, being stuck on the side of the road waiting for a flatbed tow truck is awful and could and should be totally prevented by software that makes that next to impossible to happen.

 

[bonnie]

Who Watches the Watchmen?

doug.

 

[rlang59]

doug.

Touché. :wink:

 

[NigelM]

Who Watches the Watchmen?

 

[galangg]

Nope, never had it, not once, hand on heart, in 3.5 years driving Tesla(s).

I'll admit, I current have a bit of range anxiety, or at least nervous excitement about the new car. I'm sure it will pass as I drive. But I have to wait for that day to arrive. The anxiousness I have right now has not prevented me from ordering one and eagerly awaiting my delivery date.

 

[Moparposterchild]

I personally am happy with all of the new features. There is NO OTHER CAR ON THE MARKET that adds features AFTER you buy it. Just look at how may people were complaining about the car being driven off without the key fob. Now Tesla comes up with an innovative way to remedy that issue so you won't be stranded and now people are complaining about that. As for the timing, what's more disappointing, having to wait a while longer to get new features added to your car for free, or getting an update when you wanted it that is rushed to the market having tons of bugs and glitches. Obviously they're not going to want to release it until they feel its ready for prime time.

 

[tomas]

I find this post unsatisfying. Quoting a bunch of stuff and providing no new value is something I've seen moderators chastise people for before...quite recently in fact. Perhaps we need moderator moderators.

As my father always used to tell me when I caught him doing something he had scolded me for: "Quod licet Iovi non licit bovi"

 

[Zaxxon]

I personally am happy with all of the new features. There is NO OTHER CAR ON THE MARKET that adds features AFTER you buy it.

Seriously. The map update alone is $169 on a Toyota, and that's just for the map data. Good luck getting any sort of features added.

 

[aviators99]

This forum isn't run by Tesla.

By the time we (moderators) realized these posts were from a beta release and that 6.0 had not actually been released, the cat was so far out of the bag, it was having kittens (meaning other media had picked up the pictures). It was too late to do anything.

This implies that if it hadn't been too late, you (moderators) would have done something. I find this disturbing. I frequent this forum because it isn't run by Tesla. Just my opinion, FWIW. This wouldn't be the only censored forum I frequent, but I like to know when I'm on one.

 

[rlang59]

Seriously. The map update alone is $169 on a Toyota, and that's just for the map data. Good luck getting any sort of features added.

Well since the map data (not google maps) is included in the tech package it was paid for in advance so you really cant count that here.

 

[Zaxxon]

Ah, I didn't realize the tech package explicitly called out map updates. My bad, then.

 

[yobigd20]

This implies that if it hadn't been too late, you (moderators) would have done something. I find this disturbing. I frequent this forum because it isn't run by Tesla. Just my opinion, FWIW. This wouldn't be the only censored forum I frequent, but I like to know when I'm on one.

I know they sensor rude and inappropriate stuff to keep the forum "family friendly", but I don't think they'd censor anything else like this. Isn't that kind of the advantage of these forums to discuss at will things like this freely?