The key word is "expects" in the sentence "Tesla's Enhances Autopilot software is expected to compete validation and be rolled out to your car via an over-the-air update in December 2016, subject to regulatory approval." that was on the page where you ordered your car and selected EAP. That means they PLAN to have the software done and released in December 2016. The subject to regulatory approval is once they meet their expected plan to complete validation. They did not meet their planned date, but they clearly are stating that (a) it's not done now and (b) they plan to have it done by December (but by definition a plan isn't a guarantee).
As far as the auto-wipers and headlights having to do with Autopilot. The reason is simple - in the AP 1 cars, Tesla had a separate sensor for detecting rain drops (and starting auto-wipers) and a seperate sensor to detect when it was dark out to turn on the headlights. They have announced that those sensors were removed in the AP2 cars because they are using teh AP cameras to perform those functions. That means that the software which processes the video signals (which by definition is the AP software) also is now performing the auto-wiper and auto-headlight function. That's why the headlight and wiper functions aren't working and why it's related to the AP software.
People seem to think the difference between AP1 and AP2 is just the additional sensors and slightly different AP software (even disregarding the fact AP1 is Mobileye technology, AP2 is Tesla vision technology). That's simply not true -- it is a completely different system (both hardware and software). Much of the lessons learned from AP1 can be (and most likely have been) implemented in AP2, but it is no surprise that this is so complex. With the AP2 cars, Tesla made a conscious decision to eliminate other sensors/systems and roll them into the base AP software code. As a closed software ecosystem, that makes a lot of sense as it (a) eliminates some hardware (the rain and light sensors) and (b) eliminates some different pieces of code further integrating the car. The downside of integrating stuff more fully is that touching any piece has potential impact on more systems and the code is even more complex introducing more opportunities for bugs and a need for greater testing.
Those people who are saying (with respect to the AP2 cars) that the auto-wipers and auto-headlight functions have nothing to do with AP2 software clearly have not read what Tesla has put out about AP2 nor have an understanding of what software/hardware integration and testing is all about. You're not expected to either -- when you buy a car you just want it to work and I get that, but when you buy a Tesla and the order agreement says that a feature you buy is still under test and validation it is not true to say that Tesla has lied to you or done something improper. You made the purchase and it was all there in black and white. Whether you knew what it meant or not is a different matter, but the same can be said of all of the clauses in a mortgage note or an insurance policy. Tesla is not like other car manufacturers (for better or for worse). In another car manufacturer they do a LOT more testing and validation before they release software so that there won't be problems like this. The downside is that the software/features don't get released until years have passed, Tesla does it in months. The impact is you get more reliability/tested software with other folks, but at the cost that you may not get a feature for a much longer period of time (if ever).
When we bought our other car, Apple carplay was not part of the entertainment suite but it was expected to be issued "soon" and would be an available software update to the car. I negotiated with the dealership that I would get that software update free if it was released within the first 12 months of ownership. In fact, the manufacturer released the carplay feature for our model 3 years after they first introduced it on another model they manufactured. NO doubt the slow release process was due to their approach to greater testing and the fact their model is that updates are released with model years. Exact opposite of Tesla, it worked perfectly when installed, but we had to wait a lot longer to get it.
Now whether Tesla's decision to pursue even greater integration in the AP2 cars was a wise decision or not is certainly debatable, but it is consistent with what Tesla (and SpaceX by the way) have consistently done in the past and is representative of Elon Musk's approach to architecture and systems engineering.
As far as the auto-wipers and headlights having to do with Autopilot. The reason is simple - in the AP 1 cars, Tesla had a separate sensor for detecting rain drops (and starting auto-wipers) and a seperate sensor to detect when it was dark out to turn on the headlights. They have announced that those sensors were removed in the AP2 cars because they are using teh AP cameras to perform those functions. That means that the software which processes the video signals (which by definition is the AP software) also is now performing the auto-wiper and auto-headlight function. That's why the headlight and wiper functions aren't working and why it's related to the AP software.
People seem to think the difference between AP1 and AP2 is just the additional sensors and slightly different AP software (even disregarding the fact AP1 is Mobileye technology, AP2 is Tesla vision technology). That's simply not true -- it is a completely different system (both hardware and software). Much of the lessons learned from AP1 can be (and most likely have been) implemented in AP2, but it is no surprise that this is so complex. With the AP2 cars, Tesla made a conscious decision to eliminate other sensors/systems and roll them into the base AP software code. As a closed software ecosystem, that makes a lot of sense as it (a) eliminates some hardware (the rain and light sensors) and (b) eliminates some different pieces of code further integrating the car. The downside of integrating stuff more fully is that touching any piece has potential impact on more systems and the code is even more complex introducing more opportunities for bugs and a need for greater testing.
Those people who are saying (with respect to the AP2 cars) that the auto-wipers and auto-headlight functions have nothing to do with AP2 software clearly have not read what Tesla has put out about AP2 nor have an understanding of what software/hardware integration and testing is all about. You're not expected to either -- when you buy a car you just want it to work and I get that, but when you buy a Tesla and the order agreement says that a feature you buy is still under test and validation it is not true to say that Tesla has lied to you or done something improper. You made the purchase and it was all there in black and white. Whether you knew what it meant or not is a different matter, but the same can be said of all of the clauses in a mortgage note or an insurance policy. Tesla is not like other car manufacturers (for better or for worse). In another car manufacturer they do a LOT more testing and validation before they release software so that there won't be problems like this. The downside is that the software/features don't get released until years have passed, Tesla does it in months. The impact is you get more reliability/tested software with other folks, but at the cost that you may not get a feature for a much longer period of time (if ever).
When we bought our other car, Apple carplay was not part of the entertainment suite but it was expected to be issued "soon" and would be an available software update to the car. I negotiated with the dealership that I would get that software update free if it was released within the first 12 months of ownership. In fact, the manufacturer released the carplay feature for our model 3 years after they first introduced it on another model they manufactured. NO doubt the slow release process was due to their approach to greater testing and the fact their model is that updates are released with model years. Exact opposite of Tesla, it worked perfectly when installed, but we had to wait a lot longer to get it.
Now whether Tesla's decision to pursue even greater integration in the AP2 cars was a wise decision or not is certainly debatable, but it is consistent with what Tesla (and SpaceX by the way) have consistently done in the past and is representative of Elon Musk's approach to architecture and systems engineering.
