Firmware 7.0 - For Classic Model S

[bob_p]

I'm back to rebooting the touchscreen display daily due to problems with media playback.

Really wish they would open the beta testing to a much larger group - since basic things like media playback or the position of the time and temperature are obviously not getting tested...

Still think they should make two basic changes in their software strategy:

1. Allow all Tesla owners to "opt in" or "opt out" of beta testing
2. With every software update, always provide the ability to rollback to the last officially supported release

Many companies have shifted to more open "public" beta testing - especially when there are many different combinations of hardware/software, it's very beneficial to have more eyes on the new software, while it is being tested, and while the development team is focused on fixing problems.

And when owners encounter issues with a new release (usability, functionality, bugs), having the option to rollback to a previous stable version helps to reduce owner frustration from the problems they've encountered in the new software.

As someone who has been responsible for major software programs, I understand the difficulty in rolling back to arbitrary versions - but surely they could test rollback for every software release - to a specific older version.

If Tesla had done the above with V7, I suspect we would see a more usable interface today (they would have realized that moving the time and temperature from the dash was a bad idea). Plus, if owners didn't like V7 and wanted to wait until the promised UI improvements in V7.1, they could roll back to V6.2 for now - and as new V7 releases came out - they could try them, and if they still didn't like the interfaces, they could still roll back to 6.2.

 

[mknox]

No. It will start us all over with what happened it the betas. There was an outcry when Tesla eliminated the power gauge and center dial in the classics. We're certainly not going to let Tesla revert to that.

Who still really likes the toy car anyhow? Most everyone I've heard that thought it was interesting at first, has already gotten tired of it.

While we're on the subject, I'm going to restate my wish list for 7.1:

1. Swap the odometer and range display.

2. Get rid of the toy car as the default and instead display it as a more full featured and easily read app on the side. Takes care of folks who complain that they can't see the brake lights.

3. Restore climate status indicators including fan speed and recirc mode on the climate tab.

I really don't think this is too much to ask. It's fairly straight forward and reasonable.

As far as I'm concerned, give me the old 6.x center dash back. I can live with the new 17" screens if I have to, but the dash is abysmal.

Disagree. Being able to see when the brake lights come on during regen was a much-requested feature.

Open the Charging App on the 17" screen and you can see it there. Once you see it for a bit, and figure out how it is working, it gets old fast.

 

[smsprague]

+1

Peace,

Father Bill

Even though I have a Red Tesla I am thinking about asking Tesla to change my avatar Tesla to a white one. This might help with version 7 usability.

 

[apacheguy]

Disagree. Being able to see when the brake lights come on during regen was a much-requested feature.

Many folks have already stated that they can't see the brake lights on the toy car. I can't understand why anyone would object to repurposing it as a more full featured and largely display car icon on the side. I'm not say eliminate it. I'm just saying it shouldn't be the default for everyone.

as a new MS owner, I like & use the visual of the "toy car" all the time. I had a sub-compact before & appreciate the feedback on my location in the lane & in relation to curbs, islands, etc. the last thing I want to do is scratch or dent my new treasure. I can understand why an experienced MS driver might not need it, but I <3 it!

Agree. It is actually useful if you have AP. But this is a thread for classics and none of us have AP so our toy car provides none of this information. All it does is tell us when regen lights are on. It gets old pretty fast.

Open the Charging App on the 17" screen and you can see it there. Once you see it for a bit, and figure out how it is working, it gets old fast.

Right. I was about to write this but realized mknox had already done it for me.:wink:

 

[AMPUP]

Many folks have already stated that they can't see the brake lights on the toy car. I can't understand why anyone would object to repurposing it as a more full featured and largely display car icon on the side. I'm not say eliminate it. I'm just saying it shouldn't be the default for everyone.



Agree. It is actually useful if you have AP. But this is a thread for classics and none of us have AP so our toy car provides none of this information. All it does is tell us when regen lights are on. It gets old pretty fast.



Right. I was about to write this but realized mknox had already done it for me.:wink:

Some of us like the toy car and some don't, they could make that configurable. I like the AP cluster and would prefer that look in my classic with a road overlay using the navigation maps. But again make it configurable and that would cater for everyone.

 

[Gizmotoy]

Many folks have already stated that they can't see the brake lights on the toy car. I can't understand why anyone would object to repurposing it as a more full featured and largely display car icon on the side. I'm not say eliminate it. I'm just saying it shouldn't be the default for everyone.

I'm on the list of those who wished for some way to see if brake lights are on. I have a red car and I can only really see my brakes on the toy car at night. I'm not opposed to the car, but when one of the only useful things it does isn't easily-discernable, I'd rather trade out for the battery indicator that got demoted.

