New updates which I can't acess

[CuriousG]

Got 7.0 (2.7.56) upgrade OTA end of October OTA, got 2.7.106 OTA Nov 6, and last night I got 2.9.12 OTA. none of these were done at a service centre. So yes, they do them OTA since 7.0
I've only had the car about 5 weeks and I'm on my 4th firmware version, that seems like a lot to me!

I received my 2.9.12 at the same time as you but on my 2nd day or ownership. The only thing I noticed that's different from the previous firmware was with autopilot. It keeps nagging at me to keep my hands on the wheel when it already is every couple of minutes. I've driven manual transmissions for a long time so I'm accustomed to using one hand to steer and with light pressure. So I either have to grab it harder or put both hands on the wheel to get rid of the message.

 

[JenniferQ]

Got 7.0 (2.7.56) upgrade OTA end of October OTA, got 2.7.106 OTA Nov 6, and last night I got 2.9.12 OTA. none of these were done at a service centre. So yes, they do them OTA since 7.0
I've only had the car about 5 weeks and I'm on my 4th firmware version, that seems like a lot to me!

That's interesting. I guess maybe you have a CPO and being in Canada things are a little different version-wise? I have had my car about 7 weeks and have had only two OTA updates which still seems a lot for a car! First was the AP one .56 and then this to .77, which is "just bug fixes" but apparently bug fixes means putting back a clock in the IC and removing the temp from the display to the IC. Still exciting to get a car with OTA updates for me!

 

[jeffro01]

In talking with my rep at the service center, there are a number of small upgrades to the 7.0 software that haven't been issued over the air and will only be uploaded when the car is in for service-- why can't I have them now?? I have a friend of mine in Seattle who went in last week for a standard tire rotation, and after having previously downloaded version 7.0 found that the subsequent add-ons took another 2 hours to download much to his surprise, whereas he'd been told to be in & out in a matter of minutes.

WTF -- what does it take to get these downloads OTA?

Is Teslas trying to be like Russian Ladas?

At times I truly can't reconcile why I spent $120,000 for such a piece of **** and such poor service. At this point I will never by another Tesla.

If Tesla thinks they are providing an "excellent experience" they'd better get their head out of the sand and realize the overall ownership experience from the time of placing the deposit is completely full of ****. From personal experience it's worse than Ford, Chevy, Nissan, Toyota, Subaru, and 40+years of Mercedes. Other than that, they're doing a great job.

pdq

Wow... Really??? I can be prone to overreactions myself but this is ridiculously over the top. Not sure what examples you're pulling your poor ownership experience from but if it's because of the software updates then I have a question for you. Would you like some cheese with that whine?... Please buy another car from another company the next time around. Obviously you'll be much happier with their dealerships and the legendary quality service you can expect from them...

Just wow...

Jeff

 

[bob_p]

With around 100,000 Model S cars on the road and a growing number of Tesla cars (S, X, 3) coming, Tesla really needs to make improvements in their software release process - because what they are doing now risks unnecessary dissatisfaction from Tesla's owners - especially when they aren't selling primarily to "early adopters".

Some simple changes they could implement immediately:

1. Make updates available to all cars, and let the owners decide if/when they want to update
2. Provide release notes for each release, prior to installation - so owners can decide if they even want the update
3. And, because obvious bugs continue to get into software releases, expand the beta program to allow owners to opt in for testing, which should help considerably due to the growing number of different configurations that should be tested for each release

The above changes shouldn't be too difficult to implement - and could be done very quickly. And would eliminate much of the frustration expressed on the forums. [Which could change to a different type of frustration - owners updating too frequently - and not seeing anything of value in most of the releases - but at least that would be their decision to keep installing very minimal updates!]

What would also be very helpful, though more difficult to implement, would be for the ability to "roll back" to the previous stable software release, should a particularly annoying problem be encountered in the latest installed release. By allowing roll back only to a specific previous version, that would make it easier for Tesla to verify the roll back works with each release (allowing roll back to any arbitrary prior release would be very difficult to verify). With rollback, owners would be less concerned about installing new releases (even beta releases).

I have one of the early "classic" P85s - and continue to be a strong supporter of Tesla - and hope they can make the needed improvements in their software process before it starts impacting their ability to impact the growing number of customers they'll need when they ramp up production, especially when they Model 3 comes out.

 

[pdq]

I guess I feel like I was mis-lead in that Tesla extolls the fact that it constantly does the high tech thing of OTA upgrades, when in fact they do some, but others you have to go to the SC and sit for a couple of hours as my friend did.

