What features do you wish the Model Y came with (Dec 2022/Jan 2023) Wishlist

[macheboston]

Love my Model Y, but there's always room for improvement...What features would you like to see Tesla make for Model Y or Model 3?

Let's classify this as either A) software updates or B) hardware upgrades (for new cars and possibly retrofitting to existing cars).

I'll start...

A) Software Updates

1. Please enable the matrix headlights.
2. CarPlay and Android Auto (which may or may not require HW changes)
3. Navigate to 3rd party DCFC
4. Error/warning messages need text-to-speech. The text is tiny and I shouldn't need to look at the screen to see that autosteer is disabled or some other critical alert.
5. Voice recognition for changing radio stations (I thought every car had this — my Ford and my Toyota did)
6. Without EAP or FSD, lane changing should be more seamless and less beepy. In my last car (Mach E), you'd signal, it would let you change lanes without lane keeping, and it would detect when you're in the new lane and re-engage lane centering.
7. Add ability to adjust wiper sensitivity
8. I've had 3-4 times in my 3 months with the car where the car would not update its status in the app. It was in persistent disconnected status (in a well covered cell area that I go all the time). In a couple cases it was broken for 3-6 hours. I had to two-button restart. Please fix this.

B) hardware upgrades (and please offer upgrades to current owners)

1. Heads up display (that seems like the perfect minimalist match for Tesla)
2. Cameras support for Birds Eye surround view (downward facing cameras under the side mirrors, etc)
3. Infrared eye illuminator and camera tracking for detection driver attention instead of hands on the steering wheel (like Chevy Supercruise and Ford BlueCruise)
4. 80A level 2 charging (19.2kW). I know early Model S cars had an option. But more and more businesses are installing 80A chargers. Blink and SemaConnect have sold 80A commercial chargers for a while. Chargepoint released a 80A commercial charger a couple months ago. If you can get almost double the charge (vs a 48A charger) during a shopping trip or a movie, or move almost twice as many cars through a charger at a workplace, that would be great.
5. Vehicle to load and vehicle to house. We've all seen what the Hyndaid/Kia can do with a built-in plug and a J1772 adapter. And the Ford Lightning's ability to power your house. Come on Tesla, we want this too!

"File:2020 Tesla Model Y, rear 8.1.20.jpg" by Kevauto is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Added as thumbnail for blog.

 

[s_zigmond]

Yes, this is insufficient, according to Tesla. I will quote the owner's manual again.

Model Y Owner's Manual | Tesla

Learn how the various interior and exterior lights work.

www.tesla.com

CAUTION​

The rear tail lights are off when daytime running lights are on. Be sure the rear lights are on during low rear visibility conditions (for example, when it is dark, foggy, snowy, or the road is wet, etc.). Failure to do so can cause damage or serious injury.​

Warning​

Always ensure that headlights are on during low visibility conditions. Failure to do so may result in a collision.​

Clearly the daytime running lights do not suffice. As for fog lights:

A separate control is available to turn on fog lights (if equipped). When on, fog lights operate whenever low beam headlights are on. When headlights are turned off, fog lights also turn off.​

​

So you still have to manually turn on the headlights and then manually turn them off when you park. Every time you want added visibility. With my 1988 Volvo 240 it was trivial to make added visibility the default. Tesla says their top priority is safety and they say you need to have the headlights and tail lights on for safety in low visibility conditions. But they don't provide this as a default and they needlessly make it a pain in the neck for the driver to do it manually.

One extra button on the lights control screen would solve this problem. Either "Lights on while driving" or allow the user to manually keep the lights on, have the car turn them off automatically when parked, and add a "Lights on while parked" button.

S3XY buttons now allow this!

 

[BitJam]

S3XY buttons now allow this!

Yes! They are hitting it out of the ballpark. My favorite new feature is "continuous autopilot" which re-engages autosteer after you make a lane change. The S3XY button update was more exciting than the Christmas update.

 

[nate704]

Yes! They are hitting it out of the ballpark. My favorite new feature is "continuous autopilot" which re-engages autosteer after you make a lane change. The S3XY button update was more exciting than the Christmas update.

until another Tesla updates mess up the button functions and we have to wait until the buttons get their own update which is a hassle.

 

[KevinT3141]

until another Tesla updates mess up the button functions and we have to wait until the buttons get their own update which is a hassle.

Yeah, our power frunk became less useful just a few weeks after install because an update made it so that the Tesla app won't blip the frunk open solenoid anymore if it thinks the frunk is already open, i.e. now you can't remotely close the frunk from the Tesla app.

 

[nate704]

Yeah, our power frunk became less useful just a few weeks after install because an update made it so that the Tesla app won't blip the frunk open solenoid anymore if it thinks the frunk is already open, i.e. now you can't remotely close the frunk from the Tesla app.

Yes you can.
Assuming you have an iPhone (if not it might or might not applicable), you can create a Tesla app widget on the phone and you can use the widget to control the frunk for both open and close functions without any issue.

 

[KevinT3141]

Yes you can.
Assuming you have an iPhone (if not it might or might not applicable), you can create a Tesla app widget on the phone and you can use the widget to control the frunk for both open and close functions without any issue.

Thanks, good to know. Still though, that's not doing it in the Tesla app anymore, it's doing it with a workaround; which Tesla could also break with a future update. I love that there are third parties like the S3XY button guys enabling features on Teslas that they didn't have before, but it also kinda sucks that Tesla didn't just give us these features themselves; as now every Tesla update we accept is a bit like playing feature roulette...

 

[nate704]

Thanks, good to know. Still though, that's not doing it in the Tesla app anymore, it's doing it with a workaround; which Tesla could also break with a future update. I love that there are third parties like the S3XY button guys enabling features on Teslas that they didn't have before, but it also kinda sucks that Tesla didn't just give us these features themselves; as now every Tesla update we accept is a bit like playing feature roulette...

