Firmware 7.0 - For Classic Model S

[JST]

Have 2013 classic s85 delivered May 2013.

I miss the battery in the middle, but if I had to guess this had to do with range anxiety... How many other cars slam you in the face continuously with how much range you have left?

The clock looks stupid. I want my trip meters back.

I have the standard sound system which was never great, but perfectly fine for my purposes...esp since my previous car was a 1997 Camry which I would still have if not for the electric car of my dreams.

The sound seems richer and more clear. It sounds better. Better half thinks so too. Obviously this is to like.

Anyone else notice diff?

My Volkswagen has a fairly large analog gauge showing amount of fuel remaining, and a digital readout in between the tach and speedo that says "Range xxx Miles." Both are larger and more prominent than what I now have in the Tesla.

Amusingly, given the driving I do around here, the VW usually shows less range remaining than the Tesla.

Doesn't mean I don't want to see it prominently in both cars.

 

[harry]

I think that these 7.0 threads have provided useful information, perspectives and opinions, and overall are very helpful to the community. One recurring comment, however, gives me the willies.

The idea that those of us who think that this revision is a step in the wrong direction are simply old fogies who are resistant to all change is both insulting and dismissive. For those of us who were among the first to receive their cars (we have two VINs lower than 200), there have been many changes to our cars, both software and hardware related. Nothing that Tesla has offered has created this degree of resistance, and there are more posts than I have time to count which list specific problems. The objections mostly fall into two groups; appearance and function.

Appearance is a matter of taste. I think the new UI is butt-ugly and embarrassing -- others think that it is great -- that's just the way taste works.

Function, however, is another matter. How many posts by non-AP owners have praised the new information provided? Oh wait, except for the totally useless information that your brake lights are on, there's not any. The objections to the loss of information, the insertion of largely content-free elements of distraction (the cartoon car), the crippling of other information elements (the clock, the energy graph/chart, etc.) is not about taste. It's about the information we need to operate our cars in a safe and comfortable manner. We (non-AP) are never going to be able to just let go of the steering wheel and "not worry our pretty little heads" about it.

To try to dismiss those concerns with some accusation of generalized resistance to change doesn't add to the discussion.

 

[JohnQ]

The sound seems richer and more clear. It sounds better. Better half thinks so too. Obviously this is to like.

Anyone else notice diff?

I have standard sound and had to adjust the "equalizer" to compensate after the upgrade. That's on Slacker. I haven't played FLAC since the upgrade so don't know if it impacted the entire audio experience.

 

[jerry33]

And it's still there in the lower left corner. Easily visible with a quick glance. If they had hidden in behind a window on the 17" screen or forced it into one of the apps in the IC then I would understand the level of frustration on this point. I too would like it to return to the center but it's hardly gone or hidden in any way.

And on trips where range is really important I assume most people use the Nav for the range prediction which estimates your battery percentage on arrival.

On trips, mostly I use the rated range plus since last charge when I'm actually driving. The trip graph is great while charging but it takes too much time to switch to (eyes off the road) to monitor it during driving. This assumes that the top screen is the camera and the bottom is Nav, which is how I like it.

Having the range value in the lower left puts it at the opposite side of the screen from the "since last charge" it's not as convenient because they are used together. And even if they weren't, miles remaining is far more important than the odometer.

And the flat design isn't "modern", it's just ugly.

 

[ecarfan]

It is very "sad" that Tesla continuously and relentlessly works to improve their products! It would be so much "better" if Tesla slowed their pace of innovation so that the resale values remained higher. Surely that would be in line with the company's mission to "accelerate the advent of sustainable transportation"? Oh wait...

Pretty sad that the Model S came out only 3 years ago, and models produced as recent as 1.5 years ago are referenced as "Classic Model S"

The Model S is great, but the rapid depreciation is almost like a PC at this point. You can buy a car full price today, and next week a better version comes out that wipes your resale value out, drastically more then a traditional car. Model years protects the consumers in my opinion.. rapid rollouts and constant improvements just mess up the resale values, period.

 

[skrenes]

I don't have data for this specific UI. I have (proprietary, sorry) data for a different car UI, also Qt based (just like Tesla's) where moving to a flat UI reduced peak gpu load by 30% and allowed to increase frame rate by 25%.

