how fast do valets need to drive?

[4SUPER9]

I’m not sure why so many here are so quick to call for such complex Valet mode settings. Not to mention the additional UI complexity would effectively be wasted effort, shouldn’t the fact that it takes nearly 9 seconds to get to 60 pretty much take all the fun out of Valet already? You really want to be able to stick it to them even further by forcing it to be driven under 30mph and potentially cause an unsafe situation?

I understand what you are saying. Folks here at TMC are constantly debating changes and upgrades. These discussions often result in some pretty fruitful ideas. I think in this case, we are doing the exact same thing: taking a great product and thinking about how we can make it better.

For me, if the Valet mode is truly for Valets, then I would want a max speed of 50 mph. If we were to ask TM to allow this to user adjustable, I imagine that that would be about the lowest it should be allowed to go. I could imagine someone being too aggressive in their limitations and setting it for 15 mph. This could be dangerous.

All in all, I bet TM chose 70 for a reason. Maybe their research showed that this was safest. Perhaps it is not just for valets, but as mentioned above, is to limit the car for when it is loaned out to a younger driver or someone who is not yet ready or trustworthy enough for the full effects of this beast. I could see using it for that (I just have to remember to take the registration out of the glove box in case they still screw up).

 

[dsm363]

There are some areas where valets need to get on the highway for one exit though. I don't think top speed is much of an issue more than acceleration. Would still be nice to be able to edit it though but you can imagine the problems a valet might have getting onto the highway and being limited to 35mph.

 

[Todd Burch]

Tesla explicitly mentioned valet mode as being useful for valets and restricting performance when loaning the car to family members/children. It's called "Valet Mode", but it's really "crippled mode". "Crippled Mode" sounds far less cool, so they went with "Valet Mode". .

As for restricting top speed, they likely don't allow it because

a) It's not just for valets, and
b) There are some unsafe conditions that can be caused by limiting the speed well below typical speed limits. It's just not worth the risk. Given the marshmallow performance of Valet mode, there isn't going to be much aggressive driving going on.

 

[Mercury]

b) There are some unsafe conditions that can be caused by limiting the speed well below typical speed limits.

This is a really good point. Imagine the situation if you accidentally drove off in valet mode with the max speed set to 20mph. Not only will it cause an extremely exciting situation when you pull out into traffic, but you can't undo it without entering a PIN. Very dangerous.

 

[Todd Burch]

This is a really good point. Imagine the situation if you accidentally drove off in valet mode with the max speed set to 20mph. Not only will it cause an extremely exciting situation when you pull out into traffic, but you can't undo it without entering a PIN. Very dangerous.

Not only entering a PIN, but you have to put it into park!

Suppose you pull onto a Florida highway (where speed limits seem to be optional) with max speed set to 45 mph. By the time you realize it, you might be trying to merge--and without the necessary power to make the maneuver (dangerous). Then, if you survive the merge suddenly you're stuck on the highway going below the minimum legal speed. You'd have to either park on the side of the highway to disable valet mode (dangerous) or continue driving to the next exit at a speed likely 35-40 mph slower than other drivers (also dangerous).

It's just not worth it. Removing the acceleration pretty much takes away 95% of the possibility of abuse. After all, most cars can go 70mph, and that's not something most would qualify as "fun".

 

[flodrab]

b) There are some unsafe conditions that can be caused by limiting the speed well below typical speed limits.

This is a really good point. Imagine the situation if you accidentally drove off in valet mode with the max speed set to 20mph.

I started this thread, and I suggested 35 mph for a reason ... like I said, if you're going out to a restaurant you're probably in the city ... (I don't know where dsm363 eats, but at the restaurants I frequent, the valets aren't speeding off down the highway to park my car ... don't even see how that's possible ... how would they get back to the restaurant?) ... anyhow, 35 isn't "well below typical speed limits", that typically IS the speed limit ... and who said anything about 20 mph???

 

[gordo]

I started this thread, and I suggested 35 mph for a reason ... like I said, if you're going out to a restaurant you're probably in the city ... (I don't know where dsm363 eats, but at the restaurants I frequent, the valets aren't speeding off down the highway to park my car ... don't even see how that's possible ... how would they get back to the restaurant?) ... anyhow, 35 isn't "well below typical speed limits", that typically IS the speed limit ... and who said anything about 20 mph???

Look, several posters have given reasonable answers as to why Tesla would be completely stupid to allow people to set their own 'Valet' speed limits. It could become dangerous in various edge case situations, particularly, if you yourself forgot to take it out of Valet mode after getting your car back and then proceeded to try to enter a highway restricted to 35mph. 10 second acceleration along with the 70mph speed limit is completely sufficient to address virtually any valet situation. If you can't trust a valet not to wreck your car under those conditions, you shouldn't be valeting it in the first place.

 

[mdlambert]

I would like to see a user defined maximum speed. I do not want some valet trying to experience 0-60 in 3.1 secs ! Tesla could also lock the screen in Valet. Certainly, any owner would immediately recognize this screen, and remove the car from that mode. Really, how hard would that be ?

