This thread has been created as an adjunct to the primary discussion started by brooklynrab in Tesla Priorities: Refine Autopilot or Fix Everything Else? Please keep that discussion there.
This thread hopefully becomes a Tesla To-Do List focused on:
What this is NOT intended to include:
Process Used:
OPEN SOFTWARE DEFECTS NEEDING RESOLUTION
90kWh Battery: Rated Range showed rapid decline after delivery and at times varies suddenly in what is displayed
Audio System - USB Media: Intermittently skips tracks & plays when MS is off; or “Unable to Play” upon reentry to vehicle
MISSING OR INCOMPLETE BASIC CAPABILITIES
Audio
On/Off Button — add the ability to turn it off and keep it off with a single touch
USB
NOTE: Sadly, FLAC support and M3U Playlists are not consistently provided by other mfgrs, nor is say displaying cover art with XM sources, therefore IMO these are not a “basic capability” within this exercise. They perhaps remain on the “wish lists” of others like mine.
Navigation
17” Display
Destination (Places)
Personal Points of Interest (POI) — competitively, each one has a name, location, and icon selectable from a pick list; these can then be optionally displayed on the Map. With Tesla’s existing Nav / Places / Favorites, if a user-selectable icon could be added to each one, similar functionality would all be there except to then have those icons display as an overlay on the map.
Route Types
Areas to Avoid
Traffic Incidents (where available)
Waypoints
Compass — user-selectable 17” App or perhaps better yet on a MS is to provide an optional left/right IC app with various information (in addition to what MS already provides)
Preferences
Phone
Bluetooth Setup
Phone Messaging (via Bluetooth) — Implementations vary, but MS has nothing built-in to assist with a hands-free experience. Some manufacturers address this via Siri Eyes Free, Carplay, Android Auto, or unique home-grown solutions.
Voice Commands — expand from the basic 4 available in MS today; Lexus has a couple dozen commands, MBZ has a very long list covering most of the vehicle systems if optional COMAND is installed
Internet Browser — MS requires basic updates for increased website compatibility — I’ll let someone else, or better yet, Tesla Engineering, define all the detail
CarPlay, Android Auto, and Siri Eyes Free — Elon recently mentioned this in Hong Kong. In any case, providing easier access to a broad set of smartphone capabilities within MS needs to be addressed so Tesla does not get too far behind. Each auto manufacturer is doing something, but it’s all over the map.
Tie each FOB to a user-specified MS Profile — again, lots of different auto manufacturer variability, but the big players are all doing something. With Tesla’s Profiles, they already have a good start on what needs to be done.
This thread hopefully becomes a Tesla To-Do List focused on:
- A repository of officially reported MS failures requiring a future software update for resolution (e.g. documented on a Tesla Service Invoice or acknowledged via [email protected])
- A list of “basic capabilities” either missing, incomplete, or inferior in MS when compared to other competitive luxury vehicles available today. Many of these features are simply things today’s and prospective owners expect a Tesla should include — some of which would be used many times every day if provided. All capabilities are believed to be functions which could be implemented via OTA software updates to the entire fleet (MS, MX and perhaps future M3) without any new hardware or other model-specific requirements.
What this is NOT intended to include:
- Discussion that should be in the parent Tesla Priorities: Refine Autopilot or Fix Everything Else? thread
- Anything requiring new or redesigned hardware
- Another thread discussing AutoPilot and other future functions, requirements, flaws, etc. — there are plenty of others for that
- Navigation mapping database errors (missing roads, wrong speed limits, etc.) or non-pervasive specific routing failures
- Individual dissatisfaction with User Interface (UI) design
- Software problems reported via a “Bug Report” or Service Center exchange that is not known to be officially recognized within Tesla as requiring resolution
- A Wish List for missing functions or capabilities unless more than one competitive automobile manufacturer already provides it to their fleet. This is not intended to replace the discussion in Model S Software/Firmware wishlist or the recent voting effort Korben & supratachophobia helped coordinate for the community.
Process Used:
- I listed software defects which I know have been reported to Tesla, awaiting a future software update. It’s a short list because it’s only mine to kick this off. Please add others you know about including reference to any thread where it has been discussed here on TMC.
- I read through a number of recent Lexus (Navigation), Mercedes-Benz (COMAND), and BMW (iDrive) manuals noting features which our present MS running firmware level 7.1 2.9.154 does not provide. I focused primarily on a broad definition of Infotainment capabilities, and only included similar features in “the missing basics” list below, that are provided by at least two other manufacturers. If it’s a one-off feature, I didn’t inspect MS capabilities for it.
I have likely missed things or made mistakes, as differences vary widely by model and model year. I am fairly confident I have captured most of the bigger ticket items — including some that I don’t personally care if my MS had or not. I’ve not spent a lot of time to fully describe each and every requirement, as I believe most are fairly self-descriptive to anyone that has used other more recent Infotainment systems. Please feel free to add, take issue, comment, or ask questions — just please try to remember what this thread is NOT intended to be. Where this goes from here, I don’t know, but we’ll see how it evolves.
OPEN SOFTWARE DEFECTS NEEDING RESOLUTION
90kWh Battery: Rated Range showed rapid decline after delivery and at times varies suddenly in what is displayed
Reported to Service Center & documented on Invoice: Reviewed vehicles CAC from the build date of the vehicle. We have confirmed that there is nothing wrong with the battery pack itself. This variation is primarily due to firmware. This is normal characteristics of the vehicle and no further action is required at this time. Future firmware updates will help rectify this concern as the algorithm used becomes more accurate.
