Model S Software/Firmware wishlist

[travwill]

The left scroll wheel is pause, not mute.

But yeah, a real mute would be nice.

Well it is pause on non-live Internet and your bluetooth sources, etc. It is technically a mute on live radio (FM/XM) sources as they keep on going live of course but it silences the speakers ;-)

 

[HankLloydRight]

Who listens to radio anymore??

 

[HankLloydRight]

I'd like the volume icon that is displayed lower right of main screen to be enhanced to show a "Mute" sign and control between the Volume up and Down controls. Many times I've muted the audio using the left scroll wheel and then my partner wonders what happened to the audio. There's no indication and you're left wondering if mute is on or if it's a break in streaming. Tapping between Up and Down would allow the passenger to un-mute audio.

The left scroll wheel is pause, not mute.

But yeah, a real mute would be nice.

Well it is pause on non-live Internet and your bluetooth sources, etc. It is technically a mute on live radio (FM/XM) sources as they keep on going live of course but it silences the speakers ;-)

Ok, I just checked. The left scroll wheel is "Pause" on connected devices and streaming audio. But when on radio (I tested FM, not XM) the left scroll wheel does operate as a mute button, BUT also, the touchscreen volume controls DO unmute the audio if the levels are changed, as RSargeant desires. It also indicates when the audio is muted with an "X" between the up and down buttons.

 

[Bugeater]

Who listens to radio anymore??

My a wife does. She likes to have someone talking to her when she drives...

 

[Andyw2100]

My a wife does. She likes to have someone talking to her when she drives...

What about your b wife? How does the c wife feel about wives a and b?

 

[Bugeater]

Don't know her yet! Darn spell corrector.

 

[aaronw]

I wish it were possible to put in multiple destinations in the nav system. It would certainly help it with supercharging and choosing where to charge. The nav system also needs to wait before changing the route for traffic. At one point it was changing its mind every couple of minutes when traffic was bad making it impossible to navigate if I didn't already know where I was going.

 

[kirkbauer]

One minor feature I'd like to see is for the Model S to recognize via GPS when I'm close to home or any other location where I have a HomeLink signal saved and bring up the window on the 17" screen to open the garage door.

First one in this list, and we got it, well sort of. When I get home it pops the menu down which is great. However, when I back out of my garage in the morning and want to close it, the menu isn't there.

Personally I think this should also pop up in the left or right dashboard display when you get close to the GPS location so you could use the steering wheel controls to open/close the garage.

- - - Updated - - -

-pandora

Almost 3 years later... any chance for Pandora? I'd love it.

- - - Updated - - -

interior temperature controls -- (should be easy if the phone app is going to have something like these)
- pre-heat / pre-cool timer settings to cool/heat at a specific time (leaving for work, coming home)
- temp controls while car is off / no fob in car -- (maintain for next X minutes/hours)

I'm sad we don't have any of this several years later. VisibleTesla lets you set some schedules but that's not official.

I would propose it should also be linked to GPS. So you can say "at this location (home), Mon-Fri, start cooling at 7AM and stop at 7:30AM (in case you are home sick or something)". Then at work you can set up the same thing. Now if you take your car on a road trip it won't cool itself every morning at 7AM because it isn't at your house (also could have an option to only do this if plugged in).

And I would love to be able to tell it to keep the climate control going for X minutes after leaving the car. You can do it with the app but it isn't the same (and I'm not sure how long it will keep running if you turn on climate control with the app).

- - - Updated - - -

This topic is a great candidate for a wiki post. My favorite:

- charge based on departure time

GSP

I also can't believe we don't have this yet. As of today you can still only set the time charging should start. I propose you should be able to set (per location) a start time and end time that charging is allowed (e.g. super-off-peak rates if you have those) and then set the time you want it to be finished.

So for me I'd say 11PM to 7AM is the charging window, and I want it at 85% no later than 7:30AM each day. It will then start charging as early as necessary to make that deadline, but no earlier than 11PM.

 

[kirkbauer]

I agree. The Model S really needs an "under the covers" display page with more info about what is going on inside the car.

Definitely! A lot of owners are tech-inclined, I'd love to see where all of the energy is going to.

- - - Updated - - -

1) A button or quick steering wheel action that will raise the car to max height ASAP regardless of speed

I would definitely like to be able to map my air suspension to the right of the instrument cluster (where I can map the panoramic roof to). Then I could use the scroll wheel to raise or lower my ride height.

- - - Updated - - -

Isn't the driver profile linked to the key fob? My Infiniti links the seat positions and other "profile" settings to each key fob and as soon as you unlock the car it moves the seat for you before you even get in.

There is no way to link keyfobs to profiles and I think that is a huge oversight. My 2001 Acura had this feature. I'm not sure if a software upgrade could change this or not (in other words perhaps the keys are actually identical?).

- - - Updated - - -

I would like to be able to specify a cell phone as "Primary" and any time the car is driven a warning would be given if the car does not see that phone.
I hate it when I forget my cell at home or at work. Would be nice for my car to remind me I don't have it.

(Or simply [ ] Warn if cell phone not located - actual warning should say name of phone so another driver knows its not theirs. i.e. "Ken's iPhone not found" )

Forgive me if this has been requested.

Excellent idea!

- - - Updated - - -

Creep should be a profile specific setting.

Absolutely, it is very frustrating that it isn't. My wife would prefer creep to be on, but she has to drive with it off since it isn't in the profile.