Widget is just a shortcut to the Tesla app, so when you press the frunk button in the widget. it will either open/close and then take you to the actual app.

 

[flstcgranucci]

What I would love to see is training wheels for new owners. Especially when you let off that right foot, if you have regen braking enabled to flash a big screen telling them their brake lights are on.
This would prevent a lot of people thinking the Tesla in front of them are not panic braking or brake checking the person behind them.

 

[BitJam]

[...] if you have regen braking enabled to flash a big screen telling them their brake lights are on.

I want this to. Like many other things, this feature is provided by S3XY buttons. Their dashboard app makes it very clear when the brake lights are on. The bottom edge/quarter of the screen glows red. With Frank's mode enabled the blinker indicators are similarly prominent making a third of the screen glow green.

 

[flstcgranucci]

I want this to. Like many other things, this feature is provided by S3XY buttons. Their dashboard app makes it very clear when the brake lights are on. The bottom edge/quarter of the screen glows red. With Frank's mode enabled the blinker indicators are similarly prominent making a third of the screen glow green.View attachment 1004690

Yeah, but newbie drivers won’t know about that.

 

[BitJam]

Yeah, but newbie drivers won’t know about that.

Fair point.

OTOH, I imagine people will generally expect the brake lights to go on when the car slows down whether with friction brakes or regen. Technology Connections did a whole video about the danger of EVs that don't turn on the brake lights when slowing down via regen:

I think turning the brake lights on during regen is 99% of the battle while letting the user know they are on is more like 1%. But I still agree with you it would be a nice feature for Tesla to incorporate.

 

[flstcgranucci]

Fair point.

OTOH, I imagine people will generally expect the brake lights to go on when the car slows down whether with friction brakes or regen. Technology Connections did a whole video about the danger of EVs that don't turn on the brake lights when slowing down via regen:

I think turning the brake lights on during regen is 99% of the battle while letting the user know they are on is more like 1%. But I still agree with you it would be a nice feature for Tesla to incorporate.

I think it more on how to slow down without the rear lights coming on. I’m sure that there is an accelerometer that will trigger if you let off too fast.

 

[sleepydoc]

I want this to. Like many other things, this feature is provided by S3XY buttons. Their dashboard app makes it very clear when the brake lights are on. The bottom edge/quarter of the screen glows red. With Frank's mode enabled the blinker indicators are similarly prominent making a third of the screen glow green.View attachment 1004690

I’m confused - the brake lights come on based on the rate of deceleration when using regenerative braking so you don’t have to think about them. You never think about the brake lights or have a dash indicator for them in a regular car so why do you want one in your Tesla?

 

[Yelobird]

I’m confused - the brake lights come on based on the rate of deceleration when using regenerative braking so you don’t have to think about them. You never think about the brake lights or have a dash indicator for them in a regular car so why do you want one in your Tesla?

Plus in the car animation on the screen it shows when your brake lights are on. Cute yet I never felt the need to know similar to every ICE car I ever owned.

 

[Occhis]

Also, the main screen visualization shows when the brake lights are on, though it’s not as easy to see.

 

[Occhis]

Haha. Great minds think alike!!

 

[gtae07]

Insulated metal roof (retrofit?)
Bigger cupholders so I don't need an extender
Optional factory spare tire (or a real space for one)
Make headlights revert to "auto" if manually set to "on" and you get out of the car (they do it when you set it to "off"...). Not as much a problem now that lights with wipers is working, but still...
Separate gear selection controls from TACC/AP controls. I'd actually be ok with this stalk going away provided the turn signal one stayed.
"Desired SOC at destination" in trip planner (or at least a depiction of what percentage it wants you to charge to at each charge stop). Kinda like ABRP.
Make TACC/AP accelerate a bit more aggressively, brake a little more conservatively, but yet not panic when someone turns across way in front of me

 

[kpanda17]

Sirius in Y

Sirius must have their head in the sand
The model Y nimber vehicle in 2023 and they are not soliciting Tesla to add their app to the Tesla UI
I’m actually a big fan of Sirius XM content

 

[sleepydoc]

Power Frunk

 

[BitJam]

I’m confused - the brake lights come on based on the rate of deceleration when using regenerative braking so you don’t have to think about them. You never think about the brake lights or have a dash indicator for them in a regular car so why do you want one in your Tesla?

You're right. This is not essential. But I like to know what my car is signaling to other cars. Exactly when do the brake lights go on when I use regen? Seeing it on the display tells me and I can probably calibrate to know by feel when the brake lights will go on. Wanting this feature seems like a total no-brainer to me but, of course, your Wh/mile may vary.

Concern over what I'm signaling to others is why I think having to engage a turn indicator to know whether someone is in my blind spot is rather silly and possibly dangerous. Except for the case of merging from an on-ramp, it's only useful if it probably panics the driver of a car in my bind spot possibly causing an accident.

Another example: if there are cars around me, I try to manually center my car in the lane before engaging autosteer. It rapidly veers into the center of the lane when engaged which can frighten the driver of a car next to me. IMO it would be safer if the car moved to the center of the lane more gently when autosteer is first engaged.

Why do I have to manually center? When I have a clear shoulder to my right and cars in the lane to my left, I think it's safer to be in the right side of my lane. Not every time I drive but a few times a month a person in the lane next to mine will veer very close to or into my lane. More frequently I'll see cars with drivers who seem to be struggling to stay in their lane. I stay away from those cars.

Also, the main screen visualization shows when the brake lights are on, though it’s not as easy to see.

I looked for this several times very closely as the car was regen braking on autopilot and I could not see it. I don't claim it doesn't exist but if it does exist it's so hard to see it's not useful to me.