That said, I was a little surprised how often my brake lights come on. In the Bay Area I constantly see Model S throwing on their brake lights in relatively steady traffic. Turns out I'm one of them.

 

[ken830]

I've always been super-conscious about re-gen brake-lights because I don't want to annoy drivers behind me, so I like having some indication of brake lights on the screen. Putting it as a dash side-app means I will rarely use it because I don't want to give-up any of the existing screens in my current screen configuration. Especially when navigation somewhere, I have half the dash and half the 17" screen taken up with the navigation-related stuff.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Right, so why does it have to be a huge toy car?

Why can't it be just an indicator light like the "high beams" light on the instrument cluster? (of course, that you can disable if you want). The problem is Tesla got too cutesy with their UI to make it look cool. Instead, they made it look like a Fisher-Price toy.

It's yet to be seen if they're going to address that huge gleaming bright spotlight in the front of the toy car.

 

[jerry33]

Unless you have a Red Tesla .

Silver is not much better.

 

[Sparrow]

Funny Gizmotoy, I have a Signature Red car and I can see the brake lights on the toy car during the day, but at night or when the headlights are on, the taillights are also on, and the difference between brakes on and off is hard for me to see. I was also surprised at how little my brake lights turn on as I use regen to slow the car down. Under normal slowing conditions, I pretty much do not see the brake lights on until I am slowing thru about 25 mph.

 

[jerry33]

That said, I was a little surprised how often my brake lights come on. In the Bay Area I constantly see Model S throwing on their brake lights in relatively steady traffic. Turns out I'm one of them.

This surprises me. I don't live in the Bay Area, but watching the non-Tesla cars around me, my brake lights don't come on half as often. When I first got the car, I watched a few times in the camera when driving at night, and saw that the lights never came on more often then normal, so after the first couple of days, I never needed any indicator.

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Some of us like the toy car and some don't, they could make that configurable..

Configurable is what I would like. I can deal with the ugly Speak & Spell look, but the reduced functionality and the times when you can't see what's on the display (when it's bright out several items are just not visible) bugs the heck out of me.

 

[apacheguy]

Right, so why does it have to be a huge toy car?

Why can't it be just an indicator light like the "high beams" light on the instrument cluster? (of course, that you can disable if you want). The problem is Tesla got too cutesy with their UI to make it look cool. Instead, they made it look like a Fisher-Price toy.

It's yet to be seen if they're going to address that huge gleaming bright spotlight in the front of the toy car.

Hadn't thought about it. I like the idea. There is no reason to have an entire car icon just to represent regen brake lights. Plus it saves on screen real estate and will keep both camps happy.

 

[jcaspar]

Having grown up in the Bay Area I am not surprised you see a lot of brake lights. With the traffic, I suspect most cars spend more time with their brake lights on than off!

 

[brooklynrab]

No. It will start us all over with what happened it the betas. There was an outcry when Tesla eliminated the power gauge and center dial in the classics. We're certainly not going to let Tesla revert to that.

Who still really likes the toy car anyhow? Most everyone I've heard that thought it was interesting at first, has already gotten tired of it.

While we're on the subject, I'm going to restate my wish list for 7.1:

1. Swap the odometer and range display.

2. Get rid of the toy car as the default and instead display it as a more full featured and easily read app on the side. Takes care of folks who complain that they can't see the brake lights.

3. Restore climate status indicators including fan speed and recirc mode on the climate tab.

I really don't think this is too much to ask. It's fairly straight forward and reasonable.

+1 on Apacheguy's suggestion. This would make me happy and allow me to update from 6.2. The only other request would be to do something about readability of numbers on the display, which I understand took a hit in 7.0 (I.e., they did everything in 7.0 to make the user experience less efficient and therefore more unsafe).

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Right, so why does it have to be a huge toy car?

Why can't it be just an indicator light like the "high beams" light on the instrument cluster? (of course, that you can disable if you want). The problem is Tesla got too cutesy with their UI to make it look cool. Instead, they made it look like a Fisher-Price toy.

It's yet to be seen if they're going to address that huge gleaming bright spotlight in the front of the toy car.

+1 on the indicator light idea, as an alternative to moving the top car to a user selectable app off to the side of the screen.

 

[lucy]

Hi Lucy,

I understand the new V7 in cars built after 9/14, and in those cars, the display makes much more sense, the way lanes are shown, and the extra info from auto pilot, and like the layout when driving newer cars. (tho I wish they had the contrast set for a car rather than a computer monitor for those cars too.)