Same thing with Insane mode on the P85D, not stored in the profile.

- - - Updated - - -

Related to this, an issue I have is that cars (all cars that I know of) can only pair one phone, while they often have more than one phone inside. Of course, the only phone that MUST be paired is that of the driver, but since the car can't know which one is the driver's phone it will simply pair the first one it detects, which gets it right half of the time. For men opening the door to their ladies (yes, some of us still do that) this algorithm means the car NEVER gets it right. So you have a Bluetooth phone which on a large percentage of trips pairs the wrong phone.
The solution? Use the driver's profile to pair the right phone. Whenever you connect a phone manually (by either pairing it or connecting it manually) add that setting to the driver's profile, and whenever that profile is selected, connect that phone if it is in range. That way, you will always get it right (and I presume the car will eventually match keys to driver profiles, it surprises me it doesn't do that already). An alternative design would have the profile memory save the currently paired phone whenever a profile is saved, but I can see how that would lead to more frequent wrong associations.
Of course, if the computer could actually connect multiple phones at the same time, that would be even better. It is complicated since, even though most Bluetooth stacks can support multiple simultaneous connections, the software would have to manage the situation when one phone is on a call and another phone starts a call (e.g. disconnect audio for all phones when one is on a call), allow the browsing of multiple agendas and more, so the first solution seems much easier to do.

Other things I would like to ask:
* The aforementioned association of profiles to key fobs. It surprises me it doesn't do it already, my last three cars had it and they weren't fancy cars. And it is a BIG plus having your seat automatically adjusted to whoever is driving the car without having to tell it (assuming each driver at home has their own key).
* Move back the seat and raise/move forward the steering column when the car is parked. Again, something my last two non-fancy cars had.
* Move all adjustment motors at the same time. Maybe there's an electric limitation, but I don't understand why automatic seat positioning has to be made by moving one motor at a time, which takes forever!

BTW, I have a work-around for the lack of automatic seat and steering column retraction on parking: I created an additional profile for "empty seat" in which the driver's seat is fully pushed back, the steering column is fully raised and retracted and the seat is moved to a comfortable egress/ingress position. Whenever I park the car, I press that option and I can comfortably exit and get back into the car with the seat and wheel in the most retracted position (not that I am physically that big, but I am very tall and like a not too reclined driving position, and usually have to pull my backpack from the passenger's seat, which all conspires to making egress and ingress harder than it could be).

Great post and we still need all of this (unfortunately).

- - - Updated - - -

+1

Another +1 here

 

[kirkbauer]

Something that I have not come across among the wishes so far: The map on the touch screen should automatically zoom in or zoom out depending on the speed of the car when it is centered on the car. (Zoom in at low speeds, and out at higher speeds).

I like it! But make it a setting for those who don't like it.

 

[AB4EJ]

Who listens to radio anymore??

Radio is the only source I can find where you can get NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. This was a major reason I dropped my Sirius/XM subscription - they carry other NPR shows but not these, so I seldom used.

 

[kirkbauer]

OK, I just read through all 93 pages and I have a few suggestions that haven't already been covered much (or at all):

1) Creep Mode and Insane Mode should be tied to driver profile (in addition to climate control settings, audio, and which phone to pair with), and this should be tied to individual keys.

2) Air Suspension should be able to be mapped to the right steering wheel dial (like the sunroof).

3) Homelink should come up on the steering wheel controls as you near the device (in addition to the oft-requested larger buttons on the touch screen). Voice control would also be nice.

4) Today you can set current and start time for charging by location. Expand to include charging time window and charge complete time (frequent request here). Also integrate pre-conditioning into this schedule.

5) Range mode should include a more energy-efficient TACC.

6) Yeah, broken record here, Pandora and Waze please, or better yet a third-party app marketplace and API/SDK.

 

[kaneda]

Hi,As a TMS owner I would be very interested in being able to edit the average Wh consumption so the dash display would show a distance (autonomy) which is closer to the owner experience. So in addition to rated & typical ranges, I would be able to see a personal range information.

 

[neroden]

Reiterating stuff I've said before:
-- gapless play in the audio player. I have radio dramas to listen to here!
-- creep mode should definitely be linked to driver profile; anything else is very, very disconcerting and can cause accidents.

 

[Soolim]

Auto lock everywhere except when inside home garage and plug into charger. This will distinguish it from near home driveway which is still considered non-secured location.

 

[richardl007]

How about Favorites on the phone tab?

 

[mknox]

Auto lock everywhere except when inside home garage and plug into charger. This will distinguish it from near home driveway which is still considered non-secured location.

Only if it's switchable. I never, ever want my car sitting unattended and unlocked...even in my locked garage... ever.

 

[kmtl]

Adjustable font and button size please. 17"screen and I still have to drop my reading glasses down from atop my head to read the damned text. You younglings at tesla should ask your dads about this to understand.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Adjustable font and button size please. 17"screen and I still have to drop my reading glasses down from atop my head to read the damned text. You younglings at tesla should ask your dads about this to understand.

Get bifocal or progressive driving glasses. Use when driving. done.

 

[kuttakamina]

Only if it's switchable. I never, ever want my car sitting unattended and unlocked...even in my locked garage... ever.

Same here.
The one feature I'd love to have - allow me to keep the car on without me being on the driver seat, even if it is based on a timer.
For instance, when I'm cleaning the car, I like to have music on the car.