TMC discussion threads: 90D Range Slowly Declining
TMC discussion threads: 90D Range Slowly Declining
Audio System - USB Media: Intermittently skips tracks & plays when MS is off; or “Unable to Play” upon reentry to vehicle
Reported to Service Center & documented on Invoice: This is a known issue. There is nothing that can be done proactively for customer experiencing this issue at this time. A future firmware update is planned to mitigate this problem.
MISSING OR INCOMPLETE BASIC CAPABILITIES
Audio
On/Off Button — add the ability to turn it off and keep it off with a single touch
USB
- Display track title (like today), with album name & artist when specified
- Support MP3 ID3 and WMA/AAC Tags
- Display cover art if provided, otherwise use Gracenotes
NOTE: Sadly, FLAC support and M3U Playlists are not consistently provided by other mfgrs, nor is say displaying cover art with XM sources, therefore IMO these are not a “basic capability” within this exercise. They perhaps remain on the “wish lists” of others like mine.
Navigation
17” Display
- Display installed map database version — just as MS firmware level can be
- Add a Scale Indicator to the Map display
- Maintain map orientation (north or vehicle direction is up) through all Nav interactions unless specifically modified by the driver
Destination (Places)
- Create a method to send a destination from the Tesla App and/or My Tesla or WWW (like Google Maps) to MS
- Allow Recent & Favorite Destination sorting
- Last used date (like today)
- Distance from location
Personal Points of Interest (POI) — competitively, each one has a name, location, and icon selectable from a pick list; these can then be optionally displayed on the Map. With Tesla’s existing Nav / Places / Favorites, if a user-selectable icon could be added to each one, similar functionality would all be there except to then have those icons display as an overlay on the map.
- Preferences
- Display on map - On/Off
Route Types
- Provide a minimum of 3 route type alternatives (NOTE: A destination with waypoints has only a single route type)
- Quick - based on time
- Shortest - based on distance
- Eco (perhaps based on least impact to range or kWh projection — Tesla can really decide as every other manufacturer provides at least a 3rd option, but they are all different as to what they are)
- Preferences
- Select a default route type to always use OR display a pop-up with alternatives after each new waypoint or destination is input
- Route Preferences (it is understood these may not always be possible depending on route)
- Toll Road - Include/Exclude
- Freeway/Highway - Include/Exclude
- Ferry - Include/Exclude
Areas to Avoid
- Touch center of area to avoid on map; expand a graphical square around the area; input a name and save
- Minimum 10 areas
- Provide mechanism to Add, Edit & Delete
Traffic Incidents (where available)
- Ability to visually list current Traffic Incidents
- on Current Road
- on Current Route
- Ability to press to hear current traffic information on-demand (text received is read back)
- Preferences
- New traffic incident voice warning (text received is read back) - On/Off
- Provide a confirmation pop-up before rerouting based on existing time improvement (display and timeout if no selection) - On/Off
Waypoints
- Add to route
- Edit route
- Show waypoint & destination list
- Show interim arrival time at each way point
- Allow delete & reorder (NOTE there does not have to be an edit of a single waypoint per se — you instead could add the new one, put it in the right sequence, then delete the old one)
- Allow route type change on the same pop-up (for entire trip)
- Show waypoint & destination list
Compass — user-selectable 17” App or perhaps better yet on a MS is to provide an optional left/right IC app with various information (in addition to what MS already provides)
- Direction
- Altitude
- Latitude & Longitude
Preferences
- Nav announcements during phone call - On/Off
Phone
Bluetooth Setup
- Add the ability to change the default “Tesla Model S” name used with phone pairing (especially helps owners with multiple MS)
Phone Messaging (via Bluetooth) — Implementations vary, but MS has nothing built-in to assist with a hands-free experience. Some manufacturers address this via Siri Eyes Free, Carplay, Android Auto, or unique home-grown solutions.
- Email, SMS & MMS
- Full function receipt
- Quick reply (with the ability to set & edit custom replies in a pick list)
- Ability to phone sender or phone a number within the message
- Preferences
- Display via Pop-up upon arrival - On/Off
- Audible receipt (text received is read back) - On/Off
Voice Commands — expand from the basic 4 available in MS today; Lexus has a couple dozen commands, MBZ has a very long list covering most of the vehicle systems if optional COMAND is installed
- Depending on Tesla’s implementation, consider a voice training ability to improve recognition; tie to MS Profile, not the vehicle
- Navigation — e.g. “Pause Guidance”, “Resume Guidance”
- Phone — e.g. “Redial”
- Radio — e.g. “Tune to AM ___”, “Tune to FM ___”, “Tune to FM ___ HD _”, “Tune to XM Channel ___”
- Audio — e.g. “Music On”, “Music Off”, “USB”, “Bluetooth Audio”
- Climate — e.g. “Climate Control On”, “Climate Control Off”, “__ Degrees”
Internet Browser — MS requires basic updates for increased website compatibility — I’ll let someone else, or better yet, Tesla Engineering, define all the detail
CarPlay, Android Auto, and Siri Eyes Free — Elon recently mentioned this in Hong Kong. In any case, providing easier access to a broad set of smartphone capabilities within MS needs to be addressed so Tesla does not get too far behind. Each auto manufacturer is doing something, but it’s all over the map.
Tie each FOB to a user-specified MS Profile — again, lots of different auto manufacturer variability, but the big players are all doing something. With Tesla’s Profiles, they already have a good start on what needs to be done.
Last edited: