Air Suspension no longer lowers at highway speeds (FW update v5.8)

[Mobster]

I tend to disagree with this point. The broader market isn't going to care if a firmware update misses some arbitrary deadline. They are not going to spend time on the forums like we do. Frankly most people wont even any of this stuff unless it pops in in the car or the service center tells them.

I'm not saying that they don't need to get better at communication but having the same couple poster repeating the same thing over and over in this thread is not going to make that thing happen any faster.

Disagree.

1. "same couple poster". There have been MANY posters on this and a number of forums expressing different angles of the essentially same points. Commitment, communication and trust. Just IMHO as a registered legislative lobbyist currently is to strenuously encourage all concerned to use every form of communication available INCLUDING FORUMS AND BLOGS, irrespective of which side of the coin you may be on. That's a methodology that has many times affected poor legislation and even legislators future behaviors. I hope that the respectful pressure (not drama) continues from many angles for this company to make some reasonable changes.

2. "happen any faster". Maybe, who knows....because of poor communication. Not sure if "fast" is the only issue owners want improvement on. My experience in a global corporation was surprisingly that when delivered data (numbers) along with comments, the top executives were interested in the numbers (bored possibly) however it was always interesting how they wanted hard copies of the "comment" data and took it MUCH more seriously than numbers that the cruncher s paraded past them often.

3. If the "drama" (I don't see much here, not as much as the furor over Windows 8 and mess it caused on Microsoft forums) should bother a reader....well we don't have to come here. IMHO the discussions have helped me see a very broad picture whether reading the critics OR defenders. Many great points and points of view on all sides.

4. "the broader market " WIIL CARE. I came to the Tesla forums long before I gave them $100,000 plus for the product. It helped me in many areas of decision making. I am not, however making any prediction HOW it might affect others. This is useful to a company who impressively spends nearly $0 on advertising.

As MANY others have said.....I will now go out and take a drive. In the best car. From a company that is being asked for a few commitment and communication changes.

 

[brianman]

This isn't an isolated incident. Let's not go off topic but any one of us can reel off a list of promises that never happened or haven't happened yet.

This is directed at people disagreeing with Nigel. I'm only quoting Nigel for context.

PLEASE don't make me create an "Unfulfilled Tesla Promises for Model S" wiki page. But if we keep going down this discussion repeatedly I might have to.

 

[wormhole]

This is directed at people disagreeing with Nigel. I'm only quoting Nigel for context.

PLEASE don't make me create an "Unfulfilled Tesla Promises for Model S" wiki page. But if we keep going down this discussion repeatedly I might have to.

LOL...so true...so true...

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Oh, absolutely true. But we expect more from Tesla than we do from BMW, Mercedes, etc. Tesla is a young company that relied upon my $40,000 deposit for a Sig. IMHO, I'm am being very reasonable by holding Tesla to a higher standard. How many times has someone payed a $40 K deposit years before delivery of a BMW? Tesla is not every other company.

Actually, you have the right to hold Tesla to a higher standard because that's just what the CEO told us to do. As he's stated multiple times, its not enough for an EV company who wants to truly foster change for the masses to adopt sustainable transport to meet current expectations, it has to EXCEED them, and raise the bar...

 

[jcaspar]

i think is debatable...great product, not without its flaws, but service is mixed if you read through the forums.

No debate from me. I have had truly outstanding service. Far, far better than any European or Japanese car I have ever owned...

 

[Chipper]

I don't think this is the proper place to vent frustration with Tesla's deadline. When I have an issue with our car I email ownership or call my service center. They have always been responsive. I have gotten an email or phone call back every time.

Tesla Motors used to read these forums and likely still do, however this forum is not the proper complaint channel. Using the proper channel will get you better results. IMO.

Uhhhh, no it doesn't. I have repeatedly written to ownership and I have spoken with a Regional Service Manager. I got a vague "Coming Soon" I got a "All we know is what Elon wrote in his tweet." I got a "Wait till you see the wonderful stuff in V.6..." and I got, "Hey! Don't you have a lot of ChaDemo in your area? You should buy the adapter!" When I pointed out that the adapter had not yet been released the response was, "Oh, I thought it had been released." All the communications I have had with corporate have been very polite but amazingly short on specific answers. Yes, I have gotten call backs and email, but so what? I want what I paid for. This forum at least offers a vent point that hopefully Tesla will look at and maybe think it is important enough to at least communicate with us.

 

[wormhole]

No debate from me. I have had truly outstanding service. Far, far better than any European or Japanese car I have ever owned...

And that's great, but you're experience has been far from everyone's...

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Uhhhh, no it doesn't. I have repeatedly written to ownership and I have spoken with a Regional Service Manager. I got a vague "Coming Soon" I got a "All we know is what Elon wrote in his tweet." I got a "Wait till you see the wonderful stuff in V.6..." and I got, "Hey! Don't you have a lot of ChaDemo in your area? You should buy the adapter!" When I pointed out that the adapter had not yet been released the response was, "Oh, I thought it had been released." All the communications I have had with corporate have been very polite but amazingly short on specific answers. Yes, I have gotten call backs and email, but so what? I want what I paid for. This forum at least offers a vent point that hopefully Tesla will look at and maybe think it is important enough to at least communicate with us.

Here Here!!! Let's remember everyone, Tesla has been happy to tweet and blog and release statements about all sorts of wonderful things that will be released on specific dates and in almost every case those dates and in many cases those features have come and gone...its really very simple: TM controls what our expectations will be, the frustrations being (rightfully) vented on these forums are the result of those expectations, set by the company, not being met, full stop.

 

[Liz G]

And that's great, but you're experience has been far from everyone's...

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Here Here!!! Let's remember everyone, Tesla has been happy to tweet and blog and release statements about all sorts of wonderful things that will be released on specific dates and in almost every case those dates and in many cases those features have come and gone...its really very simple: TM controls what our expectations will be, the frustrations being (rightfully) vented on these forums are the result of those expectations, set by the company, not being met, full stop.

From the Zen training I acquired while waiting for the delivery of my S, I've learned to have no expectations other than that it will happen. Makes living with a Tesla much easier.

 

[mjtgroup]

For me and many, Tesla Motors' on-going paternalistic approach has been offset by it's fantastic products. That said, how many times can you say: "but they build great and innovative cars . . ."?

I must assume that this is corporate's (Elon?) way of doing business but certainly not the way that I have been treated by the wonderful local Tesla employees. Maybe headquarters can learn something about customer service from the folks in the field.

 

[Kraken]

Didn't they say there would be a fix by the end of January? Didn't the two cars go cross country in January with v6? Promise met... Now we wait for us to get to enjoy it, haha...

Probably not the definition of "promise met" that most people on here, myself included, were thinking of, but I remember early in this thread that someone specifically said that they will probably have a solution in a few company cars by January which will fulfill the promise, but that it will take time to work out the kinks and get it to the customers. While tesla could never release v6 and leave us all hanging, my guess is that they won't. All these quick releases I the upper spectrum of v5.8 are probably tests to get rid of bugs in v6 so it can be mass released.

 

[AlMc]

I am not aware of anyone claiming to have 6.0. IF.....it is a big IF.....we use release of 5.X series as a reference.....It took about 90 days from Beta testing to widespread release. Unless things have changed I suspect the full 6.0 will not be released anytime soon (read February/mid March)

 

[Kraken]

I thought we determined the road trip cars were v6... That's what I was getting at. As predicted by others, several company cars had the software by the end of January. The software is made, but now we customers wait for it to be ready for us. Perhaps all we are waiting on is for the connectivity plan to be finalized.

v6 will return lowering capability, but it will also be the start of monthly payment plans.... Haha.

 

[AlMc]

I thought we determined the road trip cars were v6... That's what I was getting at. As predicted by others, several company cars had the software by the end of January. The software is made, but now we customers wait for it to be ready for us. Perhaps all we are waiting on is for the connectivity plan to be finalized.

v6 will return lowering capability, but it will also be the start of monthly payment plans.... Haha.

The road trip cars did have 6.0 (many, including myself did verify). That may have been sufficient along with other company cars to 'beta' test. However, with past firmware upgrades there have been actual MS owners who did beta testing that is why I said 'IF' they are doing what they did with 5.X release it still may be some time before we see 6.0 in full. maybe we will see self lowering before full 6.0 release but I would doubt it.

It would be a great surprise to have it released with Q4ER and guidance for 2014 on Wednesday though I doubt it will.

 

[wormhole]

From the Zen training I acquired while waiting for the delivery of my S, I've learned to have no expectations other than that it will happen. Makes living with a Tesla much easier.

While that is very wise and very Zen, it shouldn't be required to essentially dismiss announcements from the company now should it

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For me and many, Tesla Motors' on-going paternalistic approach has been offset by it's fantastic products. That said, how many times can you say: "but they build great and innovative cars . . ."?

I must assume that this is corporate's (Elon?) way of doing business but certainly not the way that I have been treated by the wonderful local Tesla employees. Maybe headquarters can learn something about customer service from the folks in the field.

I 100% concur with this...my issue is almost never with the local folks who are always very friendly and helpful...i think they are severely handicapped by HQ.

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Didn't they say there would be a fix by the end of January? Didn't the two cars go cross country in January with v6? Promise met... Now we wait for us to get to enjoy it, haha...

1) no, Elon said by year end and 2) no, there is no V6 that's been distributed, nor do we have details of what V6 contains and whether suspension lowering comes back...its now Feb 17th and V6 is still not released to all owners which was the statement soon after the feature was removed - not to 'a few company cars'. Not sure how that is promise met.

