Model X Minor Improvement Wish List

[aesculus]

While some of us are getting a few miles under our belt with the Model X I thought I would start a new thread where we could describe some of the minor improvements/additions we would like to see in the Model X. These should be things that are easy to add/fix and not require engineering changes, so no discussions about battery sizes, eliminating the Falcon Wing Doors or folding second row seats.

Some of this will be compilations of items that show up in other threads which is great. Hopefully Tesla will see this list and give them some inspiration to enhance the Model X to be an even greater car than it already is. In a few cases we might discover that a feature already exists but the poster, or other users, were not aware of how something worked, which is OK. And yes, we all know to RTFM, but ...

To start off the conversation here are a few of my requests/ideas:

Door/Hatch Opening/Closing

I noticed last night that when my wife got out of the car before I put it in the garage she struggled with how to close the passenger door. Shouldn't the door popup panel appear whenever a door is open so the driver can close the door, or perhaps open other doors when this occurs? Yes I can go to controls and hunt down the popup, but I think it should show up automatically.

Having location dependant FWD and rear hatch height settings. I have adjusted these to be lower for my garage, but when I am away from home I would like them to go to the full height by default.

Music Playback

Can we get an off button? I know I can pause playback and turn the sound all the way down to 0, but what about a simple off button?

As pointed out in other threads, the Metatags are pretty poorly implemented for media playback. At least allow separate artists on an album so we don't fracture albums into uniques ones just because of a different artist.

How about a search for album, artist or track on media playback?

Phone Cradle

I have an Android phone (Galaxy S5) the Model X does not support USB-C, but I did discover that part of the USB C is really just a Micro USB side so the adapter Tesla provides could at least in theory charge the phone. What I have found though is that my phone can never be aligned correctly to slip into the charger. I just use the cable separately without feeding it into the base of the cradle. Tesla needs to rethink the phone cradle, at least for non lightning devices. And the whole slip in side things are kind of tacky too and it's a hit or miss at best.

Rear Spoiler

This needs a park mode (wash?) where it can be stowed when the car is in park rather than just off and locked.

Frunk Hood

Can we get an electronic closing mode? I am OK with having to manually open it for safety reasons, but really it should be able to close electronically. Why risk denting it with manual closing?

Key Fob

I think these should be driver dependant and set your profile automatically (seat and mirrors etc). I can understand an issue where both you and your partner are in the car together with your fob's, but this should be overcomable with a default to last user when both fobs are present and a way to override that to change default drivers.

 

[GottaGetRidOfICE]

I agree with your wish list. I would add a better Blind Spot indication and detection reliability. My family has a Range River and a Volvo, and both make it clear that there's something that will be unpleasant if you move to an adjacent lane. The indication is where you'd be looking (the applicable side mirror OT in that direction) rather than the instrument panel, where you won't be looking. Additionally, on the Tesla it doesn't seem to be reliable (maybe it's a sensor problem), whereas with our other cars it is dependable. With the limited visibility (the pillars are huge), this is a major concern.

I guess putting indicators on the mirrors is a nontrivial change, but a more dramatic indication of potential trouble (say when you use your turn signal) would be helpful.

 

[Scrith]

It would be very helpful if the Model X had a 360-degree outside camera view for parking purposes, like my 2013 LEAF. It continues to amaze me that the manufacturer of such large (and therefore difficult to park in many situations), expensive vehicles fails to provide such a basic feature found on many other cars.

 

[Gwgan]

Front door controls on the fob.
Rearview camera tolerant of inclement weather.

 

[cclaygo]

The door defaults to open and close does pop up on mine when the car is placed in park. I also did see an option for the spoiler in the settings.

I would like to see all doors close when the car is locked. Currently only both front doors close.

I would also like to see all the doors close on walk away door lock. Currently only driver.

Being able to move the middle row seats independently on the touchscreen is needed.

 

[djbakasan]

Third Row Seat Control
Really sad there isn't a button to pop the 3rd row seats back up from the rear gate. You can pop the button on the seats to send them forward, but best I can tell, those same buttons are the only way to bring the seats back upright....meaning I have to go through the hassle of opening up the falcon wing doors to be able to reach those buttons. On every other SUV I've ever driven (Audi, Infiniti, Acura), those have seat releases in the trunk area itself as well as on the seats themselves or otherwise somewhere inside the cabin.

Resume Play on Start
Used to my music picking up where I last left it when I re-enter the car. The X just sort of stares back at me, quietly, until I select something to play again. If I really wanted to pick up where I last left off, say as part of a series of podcasts or audiobooks, well, too freaking bad. Navigate to it again and seek the part you wanted again.

