Todd Burch
14-Year Member
I've got 500 miles and almost a week on the car. Honestly, the only issues I've had are really minor. I'm actually quite impressed with the software stability so far.
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Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues
- Thread starter DrComputer
- Start date
I've got 500 miles and almost a week on the car. Honestly, the only issues I've had are really minor. I'm actually quite impressed with the software stability so far.
yep me too, bit more time even. surprisingly solid, and super well thought out. the car is very useable right out of the box. and i am finicky, detail oriented, super techy AND a (maybe not average exactly!) very loyal bmw owner: i've had 3 bmw's and one lexus in the last 12 years, the latest being the 2010 x5 (which i LOVED with all my heart, great f-ing car, honestly, top to bottom, but which i haven't looked at since the telsa got here.. poor girl.
) which has all the bells and whistles, and even that had a couple glitches once or twice in as many years, that even required i restart the car. no big deal, just restart. one day the x5 got so hot the displays shut down, but the car still ran. another time it just rebooted on me in the middle of the freeway, but the car still drove.. these car systems are very complex at this point, and i dare say none more so than the model s. i think it's remarkable how well everything works at this still early stage of product roll-out... this time next year, all these conversations will be so obviated it'll be boring.
I think those moving from a traditional ICE BMW / Mercedes to an all electric Tesla - are making a big change, and that they know that....They would likely be more understanding on minor issues and technicalities , knowing that they are early adapters to a new technology, and have made a bold choice to change from ICE vehicles.
I had the center display fail to start when I returned to my car this evening. Naturally this happened as I was showing the car to friends who had never seen it before. I held down the scroll wheels on the steering wheel until I heard a little "click" through the speakers, which I guessed to be the center console rebooting. I let go, and shortly afterwards the screen started up with the usual Tesla "T" and behaved normally, except that I had to turn Bluetooth off and on again on my iPhone to get the media functionality to pair up. The phone functionality had paired properly, but not media.
lolachampcar
Well-Known Member
Had an extremely weird thing happen to me last night as I was pulling into a parking garage last night - the passenger door opened while I was slowly driving to one of the EV spots. Fortunately no one was in the passenger seat, and the door did not open completely. I know there have been posts about doors/trunk being open when the car is parked, but I couldn't find any that happened during driving. Very scary. Currently running 4.1.
mknox
Well-Known Member
Back in the '80s, "everyone" felt that Japanese vehicles were so much better than N. American cars that I got sucked in and bought a Honda Accord. It was such a piece of crap, I got rid of it in 10 months. I had similar experiences with Toyota and eventually went back to N. American brands and have been happy(er) ever since.
My point is that if buyers of high end traditional ICE vehicles make the move, some may be "understanding" of issues and problems, but I'll bet that expectations of a quality and problem-free vehicle will be quite high, especially at the price point. My expectations around Japanese vehicles was quickly dashed.
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When you say "didn't open completely", was there a secondary catch holding it, or did it just not swing out due to the motion of the vehicle? If the latter, that is a huge problem. If you were turning left, the door could have flung wide open!
It's now a week later and I thought it made sense to provide an update on the specific issues I raised:
I haven't noticed this particularly since the first day, which is interesting. I'm not sure what to attribute it to. I have been thoroughly enjoying music via Bluetooth, Slacker, and TuneIn. It's unspeakably wonderful to be able to listen to a favorite station even when out of range of their FM broadcast. The Folk station in Antarctica makes a great demo example, I'm delighted to be able to listen to San Francisco's KFOG for my entire commute, and some times of day BBC Radio One can be a great place to find new music. It beats the heck out of XM for my needs.
I haven't had any problems since the original slightly sticky adjustment. Both mirrors appear to move freely between their assigned positions for forward and reverse movement. I'm still planning to get Tesla Service to check on it, but there's zero urgency.
I believe this was entirely user error. I didn't realize that you don't just need the key in your possession - the car must be unlocked to release the charging cable, even when the button is depressed. I think they should change this behavior but it does appear to be working as designed.