 

[4SUPER9]

I would like to see a user defined maximum speed. I do not want some valet trying to experience 0-60 in 3.1 secs ! Tesla could also lock the screen in Valet. Certainly, any owner would immediately recognize this screen, and remove the car from that mode. Really, how hard would that be ?

I now get why Tesla did it this way, and I am now just happy to have it after waiting so long. The explanations given by others above make perfect sense.

I am an example of somebody who forgot to take it out of Valet mode just this past week. I drove around for at least 10 miles before I noticed (I don't have quite the lead-foot I had since my last ticket). Had I tried to get on the freeway with it set at 35, or even 45, that would have been dangerous. The only way to get out of Valet mode is to get into park and enter your pin. For this reason alone, 70 mph seems like a wise choice. I can get on the freeway and drive at a safe speed until I decide to get off and fix it.

If Tesla made this user definable, and there is only just one accident as a result, you can bet that there would be questions of liability.

 

[dsm363]

Look, several posters have given reasonable answers as to why Tesla would be completely stupid to allow people to set their own 'Valet' speed limits. It could become dangerous in various edge case situations, particularly, if you yourself forgot to take it out of Valet mode after getting your car back and then proceeded to try to enter a highway restricted to 35mph. 10 second acceleration along with the 70mph speed limit is completely sufficient to address virtually any valet situation. If you can't trust a valet not to wreck your car under those conditions, you shouldn't be valeting it in the first place.

I've been to one restaurant many years ago (I think in Vegas) that did this (Valets got onto the highway for 1/2 a mile and parked in a parking deck at next exit). You're right that most wouldn't need this. If the parking area was staffed you would shuffle personal back and forth with someone staying at the parking deck until the next car was needed. That said I basically never valet park so might be remembering this incorrectly as it was a long time ago. The other explanations about safety are the real reason this 70mph makes sense anyway.

- - - Updated - - -

Look, several posters have given reasonable answers as to why Tesla would be completely stupid to allow people to set their own 'Valet' speed limits. It could become dangerous in various edge case situations, particularly, if you yourself forgot to take it out of Valet mode after getting your car back and then proceeded to try to enter a highway restricted to 35mph. 10 second acceleration along with the 70mph speed limit is completely sufficient to address virtually any valet situation. If you can't trust a valet not to wreck your car under those conditions, you shouldn't be valeting it in the first place.

Agree. A Camry can go 70mph. A valet could run into a parked car at 35mph too and I'm sure that'd cause more than enough damage too. You park valet you take the risk. Limiting acceleration takes most of the 'fun' out of joyriding I'd imagine so minimizes the risk.

 

[4SUPER9]

I wonder if TM would keep all stored cars in Valet mode from now on to prevent thieves from joy-ridding and getting into fatal wrecks...

 

[AlMc]

'Safe mode', as I like to call it, has been a firmware update I have been asking for on TMC/TM forum and through emails to company executives for quite some time. The Valet mode released recently is a much appreciated first step. 'Safe Mode' (the next generation:wink should be very customizable allowing for use by valets, teenage drivers and friends.

You should be able to choose:

1. Top speed (absolute number)
2. Acceleration (as a percentage of normal 50-100%)
3. Choose to lock/unlock the glove box and frunk)
4. Choose maximum 'media' volume
5. Choose to allow/not allow homelink, driver settings (seats/mirrors), access to the internet.

 

[4SUPER9]

'Safe mode', as I like to call it, has been a firmware update I have been asking for on TMC/TM forum and through emails to company executives for quite some time. The Valet mode released recently is a much appreciated first step. 'Safe Mode' (the next generation:wink should be very customizable allowing for use by valets, teenage drivers and friends.

You should be able to choose:

1. Top speed (absolute number)
2. Acceleration (as a percentage of normal 50-100%)
3. Choose to lock/unlock the glove box and frunk)
4. Choose maximum 'media' volume
5. Choose to allow/not allow homelink, driver settings (seats/mirrors), access to the internet.

I love the idea of maximizing media volume.
I can't imagine that any regulatory agency would ever allow locking of seats and mirrors.

 

[AlMc]

I love the idea of maximizing media volume.
I can't imagine that any regulatory agency would ever allow locking of seats and mirrors.

I should have been more clear: locking driver profiles so people could not change my settings :wink:, they are free to choose their own.

I forgot: 6. Phone app that alerts you (if you wish) that the car leaves a certain distance from your phone.
7. Nav setting that 'draws' the route the car traveled in the 'safe/valet mode'

 

[FlasherZ]

I should have been more clear: locking driver profiles so people could not change my settings :wink:, they are free to choose their own.

I definitely agree with this. As someone who has had my driver profile blown away twice in two different car shows (along with let's call them "creative" settings), I'd love to see everything but the front "controls" page locked from change in the mode.

 

[4SUPER9]

I should have been more clear: locking driver profiles so people could not change my settings :wink:, they are free to choose their own.