If you were creating a skeuomorphic design from simple graphics and then applying filters, textures, and shadows to it via the CPU, the flat design (especially without gradients) would certainly be faster. However, if you properly use a GPU, defining those graphics as textures, allowing it to draw shadows and apply filters, the speed difference would be minute (because it's hardware accelerated and those component would just go idle if you didn't use them -- you could make an argument for power efficiency via power-gating). If you further optimized by applying static skeuomorphic graphics and only had the GPU do basic shadowing, the speed difference would be immeasurable. You can define whatever textures you want, flat or skeuomorphic and the GPU is none-the-wiser. So for you to make a blanket statement like what I've quoted you on, is completely incorrect. I can guarantee you that the differences in performance that you observed were due to changes in your rendering pipeline, not the design itself.

It's like saying, "we moved to text on our poster instead of pictures, because the text is lighter". The fact is that virtually all of the weight is taken up by the poster itself, regardless of what's on the canvas.

 

[tomas]

Pretty sad that the Model S came out only 3 years ago, and models produced as recent as 1.5 years ago are referenced as "Classic Model S"

This is a moniker we came up with on this forum to differentiate as part of a thread title for 6.0. None of us think of our cars as Classic in the Mercedes gull wing sense. Resale values are similar to most other cars in same market segment.

 

[OddB]

I think that these 7.0 threads have provided useful information, perspectives and opinions, and overall are very helpful to the community. One recurring comment, however, gives me the willies.

The idea that those of us who think that this revision is a step in the wrong direction are simply old fogies who are resistant to all change is both insulting and dismissive. For those of us who were among the first to receive their cars (we have two VINs lower than 200), there have been many changes to our cars, both software and hardware related. Nothing that Tesla has offered has created this degree of resistance, and there are more posts than I have time to count which list specific problems. The objections mostly fall into two groups; appearance and function.

Appearance is a matter of taste. I think the new UI is butt-ugly and embarrassing -- others think that it is great -- that's just the way taste works.

Function, however, is another matter. How many posts by non-AP owners have praised the new information provided? Oh wait, except for the totally useless information that your brake lights are on, there's not any. The objections to the loss of information, the insertion of largely content-free elements of distraction (the cartoon car), the crippling of other information elements (the clock, the energy graph/chart, etc.) is not about taste. It's about the information we need to operate our cars in a safe and comfortable manner. We (non-AP) are never going to be able to just let go of the steering wheel and "not worry our pretty little heads" about it.

To try to dismiss those concerns with some accusation of generalized resistance to change doesn't add to the discussion.

Totally agree !
I would like to see the arguments for why the changes to the UI gives Me a better user experience .
If it is not broken, dont fix it !

 

[zdre]

We've seen the diagnostic screen where the PSIs were reported. It's just that it was impossible to associate each of the four reading with a specific tire. So they could give us an unordered list, but that's it.

It would not be very hard for the car to determine the sensor positions.. Just two automatic measurements are needed during calibration: Car can see which two sensors report higher pressure during breaking and mark them as front. Then note which two sensors report higher pressure during a turn and mark them opposite of turn direction. It may take some time to catch the sensors reporting at the specific time, but is still possible to do automatically. This theory falls apart if sensors report averages.

 

[ohmman]

I think that these 7.0 threads have provided useful information, perspectives and opinions, and overall are very helpful to the community. One recurring comment, however, gives me the willies.

<snip>

To try to dismiss those concerns with some accusation of generalized resistance to change doesn't add to the discussion.

Thanks, harry. I think your comment is well-balanced. One issue is that in most of the posts with functional complaints, there's a mention of "ugly" or similar, which detracts from the validity of the comment. As you say, appearance is a matter of taste. When the comment conflates the two issues, it's easy for a reader to become confused as to the point of the post.

The other issue, in my view, is that functionality is also a subjective matter. Personally, I'd have been pretty bummed about losing my power meter (thankfully for me that didn't happen), but others didn't seem to mind at all. Whether the battery and range indicator is front and center or to the left is huge deal to some, but not as important to others.

When people talk about "valid" complaints, usually it just means they agree with them. In some cases, we can all agree, but it's mostly subjective.

