rcc
Model S 85KW, VIN #2236
From what I understand the smart phone app that tracks your car, turns on the AC remotely....doesn't even come with the car yet. Those features will come at some unspecified date. So we are paying for software upgrades that should have been included with the car in the first place.
I'm not talking about an android/iphone app. I'm talking about stuff like "creep" mode (aka mimic auto xmission), new stereo sound modes and who knows what else.
I think Tesla has a software architecture where a central software configured control panel can both control most pieces of software controlling the car and update those pieces as well. Suspension control software. Engine control software. Sound system control software. Navigation software. Climate control software. Sunroof control software. Power steering control software. Who knows what else.
I'm guessing all of it can updated by the central sw and all of it can be controlled by the central sw. (And if the central sw dies on the highway, the car keeps running.)
This is huge. No other auto manufacturer that I know of is set up to do this because their cars are controlled by individual pieces of independent firmware, often supplied by 3rd-party suppliers. I think Tesla wound up having to write a lot of this software themselves and decided they may as well as write the rest and tie it all together in a cohesive framework.
Personally, I think it's reasonable to pay for updates to this software that deliver significant new features if you want those new features. Tesla doesn't (yet) have the sales volume to build the support costs into the sales price. Microsoft can do it but they sell millions of copies of their software.