It sounds like this will be corrected easily through firmware. Evidently it sees enough resistance break the air seal when moving to the "vent" position that it stops as a safety precaution. Adjusting the safety threshold for that particular motion should be straightforward.
The reading has been fine except while actively charging, so it's not likely to be an issue in practice.
It sounds like I'm not the only one irritated by this, and it's obviously correctable in firmware. I'll be a little surprised if this one isn't corrected this month as part of the expected update.
I was using Jack Mode to do something the software wasn't expected, and indeed something that isn't recommended. I've had no problems at all with my air suspension and I rely on it routinely to clear the top of our driveway.
All in all, I'm ecstatic about the initial experience of owning a Model S. At this point it seems obvious we're destined to be a two-Tesla household a few years down the road. The Model S replaced a Lexus RX450h. Now we just need a replacement for our Porsche Boxster S. I'll be eagerly awaiting more information on the forthcoming Model C and Model R!
PureAmps
Model S P85 (#2817)
I had to use the Tesla two-thumb salute to reboot my center screen for the fist time today.
My car had been parked in my garage (and plugged in) since New Year's Eve (about 5 days). When I backed the car out this afternoon I noticed that both display screens were stuck in night mode (this was at 2 pm), bluetooth would not connect to my phone, the temperature display read "---" instead of a number, the turn signal wouldn't make a sound when used, and the backup camera screen remained on after putting the car in drive (I don't drive with it on).
After rebooting, everything started working normally.
Not sure if this is related to cold weather problems others reported (my garage was not that cold, probably in the 40s most of the week), has something to do with extended parking, or just a random glitch, but I did report the problem to Tesla.
My car had been parked in my garage (and plugged in) since New Year's Eve (about 5 days). When I backed the car out this afternoon I noticed that both display screens were stuck in night mode (this was at 2 pm), bluetooth would not connect to my phone, the temperature display read "---" instead of a number, the turn signal wouldn't make a sound when used, and the backup camera screen remained on after putting the car in drive (I don't drive with it on).
After rebooting, everything started working normally.
Not sure if this is related to cold weather problems others reported (my garage was not that cold, probably in the 40s most of the week), has something to do with extended parking, or just a random glitch, but I did report the problem to Tesla.
hey, thanks for posting this. i'm so glad when i hear good things instead of always issues here. and a bit of a lesson for new car recipients and prospective owners. it takes a minute (read: few days) to get used to a new car. a lot of the 'issues' people are having are just not understanding how things are supposed to work.. once you do, it makes a lot of sense. also, sometimes the first time you do something in a complex system like the model s there is a lag between controls, sensors and logic, give it a second to save settings, etc.. it'll be fine from then on. i have found that with things like seat positions and things, set it, give it one cycle to reset all its parameters and variables, and usually things are fine after that. beware of a hair trigger when reacting to behavior of the car. fwiw.
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wanna make a comment about this. i have found once or twice that if i jump in the car, flip into reverse and pull out and start driving immediately, one or more of the displays hasn't fully booted, or the reverse camera might not have come on (happened once), radio something.. things like that. but i find that if i don't stop, just keep driving, or (rare) stop and restart (off/on, not actual button-hold reset) everything comes up as normal after a second.
i attribute this to having the car set to power off displays after a timeout.. i think perhaps in these situations where i've literally jumped in the car and started driving within a couple seconds that all the systems haven't had a chance to initialize and once i'm in drive the car has shunted processing support to the actual drive systems and bypassed nav/radio/camera etc startup. this is surely something that will get better over time, but truthfully it's the right way for the car to function in this situation, and it's my fault (i feel) for not allowing the car to startup as needed. a few more seconds would probably have done the trick. and i don't fret about it. fact is, in the bmw (2010) if i jumped in and flipped right to reverse before things started up i would have similar things happen, nav take too long to init, radio not work right away, sometimes even the backup cam would come on a few seconds late... don't forget we are driving computers after all. they're only human....