I forgot: 6. Phone app that alerts you (if you wish) that the car leaves a certain distance from your phone.
7. Nav setting that 'draws' the route the car traveled in the 'safe/valet mode'

Interesting idea about the profiles. Though if you were to have this in Valet mode, they cannot change to your profile and cannot make a change, correct?
Love #'s 6 and 7, especially if you want to monitor your kid's routes.

 

[brianman]

I definitely agree with this. As someone who has had my driver profile blown away twice in two different car shows (along with let's call them "creative" settings), I'd love to see everything but the front "controls" page locked from change in the mode.

In case it helps, long ago I made a profile called "BrianBkp" with identical settings to "Brian". The latter has since been tweaked a few times, but only in subtle ways. The idea being that if someone (service by accident, for example) futzes up my settings, I can at least return to a decent approximation quickly.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

'Safe mode', as I like to call it, has been a firmware update I have been asking for on TMC/TM forum and through emails to company executives for quite some time. The Valet mode released recently is a much appreciated first step. 'Safe Mode' (the next generation:wink should be very customizable allowing for use by valets, teenage drivers and friends.

You should be able to choose:

1. Top speed (absolute number)
2. Acceleration (as a percentage of normal 50-100%)
3. Choose to lock/unlock the glove box and frunk)
4. Choose maximum 'media' volume
5. Choose to allow/not allow homelink, driver settings (seats/mirrors), access to the internet.

This sounds like a great idea. I would also suggest that the maximum limited speed be clearly displayed on the screen so that the user would know what speed they are limited to. This would prevent users from "forgetting" they were in valet mode.

Also, it should be possible to limit the max speed based on the local speed limits. That way, the valet (or other driver) would be allowed to drive at posted speed limits but not exceed them. This would allow safe highway driving, merging, etc. On side streets, it could automatically limit the speeds to 35 mph (or whatever the maximum allowed speed is) and then change to allow 65 mph on highways, etc.

 

[whiskeyrunner]

My first thought was similar to mosts, it's silly I can't set my own speed. However, after reading this thread, there are some valid points as to why you wouldn't want a lawsuit on your hand and I concede. I'm wondering if a giant "Valet" button on the touch screen wouldn't be a decent work around, ensuring people have to hit that button before driving and agree that they can't go above a certain limit. Probably asking too much at this point, but I'll share my own valet experience to help substantiate the fears out there... I use to valet cars for 6 years... if you'd let me reminisce...

I know EXACTLY what valets do. Let's assume the 80/20 rule, where the 80 were the good guys (myself included). Given most nights you are hustling so fast you don't have time to rest, you do get some enjoyment out of the nice car for the few seconds/minutes you're behind the wheel. And there are always times where you take liberties or it's slow. When we did take liberties, here's what we did:

- Always take a super nice car around the block an extra lap or two if the restaurant is slow; especially if you don't like the other valet guys you are working with, make them work more
- We could park them super fast if busy, most people would crap their pants if they saw how fast we could park in a garage or parallel, with near reckless abandonment
- Often a car gets bumped (aka kissed) by other people's cars because we are parking on streets, and it's not our fault or we don't notice
- Often a valet will look around the car and look for any new damage and do the best to be honest, but it's easy to just act like it was there already
- Most valet's love nice cars and will take care of them because you have no idea how many sh!tty volvo's we've parked that smelled like cat piss and full of dog hair, nice cars are still the rarity in most places and a perk to the job
- Most valets are treated like second class citizens by the restaurant and get left out in cold and rain and never fed, even late in the night

Now for the not so nice
- when there was a blemish (especially if it was our fault), we'd always pull up the car just right, so the owner had walk around the opposite side of the car, and not notice the new paint that was added to their bumper until they got home or the next day (call it plausible deniability)
- On slow nights we would take the nicest car (and the most recent arrival) to go grab food or pizza because restaurants wouldn't feed us all night
- We'd leave the keys in the car and the cars unlocked on busy nights in front of the restaurant. Typically parking cars end to end and taking the last car's key with us. Then going back and parking cars after the rush dies down
- If you make us stay really late, don't expect us to be that nice to your car... or just leave it with the restaurant staff who have no affiliation with the valet company at your own risk
- Any fast car will have it's acceleration and braking tested like a red headed step child... I promise. Even in a very small garage, even if you ask us to be gentle... but how can you not when you make 10 bucks an hour and have a once in a life time experience
- There's a direct correlation between how we treat your car, and how big of a jerk you are to us

That being said, assume the guy is good, and always believe if you tip well, they will take care of your car. 5's are nice, 20's are a guarantee (except for the uber rich places). Never tip a buck, even if there's a valet charge at the restaurant. Most times, if the valet charge is 5 bucks... the poor valet is only taking home $1 for each five they collect (unless you get creative, but that's for another time if you're interested) and working only for tips.

 

[Larry Chanin]

Suppose you pull onto a Florida highway (where speed limits seem to be optional) ...

No Todd, you've got it all wrong. They enforce the speed limits here, its stopping at red lights that is optional in Florida, especially here in Sarasota. :biggrin:

Larry