What fix am I waiting for? One that they acknowledge is known and not yet fixed. Namely with version 7.0 a problem was created with the climate control system where it does not properly sense the interior temp of the car. For example, now that we are in December in the mid-Atlantic states, the interior temp can be in the low 50F range and the climate control is set for 72F and instead of heat you get cold air out of the vents. The workaround given by Tesla is to set the temp to high 80sF, force it to blow warm air, then manually turn it down a few degrees at a time as the car warms up.

 

[Ugliest1]

I guess I feel like I was mis-lead in that Tesla extolls the fact that it constantly does the high tech thing of OTA upgrades, when in fact they do some, but others you have to go to the SC and sit for a couple of hours as my friend did.

Not to split hairs... what the OTA really means is, you'll get it OTA when your car's number comes up. In special circumstances, such as that exploited hack those two guys came up with after two years of work (with physical access to a car), every car had the fix downloaded by the next day from the announcement. But mostly, lots of cars wait. My car has had 18 updates in the last couple years, and usually they've been available to me between 1-2 months after "everyone else" reports getting them. Once, I had it on the second day. Wooo-hooo!

What fix am I waiting for? One that they acknowledge is known and not yet fixed. Namely with version 7.0 a problem was created with the climate control system where it does not properly sense the interior temp of the car. For example, now that we are in December in the mid-Atlantic states, the interior temp can be in the low 50F range and the climate control is set for 72F and instead of heat you get cold air out of the vents. The workaround given by Tesla is to set the temp to high 80sF, force it to blow warm air, then manually turn it down a few degrees at a time as the car warms up.

Yeah, that would not be a pleasant bug to have to deal with. I don't think I have that issue, but I have noticed the car doesn't feel quite as "warm" at our normal 21 Celsius temperature.

However, the vitriol in your OP seems a little over the top. Tesla and the Model S are not perfect by any means... but IMHO they're both a hell of a lot better than whatever else is out there -- every other car I have owned has had some issue or other I've had to just live with, and none of those cars gave me the enjoyment and advantages of the Model S. So, I'm just saying, if the temperature problem and workaround are so bad for you to call the whole car a piece of ****, perhaps the car is not something you'll ever be happy with. To each their own.

 

[jeffro01]

I guess I feel like I was mis-lead in that Tesla extolls the fact that it constantly does the high tech thing of OTA upgrades, when in fact they do some, but others you have to go to the SC and sit for a couple of hours as my friend did.

What fix am I waiting for? One that they acknowledge is known and not yet fixed. Namely with version 7.0 a problem was created with the climate control system where it does not properly sense the interior temp of the car. For example, now that we are in December in the mid-Atlantic states, the interior temp can be in the low 50F range and the climate control is set for 72F and instead of heat you get cold air out of the vents. The workaround given by Tesla is to set the temp to high 80sF, force it to blow warm air, then manually turn it down a few degrees at a time as the car warms up.

How in the world were you mislead? Really??? Come on... Tesla doesn't push out the updates to all cars at once unless it's a major revision\emergency and even then it's STILL not every car at once.

Seriously, you need to calm the **** down...

Jeff

 

[Mike Tuccelli]

That's interesting. I guess maybe you have a CPO and being in Canada things are a little different version-wise? I have had my car about 7 weeks and have had only two OTA updates which still seems a lot for a car! First was the AP one .56 and then this to .77, which is "just bug fixes" but apparently bug fixes means putting back a clock in the IC and removing the temp from the display to the IC. Still exciting to get a car with OTA updates for me!

I'm sorry if it is so obvious, but how will I know if I have had a firmware and/or software update? Thanks for enlightening me.

 

[green1]

I'm sorry if it is so obvious, but how will I know if I have had a firmware and/or software update? Thanks for enlightening me.

They don't happen automatically, you'll get a prompt asking you to update, and you can chose to update "now" (2 minutes from now), postpone to a time of your choosing, or dismiss the dialog (it will ask you again later).
The only known exception is that when you take it in for service they often do updates without consulting you first. I would expect that if that happened it would be on your service invoice, and there's a good chance the release notes would still be up on the screen when you picked it up.

 

[Todd Burch]

I guess I feel like I was mis-lead in that Tesla extolls the fact that it constantly does the high tech thing of OTA upgrades, when in fact they do some, but others you have to go to the SC and sit for a couple of hours as my friend did.

I've owned a Model S for 3 years now. Number of updates I've received on the car? Probably 20-25 or so now, many of which have added features to the car that weren't there when I bought it.

Number of times I've [had] to go to the SC and sit for a couple of hours for an OTA update? Zero.
Number of times I've EVER had to go to the SC? Zero.

When I get service, they've always brought a nice loaner, trailered mine, and brought my car back a day or two later full of "fuel". Number of times any other car company has done that for me?

You guessed it.

Zero.

Your complaints seem a little misguided, but I guess everyone's views are colored by their own experiences.