 

[SeminoleFSU]

Thanks everyone for this excellent thread. Still waiting for the update this side of the Pond, but I was really fearing it and thinking to skip it altogether. However, from reading this, I think I'll run with it.

Regarding the improved RWD performance/torque sleep, etc. I'm wondering if this is linked to the version of the drive unit. The DU's have been undergoing continual-improvement, but right now they have a version 2, at least for P cars. I know this because I have a DU change scheduled for next week and Service Centre told me.

Wait and see...

For TPMS, is this related to the sensors in each tyre or to the receivers on the car?

The question is, what's included in the version 2 of the DU improvements? I for one had the latest revision and motor mount put in my car when the swapped my DU out a month or so ago.. so does my car have the ability to support the performance improvements, they're just assuming I have the old hardware because my VIN and leaving that switch set to false on my v7 firmware? Or are the improvements/changes deeper than that? Inquiring minds would love to know

 

[ZipByICE]

Pretty sad that the Model S came out only 3 years ago, and models produced as recent as 1.5 years ago are referenced as "Classic Model S"

The Model S is great, but the rapid depreciation is almost like a PC at this point. You can buy a car full price today, and next week a better version comes out that wipes your resale value out, drastically more then a traditional car. Model years protects the consumers in my opinion.. rapid rollouts and constant improvements just mess up the resale values, period.

Not sad at all. I am very happy to be driving a classic. You cannot buy one (new) like the one I have. BTW, no problems in two years of driving.

I also know some people that never bought a PC, they are still waiting for new generation.

 

[Tslynk67]

The question is, what's included in the version 2 of the DU improvements? I for one had the latest revision and motor mount put in my car when the swapped my DU out a month or so ago.. so does my car have the ability to support the performance improvements, they're just assuming I have the old hardware because my VIN and leaving that switch set to false on my v7 firmware? Or are the improvements/changes deeper than that? Inquiring minds would love to know

You can be sure that I shall be interrogating them at the Service Centre!

 

[ecarfan]

How many posts by non-AP owners have praised the new information provided? Oh wait, except for the totally useless information that your brake lights are on, there's not any. The objections to the loss of information, the insertion of largely content-free elements of distraction (the cartoon car), the crippling of other information elements (the clock, the energy graph/chart, etc.) is not about taste. It's about the information we need to operate our cars in a safe and comfortable manner

Disagree. I have posted several times on various threads that I prefer the new UI to the old UI in my "classic" S. Advantages of the new UI are, IN MY OPINION:
Significantly increased readability of information at the top of the center display because of the darker background and changed font (improved in the drivers display as well).
Clearer climate controls at the bottom of the center display (I never used the tiny icons that are no longer in the center climate control icon, too small for me and I have very close to 20/20 vision).
Elimination of the useless skeumorphism everywhere, which results in information being conveyed more clearly.
Greatly improved trip app in the drivers display is no longer a riot of numbers but is now a succinct summary of useful information.
Nav app in drivers display is much nicer and shows me more info.
Battery icon and range number in drivers display is more legible without taking up so much space.
Full screen media app is improved.
----------------------------------
Elon has stated that UI improvements will be significantly extended in 7.1. Good. In the meantime, my classic S just received real improvements almost 2 years after I bought the car. That is awesome! And it has received multiple other software improvements before V7 while sitting in my garage. Amazing!
Of course there are some aspects of the UI that I would do differently, just like there are things I would change on my smartphone, tablet, and computer. Trying to please everyone is impossible.
The people who are the most upset about certain changes often complain the loudest. That's okay, but I suggest they keep in mind that this is the 21st century and software-driven products -- like Tesla vehicles -- are going to continuously change based on the perspective of the manufacturer while taking user feedback into account. Sometimes the manufacturer does things that cause some of their customers to complain. It is the manufacturers responsibility to balance the needs of different customers against the drive to improve the product. There will always be a certain amount of disagreement. Almost no one will have a "perfect" product that precisely meets their needs because software-driven products cannot be made infinitely customizable.
There is nothing wrong with criticizing a product or requesting features be changed. But the loudest critical voices do not always represent the consensus of user opinion. As a former product manager of software-driven products, I know something about this. I also know that sometimes I made decisions that turned out to be wrong. Give your feedback to Tesla and let's see what V7.1 looks like.