Larger Rear View Mirror
Yes, the windshield is nice. It's VERY nice in fact. I gets lots of oohs and ahhs. And perhaps putting in a bigger rear view mirror would obstruct some of that sweet sweet glass. But the current RVM inside the X is absurdly small. WHAT IS THIS, A REAR VIEW MIRROR FOR ANTS!? (And yes, I can use the camera, but I shouldn't *have* to).

Compass
Oddly, something I greatly miss on my Audi is being able to glance up somewhere (it happens to be integrated into the rear view mirror on my two Audis) and seeing the cardinal direction I'm moving, N, NE, S, SW, etc. Yes, I have a ginormous nav screen in front of me, but from a quick view to gather information, having it as a separate entity available at all times is supremely useful, especially when traveling in a grid heavy street layout part of town.

 

[vandacca]

Rear Spoiler
Automatic retraction of rear spoiler when rear hatch is opened to avoid it getting damaged on a ceiling. Bonus points if configurable and GPS dependent.

Rear View Mirror
Gentek hybrid rear view mirror. This may require an extra rear shark-fin camera at the top of the hatch for the source of the video.

 

[rallykeeper]

Resume Play on Start
Used to my music picking up where I last left it when I re-enter the car. The X just sort of stares back at me, quietly, until I select something to play again. If I really wanted to pick up where I last left off, say as part of a series of podcasts or audiobooks, well, too freaking bad. Navigate to it again and seek the part you wanted again.

This one falls into my long list of missing features to bring parity with Model S (Classic). My MS resumes play just fine (well, subject to all its idiosyncrasies depending on source). I'm not sure why our MX should be any different.

Another example of inexplicable missing parity features -- the button on the Mobile Connector can't open the charging port?!?

 

[vandacca]

This one falls into my long list of missing features to bring parity with Model S (Classic). My MS resumes play just fine (well, subject to all its idiosyncrasies depending on source). I'm not sure why our MX should be any different.

Another example of inexplicable missing parity features -- the button on the Mobile Connector can't open the charging port?!?

I've read/heard that the button opening the charge port is a feature that's going to come back soon.

 

[Randy Bloom]

To echo what I said on the Tesla forums, now with links to TeslaTap requested features where those predate my asks, I'll point out some things that I can do (sometimes courtesy of Toyota Entune) in my RAV4 EV that I was a bit stunned I can't manage in my Model X:

• Navigation

1. Waypoints - If I have a multi-leg trip, it's useful to enter points A, B, and C at once, to see whether I'll need to charge in order to make it all the way to C.
2. Detours - Another thing I can do with Toyota navigation is set up a quick stop, say at an ATM, without having to abandon my current directions.
3. Points of Interest - If I want to litter my map display with restaurants or ATMs or even gas stations (might need a restroom at a moment's notice), I can do that in the RAV4. I can't even find a Starbucks (visually) in the Model X.
4. Route Priority - Any nav system I've used in the last 13 years has let me set up a route by time or by distance, as well as skipping toll roads or even freeways. Any nav system other than Tesla's, that is.

• Phone Integration
  1. Speed Dials - I shouldn't have to scroll my entire contact list to make a call. I haven't tried the voice recognition (which typically sucks in cars and can be more distracting than a few quick button presses), but even that would be a workaround to a simple feature. If I want to call into a radio station to enter a contest, a speed dial or a redial is the safest option. For this, I'd even take the workaround of pulling in favorite contacts.
  2. Text Reading - Thanks to the Bluetooth connection, when I get a text (or an email), the car will read it to me unless I push Ignore. I'd settle for having the text message show up on the display, as requested on TeslaTap.
  3. Contact Pictures - I didn't even realize that was missing until I saw the feature ask, and then said, "Oh yeah, that's another one I just gave up."
• Apps
  • Entune gives me access to more apps than Tesla does. Most of them I don't or wouldn't use, but the only app in common is Slacker Radio. I give a +1 to the asks for Pandora, but it'd be pretty sweet to use OpenTable as well. I guess the counter argument is I can do that in the browser.

For the media playback, I don't know how hobbled Tesla's interface is compared with Toyota's, because the RAV4 only has one USB port, and I used that to charge my phone. That said, I echo the requests in this thread:

• Media
  1. Resume Play - +1, it's already been requested here, and a similar ask is over at TeslaTap.
  2. Playlists - If these are supported in the Model X (as page 119 of the manual implies), the implementation is undocumented.
  3. Shuffle - I know I can turn it on or off, but I'm used to being able to pick a starting point (album, folder, genre) and just enable shuffle to start playing. If I want random music, don't make me pick the first song.
  4. Cover Art - It looks like this was supported in earlier versions. As an aside, I went through the tedium in Mp3tag of copying Artist to Album Artist for all albums (not so bad), and then normalizing Artist (the tedious part) to avoid duplicate albums (per collaborator).