Teen mode suggestion

[1.21Jigawatts]

I have been searching the forums and cant find much on this topic. I'm going to make a formal suggestion to Tesla but I am also going to look for additional ideas from the group. I have a M3 on order and due to be delivered this month. I have been reading tons and watching videos to educate myself, but I am a first-time owner. When I get this car my 2 18yo and 16yo are going to beg to drive it. At some point I will probably let them.

I'm thinking about a teen mode, similar to valet mode that does this:

• pin controlled with a separate pin from any other
• can enable/disable from the app
• chill mode locked
• option to limit max speed or limit speed based on the current road speed limit that they are on (actual or % of actual)
• volume max limit (so they can hear and not blast the radio)
• push notification when battery reaches x%

I don't have my M3 yet so I can't think of all the options that could be beneficial. Are there others that anyone can suggest that would be relevant to a teen (newer) driver and limiting the car's capabilities for safety?

 

[jjrandorin]

Valet mode gets you everything that might be necessary (max speed, chill acceleration). The rest of that is... well lets ask this. You likely have a car now, do they drive it, and if they do, what do you do about all the rest of that stuff above?

If they already drive your current vehicle, then either you have those rules in place to tell them not to do that stuff, or they do it already. The main concern would be that the car is "faster" and they might want to show off in it. Those are valid concerns and valet mode covers that.

 

[1.21Jigawatts]

The rest of that is... well lets ask this. You likely have a car now, do they drive it, and if they do, what do you do about all the rest of that stuff above?

A couple things come to mind:

• valet mode blocks your home address which I would definitely want them to have. I suppose they could just enter the address manually as they obviously know it.
• The car I have now is worth 10k, the M3 cost 53k.
• My old car was not software-defined like Tesla's are. There was no option to add this kind of functionality to that vehicle or else I would have.

 

[Two-rocks]

Bought my child a used car. It has a heated steering wheel and heated/cooled seats, opening glass roof, plus much more. Makes the desire less to drive the iCar.

With that said, you have to trust your children and teach them well. Any shortcomings are a reflection of parenting. What is the lesson with the restrictions? How would you react to the being told you are not worthy?

 

[jjrandorin]

A couple things come to mind:

• valet mode blocks your home address which I would definitely want them to have. I suppose they could just enter the address manually as they obviously know it.
• The car I have now is worth 10k, the M3 cost 53k.
• My old car was not software-defined like Tesla's are. There was no option to add this kind of functionality to that vehicle or else I would have.

The worth of the car has nothing to do with things like "not allow music to play too loud" (for example). I stand by my point that, if they are already driving your current car, they are already doing X or Y. They are either listening to your existing rules on this or they are not. You want this stuff "because it can be done, so why not?" , but they are already driving.

If all that stuff existed, they would likely just say "dad I will take the old car" (if you still have it).

 

[UncertainTimes]

This was my teen mode when I learned to drive just sayin
Volvo 740 Sedan | Classic Cars | Volvo Cars

 

[Dolemite]

Mine was a 90 hp diesel wagon. Would’ve been very dead by now otherwise.

 

[CyberGus]

I put my car in "teen mode" and now I can't drive within 300 feet of a school

 

[Sam1]

easy fix, buy your kid a cheap car so they can learn how to drive without all of the nanny systems - or be prepared to see a lot of accidents in the future when they go from learning how to drive a tesla to driving anything else in the future.

 

[Sam1]

How would you react to the being told you are not worthy?

isn't that how everyone was supposed to grow up?

 

[bobby g]

99% of teen drivers aren't worthy. Hence the stats on teen deaths by crash and the question "Have they had their crash yet?"

 

[JCtx]

It's simply not smart to let an immature teen (ALL are, and it's a biological fact) drive a very fast car, especially men. But valet more apparently takes care of that 'problem' (haven't used it myself). I don't think there's a car in production with the 'demands' of the OP .

 

[focher]

The Nissan Leash is apparently a great BEV for teens.

 

[bpobill]

Bought my child a used car. It has a heated steering wheel and heated/cooled seats, opening glass roof, plus much more. Makes the desire less to drive the iCar.

With that said, you have to trust your children and teach them well. Any shortcomings are a reflection of parenting. What is the lesson with the restrictions? How would you react to the being told you are not worthy?

Gotta love when you get parenting advice on a car forum. It’s like getting health advice from a bbq pit master.

teens are terrible drivers because they lack experience. Doesn’t matter what parenting is like. Op has valid concerns. Op needs to use valet mode or only let them drive the car when they are in it. I wouldn’t let a teenager drive my m3p. They should have a shitty 4 cylinder with less than 200hp until they get experience. Why do you think there is a surcharge from rental companies until you’re 26? Stats tell all.

 

[PagodaY]

I addition to all that, just keep reminding them of the dash cam recording everything, and the ability of the app to show you where they are and how fast they are going.

Maybe an email alert sent if the car exceeds a certain speed?

 

[NickFie]

My parenting experience- the more you squeeze the balloon where you can grasp it, the more it bulges out where you cannot.

FWIW - an aged but solid SAAB 900 was our teen driver car. Manual transmission, base 4 cylinder without turbo. I had the car, previously my daily driver for a Texas-scale commute, mechanically restored.

Put in a new radio, with removable faceplate, for the first daughter. Kept the faceplate locked away. Told her she didn’t need distraction while driving.

A month or two later, I put the faceplate on the radio. The following Monday, she rear-ended a car on the way to school.

Things happen.

 

[BeeGood]

I would add active lane assist to the list.

But like others have said, it’s probably easier to just tell them what settings they have to drive under if they’re driving the car. I haven’t let any of my older kids drive my M3, but if I did, I would set up their driver profiles for them and tell them not to change anything accept seat position and climate.

 

[Gasaraki]

Gotta love when you get parenting advice on a car forum. It’s like getting health advice from a bbq pit master.

teens are terrible drivers because they lack experience. Doesn’t matter what parenting is like. Op has valid concerns. Op needs to use valet mode or only let them drive the car when they are in it. I wouldn’t let a teenager drive my m3p. They should have a shitty 4 cylinder with less than 200hp until they get experience. Why do you think there is a surcharge from rental companies until you’re 26? Stats tell all.

If you concerned, WHY ARE YOU LETTING THEM DRIVE a Model 3 or Y at all?!? They can beg all they want. They are driving a beater upper. Priorities people. Valet mode already gives OP 80% of what he needs. It's better than 100% of cars out there because they don't even have something like this.

I think people on here react the way they do is because it is not Tesla's job help you parent your child. There are lots of software issues that Tesla needs to fix other than something like this. I would want something like snow mode than something like this.

 

[RSFTes]

We have a Model X and Y and a new 16 year old driver. I have had many Teslas and believe their technology and safety features are the best available. It seems like a teen-driving mode would be an easy and valuable feature for those wanting to add additional parent-teen friendly driving.

For example, take advantage of the technology available such as further limiting the amount incredible acceleration (chill mode is still faster than most other cars); send a message to the app of going over the speed limit, etc. I am sure there are more ideas or am I the only person looking to take advantage of this technology?

Before you start, I am not looking to hear about getting my kid a cheap car while they learn to drive or how to parent my kids, I’m just asking if others like me think this is of value.

Thanks,

 

[funkright]

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