 

[bluetinc]

AIMc,

How did you verify that they were running 6.0? I know they had a special version of software to display the percent remaining of the battery on the screen but when I specifically asked them about the cars lowing at speed they said they did not do that with the build they were running.

Peter

The road trip cars did have 6.0 (many, including myself did verify). That may have been sufficient along with other company cars to 'beta' test. However, with past firmware upgrades there have been actual MS owners who did beta testing that is why I said 'IF' they are doing what they did with 5.X release it still may be some time before we see 6.0 in full. maybe we will see self lowering before full 6.0 release but I would doubt it.

It would be a great surprise to have it released with Q4ER and guidance for 2014 on Wednesday though I doubt it will.

 

[wormhole]

AIMc,

How did you verify that they were running 6.0? I know they had a special version of software to display the percent remaining of the battery on the screen but when I specifically asked them about the cars lowing at speed they said they did not do that with the build they were running.

Peter

Curious about this as well...did you goto the event in Soho?

 

[Kraken]

1) no, Elon said by year end and 2) no, there is no V6 that's been distributed, nor do we have details of what V6 contains and whether suspension lowering comes back...its now Feb 17th and V6 is still not released to all owners which was the statement soon after the feature was removed - not to 'a few company cars'. Not sure how that is promise met.

"Another software update expected in January will give the driver direct control of the air suspension ride height transitions"

The Mission of Tesla | Blog | Tesla Motors
that says nothing about the end of the year. It also doesn't even promise the end of January (just that he expects it will be ready by the end of january), or that all customers will have it by the end of January (just that it will be produced by the end of January). My point was that someone early on suggested this the update would probably be in company cars in January, and that appeared to happen.

All we can really do is standby and wait while tesla finishes this update, that is clearly in process. For all we know, they are waiting on govt approval to distribute the update, and maybe the Toronto incident didnt help. Maybe it was about to be distributed on 2 feb.

sitting here complaining about promises, that were never made, not being met gets us no closer to having this.

elon said in Europe that v6 has the auto lowering back in it. We also know those cars driven in the cross country run had v6.

 

[AlMc]

Curious about this as well...did you goto the event in Soho?

No Soho. Met them at the Newark SC and verified with one of the TM team. Not sure what the 6.0 has/does not have but as Elon indicated that 6.x will return air suspension lowering (per Elon in Europe last month) I assumed that they would like/need the improvement in 'mpg'. In addition, if you follow the threads about the trip I believe it was verified at one, if not two, other stops.

 

[wormhole]

"Another software update expected in January will give the driver direct control of the air suspension ride height transitions"

The Mission of Tesla | Blog | Tesla Motors
that says nothing about the end of the year. It also doesn't even promise the end of January (just that he expects it will be ready by the end of january), or that all customers will have it by the end of January (just that it will be produced by the end of January). My point was that someone early on suggested this the update would probably be in company cars in January, and that appeared to happen.

All we can really do is standby and wait while tesla finishes this update, that is clearly in process. For all we know, they are waiting on govt approval to distribute the update, and maybe the Toronto incident didnt help. Maybe it was about to be distributed on 2 feb.

sitting here complaining about promises, that were never made, not being met gets us no closer to having this.

elon said in Europe that v6 has the auto lowering back in it. We also know those cars driven in the cross country run had v6.

??????

1) we have not received a software update by the end of January
2) the year end was in reference to the cross country Supercharger path. Multiple quotes available if you google it, here's a few:

Supercharger Expansion Allows for Tesla Cross-Country Trips Soon - Jason Del Rey - D11 - AllThingsD
Elon Musk: Tesla Supercharger network to triple by July, enable cross country travel by years end - The Next Web
Elon Musk Plans A Supercharger Road Trip - Business Insider

 

[bluetinc]

If you happen to see which other thread it was verified in I would be very interested to trace it back to a source. I met with them in Hagerstown and was very specific with my question about lowering and I was given a very clear answer that the cars were not lowering just like owner cars were not currently lowering. Now it was about 3am, and simply because we were both specific doesn't mean the answer was correct .

No Soho. Met them at the Newark SC and verified with one of the TM team. Not sure what the 6.0 has/does not have but as Elon indicated that 6.x will return air suspension lowering (per Elon in Europe last month) I assumed that they would like/need the improvement in 'mpg'. In addition, if you follow the threads about the trip I believe it was verified at one, if not two, other stops.

 

[wormhole]

If you happen to see which other thread it was verified in I would be very interested to trace it back to a source. I met with them in Hagerstown and was very specific with my question about lowering and I was given a very clear answer that the cars were not lowering just like owner cars were not currently lowering. Now it was about 3am, and simply because we were both specific doesn't mean the answer was correct .

And I attended the SoHo event and asked the same question and got an almost identical response...

for clarity i asked if the cars they used lowered or allowed lowering at highway speeds and i got a smiling 'not yet' response...