PureAmps
Model S P85 (#2817)
i attribute this to having the car set to power off displays after a timeout.. i think perhaps in these situations where i've literally jumped in the car and started driving within a couple seconds that all the systems haven't had a chance to initialize and once i'm in drive the car has shunted processing support to the actual drive systems and bypassed nav/radio/camera etc startup. this is surely something that will get better over time, but truthfully it's the right way for the car to function in this situation, and it's my fault (i feel) for not allowing the car to startup as needed. a few more seconds would probably have done the trick. and i don't fret about it. fact is, in the bmw (2010) if i jumped in and flipped right to reverse before things started up i would have similar things happen, nav take too long to init, radio not work right away, sometimes even the backup cam would come on a few seconds late... don't forget we are driving computers after all. they're only human....
This was more than a few second delay. I have all kinds of cars that take seconds to boot up all of their systems, this was different. My Acura's DVD-based navigation system is the worst. It always seems to take 10 times longer to boot when I'm in a hurry, running late and need to use the nav to type in an address.
In this case, I had driven the car a couple of miles and nothing improved. I was annoyed that I couldn't play music off my phone, so I finally tried to reboot the center screen (I only knew how thanks to reading the TMC forums!). Soon enough, I had my tunes going, stepped on the accelerator, and my Tesla grin returned.
Todd Burch
14-Year Member
Tesla probably won't change this, as it's by design. When you lock the car, the plug locks into the car for a good reason: So idiots can't come along and unplug your car because they think it's funny.
Zapped
Model S - PURE EV
Strange I had a similar experience with about 100 km on the car, but I had a passenger. At first I assume he hadn't quite closed the door but later realized that there was the sound of the electric latch. I was driving in a straight line, hit about 70 kph ( 40mph ). Slowed down immediately and stopped the car, closed the door... never happened again.
I've owned VW, Toyota, Honda, Mercerdes and now BWM. I'm fortunate to be able to still own the BMW when I need it.
Every vehicle I've driven has had some kind of issues. (The engine on my 86 VW golf with automatic transmission would rev up when I was trying to brake to a stop ... that was bad)
For me driving the TESLA Model S is worth working through some of the quirks.
MODEL S is a fantastic technically amazing performance car.
People, who have never heard of TESLA, are amazed that an electric car can kick a$$
mknox
Well-Known Member
I'm curious to know if we believe this is a hardware or software issue. My impression of the Model S door handles is that it takes too little effort to open the door. My current ICE uses a similar solenoid-type system to unlatch the doors, but the door handle travel is roughly equivalent to the travel on a regular mechanically latched door before the solenoid is activated. I wonder (worry?) if the switch in the handle is just too sensitive and activates the software too easily. (Hit a pothole and the mechanism "jiggles" enough to activate the system???).
I understand, but I do have the key. Am I really not in close enough proximity for the car to detect it? I back into my garage. It seems pedantic to insist that I walk up to my door and then backtrack to remove the charger.
strider
Active Member
Well, assuming you have the tech package the car should detect the fob and unlock. However the antenna must be in the front as the range in front is quite good while at the rear not so much. In our case we park nose in so walk past the car to the charge port and all is well. I have noticed if I'm in a parking lot and walk up to the rear of the car and hit the trunk button above the license plate it sometimes takes an extra push or two for it to realize I have the fob and open the trunk. Hopefully something they can tweak in future models (by maybe moving the antenna) and possibly retrofit in ours.
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I can see how like in Cinergi's case the car was parked and handles were "out" that it could detect a phantom hand and unlatch but when driving down the road the handles are "in" and shouldn't register pressure to open the door. Surely there is some logic in there somewhere. I also wonder if those who have had this happen while driving have the auto-lock feature enabled so the doors lock when you drive?
Old (version) data, but posting it for general information:
v1.17.50
v1.17.50
- Vehicle unattended for 22 days while plugged into 14-50R receptable. Had at least one brownout during the period but apparently no blackouts > 2 hours (judging by my microwave at "RESET" but my computers -- with UPS -- still on).
- Vehicle greeted me with a 12V warning, 225 miles of rated range, and an update pending.
- Update is installing now.
