This thread makes me cringe. I'll admit I only read the first few pages, and the last page. I know this post won't be well received here. But I completely support Tesla's stance on locking people out to modifications. I've been doing software testing for 20 years, and this sort of thing would be a testing nightmare. Its already very hard, because of all the different hardware out there, each running different version of firmware, and you have to test that each update you release is backward compatible with everything in your fleet. But if a few individuals make changes or modifications to the software that you do not expect or anticipate, and your next update is not compatible with those changes and it bricks the car, who pays for it?
I'm all for collecting data about the car, just not modifying it to allow it to operate outside of the manufactures specifications. I have no problem with collecting data thru the API, or using tools like scan my Tesla to get readouts on cell voltages. I think listening is fine and I support that. But start making changes to things like autopilot nags, or power output of the motors, and that's going too far. How would you feel if you made a change to your autopilot settings, then you got involved in a accident where autopilot was in use and it became a high profile incident(like with a politician or celebrity), and then that incident was used by the government to get autopilot disabled for everyone?
I've owned other less expensive cars that I did mods too, like sway bars, brake kits, etc. I had a Audi turbo that I considered having "chipped" to change the turbo boost for more power, but I never did. But those cars didn't get updates every month. I knew that unless I took it to the dealer or a mechanic, nothing on the car was gonna change. That's not the way it works with Tesla. You really don't know what's going on with each release, because they only tell you about the new features, not what they changed or tried to fix. I do find that frustrating, because you never know how autopilot is going to be affected by each change, until you try it out yourself, or read about it here.
But I think the biggie here is doing a software or firmware mod to get more performance, something breaks because it is operating out of spec, and then the mod is reversed and its presented to Tesla in its factory state for it to be fixed. That hurts everyone else, because now Tesla thinks their motors can't handle the current settings in all environments, and downgrades all of their cars to avoid more warranty repairs.
When I was researching having my Audi chipped, some of the tuners were marketing their tuning as being undetectable by the dealer, so it would keep your warranty intact. So you break your car because you are over-boosting the turbo out of manufactures spec, its still covered under the warranty. Hopefully its a car company that has been around for many years and can afford to pay for warranty repairs that were not really their fault to being with.
I'm all for collecting data about the car, just not modifying it to allow it to operate outside of the manufactures specifications. I have no problem with collecting data thru the API, or using tools like scan my Tesla to get readouts on cell voltages. I think listening is fine and I support that. But start making changes to things like autopilot nags, or power output of the motors, and that's going too far. How would you feel if you made a change to your autopilot settings, then you got involved in a accident where autopilot was in use and it became a high profile incident(like with a politician or celebrity), and then that incident was used by the government to get autopilot disabled for everyone?
I've owned other less expensive cars that I did mods too, like sway bars, brake kits, etc. I had a Audi turbo that I considered having "chipped" to change the turbo boost for more power, but I never did. But those cars didn't get updates every month. I knew that unless I took it to the dealer or a mechanic, nothing on the car was gonna change. That's not the way it works with Tesla. You really don't know what's going on with each release, because they only tell you about the new features, not what they changed or tried to fix. I do find that frustrating, because you never know how autopilot is going to be affected by each change, until you try it out yourself, or read about it here.
But I think the biggie here is doing a software or firmware mod to get more performance, something breaks because it is operating out of spec, and then the mod is reversed and its presented to Tesla in its factory state for it to be fixed. That hurts everyone else, because now Tesla thinks their motors can't handle the current settings in all environments, and downgrades all of their cars to avoid more warranty repairs.
When I was researching having my Audi chipped, some of the tuners were marketing their tuning as being undetectable by the dealer, so it would keep your warranty intact. So you break your car because you are over-boosting the turbo out of manufactures spec, its still covered under the warranty. Hopefully its a car company that has been around for many years and can afford to pay for warranty repairs that were not really their fault to being with.