This thread is for cars that have none of those sensors (or the new tire pressure sensors). Our displays have been changed to the new low contrast design, but not the same display or side apps that you see.

Peter

Thanks for the gentle schooling, my bad!
*hangs head in shame, slithers away*

 

[Ugliest1]

Having grown up in the Bay Area I am not surprised you see a lot of brake lights. With the traffic, I suspect most cars spend more time with their brake lights on than off!

I'd have to totally agree with this. When driving around the Palo Alto/Fremont/San Jose area last year for a week, the tailgating on the freeways (thus, much slamming of brakes) was quite funny... in that, I think we saw 4 or 5 other Model S on the road the whole week (mid-day), and each time there was plenty of distance in front of each Model S, and nearly no distance in front of all other cars no matter 5mph or 40mph. Plenty of space is certainly how I drive (not how I *used* to drive!!) since I sure as shootin' want to lessen the risk of rear ending someone. Besides that, I found out it's a much more relaxing way to drive, especially with one pedal (and no, I don't care that some cars dive in front of me -- it doesn't appreciably increase our overall travel time).

I would prefer a brake indicator like the headlight indicator as well. And/or reduced intensity of head/tail lights on the toy car. The existence of the toy car? I'm ambivalent.

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Thanks for the gentle schooling, my bad!
*hangs head in shame, slithers away*

You'll have to go for a drive to assuage the guilt!

 

[lucy]

You'll have to go for a drive to assuage the guilt!

*says in John Candy voice* "I'll do it!"

 

[neroden]

(Regarding drivetrains)

The guys at SC were very specific in saying it was a V2 as opposed to revised. Will be my second replacement, initially brought-on by a clicking sound when accelerating/decelerating - that was traced to loose bearings in the drive-shafts, but then a mild clunk was discovered too.

Oho. Given this, I believe that either the engineer who posted at this forum saying that the drivetrain problems were most likely caused by axial thrust in the motor being too high for the bearings and causing excessive wear and "clunking"...
(...and/or the one who blamed high currents causing stray voltage to run through the bearings and causing "miling" sounds...)

...were almost certainly correct. And that Tesla's redesigned the drivetrain to eliminate the problems. And that we'll probably *all* get replacements eventually, but they're not sure they've worked out all the bugs yet.

 

[neroden]

Even easier, put the high beam / low beam indicator symbol into the middle of the headlight cloud.

It's also been pointed out that the "headlight cloud" is a major distraction -- the last thing you want when driving at night is a large white blob.

So. Remove the "headlight cloud" and replace it with the headlight on/off icon and the high beam/low beam icon. Problem solved. Maybe it isn't as skeumorphic as the "model car", but it is a lot more useful.


ACTUALLY -- here's an important point. What might be useful -- with autopilot or no autopilot -- is an *abstracted schematic* of the car. The fancy-fancy skeumorphic image of the car is already causing problems: the brake light indicators aren't properly visible against the background, the headlight indicators are too bright and distracting, et cetera. A much more abstracted graphic -- maybe a line-drawing outline of the car -- would probably convey more information more quickly, though it would require a real graphic designer to work out what icons and symbols would be most clear.

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In my opinion, the reality is that cars are moving past the Mustang era and are becoming computers on wheels, consumer electronics with evolving UIs. But we aren't used to that idea, yet. So when our car UI changes significantly, we resist it because we grew up with cars with a fixed UI. Those days are gone.

********!

With every smartphone, table, and computer UI change, some people

...don't upgrade. And some changes are so disliked that the entire software brand dies a quick death while the competition takes over. (In free & open source software, the software is typically forked and different developers take over.)

More important for this discussion, my computer hasn't significantly changed its UI in ten years. Just so you know. There've been a few subtle icon changes, but I've got KDE on Linux configured to operate functionally exactly the same way it did ten years ago. We can do this with computers. OpenOffice/LibreOffice has the same interface. My mail reader, Thunderbird/Icedove, has the same interface it has had for over a decade (which is basically the interface of a predecessor mail program, too). Stuff changed "under the hood" of my computer, but the interface is tried-and-true (and remarkably similar to the Macintosh interface of 1984, honestly).

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Wow. How refreshingly reasonable. I can absolutely get behind your argument. I wouldn't have considered the day of the week very important, but for someone with an irregular schedule, it makes complete sense.

Yeah, that's why it's critically important for me. Totally irregular schedule.

 

[tomas]

To each their own. I like new stuff. Keeps me sharp. If I got computer software and didn't like UI, I might not use it or might not upgrade. In a car it is a small part of value equation. A factor, but not a deal killer.