 

[ZBB]

I went ahead and updated last night (Sat) after receiving the update notice on Friday morning. This is the first time I didn't run an update same day.

I like how harry segregated the changes into design and functionality. I'm fine with the design change -- overall I like it. But the functionality changes are what I don't like. Here's my thoughts -- and I will be sending a note to Tesla (and will do some bug reports in the car also).

• Smaller battery icon / remaining range indicator. This needs to be front and center. Please put it back instead of the always visible car icon.
• Swapping the PRND and odometer locations. Odometer font is too large, and it takes up part of the primary control read out -- it belongs on the lower row of always-on status info. You could argue PRND should also be on the bottom row.
• Removal of status info like time and temp (I can live without date...) from always being displayed along the bottom row. This appears to be part of an effort to remove duplicate info (since this is also on the center console) -- but the dash is for the driver, and the center display is partly for the other passengers. Please put Time and Temp back on the bottom status row, which take up at most 12 characters total (110°F = 5 characters and 12:12PM = 7 charachters).
• Relate to above, the new clock requires use of a side screen to display info that was always visible previously. I keep the side screens static -- other than the info that pops up automatically (like Nav or incoming phone calls). I do not want to flip between these screens just to see what time it is or how hot/cold it is today.
• Trip meter. I'm more or less OK with the new layout and icons. But why is it showing different info than previously? I kept that screen up always, and would compare my current use since last change to my Month (Trip A) and Year to date (Trip B) while driving. Trip A and B are still avail, but only from the center console now (which is part of secondary controls screens -- to 2 taps away most of the time). I'm not opposed to adding new functionality -- and the "current trip" with time is a nice add -- but the car now has 4 trip meters (Current Trip, Since Last Charge, Trip A and Trip B). Would be nice to be able to pick what is displayed on the dash -- either show all 4 or let us pick 2-3… If they go that route, it would be nice for the car to also tell us Lifetime (and the data is most likely in the logs…).
• The always-on car icon is pretty much useless. I'm not one of those that has been asking to see when my brake lights are on (other cars don't show that --and I trust that they come on when I hit the brake and when regen is above a certain point where the car is decelerating quickly). The headlight on blob will be annoying when driving at night -- the last thing I need is a bright white spot right in the middle of my dash. Then there's the functionality it doesn't show -- no door/roof open info, no charge port open info -- that's on a left side panel. Get rid of it -- or make it an optional side screen for those that want the brake indicator.

 

[rainman50]

I think that these 7.0 threads have provided useful information, perspectives and opinions, and overall are very helpful to the community. One recurring comment, however, gives me the willies.

The idea that those of us who think that this revision is a step in the wrong direction are simply old fogies who are resistant to all change is both insulting and dismissive. For those of us who were among the first to receive their cars (we have two VINs lower than 200), there have been many changes to our cars, both software and hardware related. Nothing that Tesla has offered has created this degree of resistance, and there are more posts than I have time to count which list specific problems. The objections mostly fall into two groups; appearance and function.

Appearance is a matter of taste. I think the new UI is butt-ugly and embarrassing -- others think that it is great -- that's just the way taste works.

Function, however, is another matter. How many posts by non-AP owners have praised the new information provided? Oh wait, except for the totally useless information that your brake lights are on, there's not any. The objections to the loss of information, the insertion of largely content-free elements of distraction (the cartoon car), the crippling of other information elements (the clock, the energy graph/chart, etc.) is not about taste. It's about the information we need to operate our cars in a safe and comfortable manner. We (non-AP) are never going to be able to just let go of the steering wheel and "not worry our pretty little heads" about it.

To try to dismiss those concerns with some accusation of generalized resistance to change doesn't add to the discussion.

I agree 100%. Appearance is one thing,like you said is a matter of taste, but altering position and taking away existing functions is not merited. It looks like Tesla just did this for the sake of change.

 

[ZipByICE]

I went ahead and updated last night (Sat) after receiving the update notice on Friday morning. This is the first time I didn't run an update same day.

I like how harry segregated the changes into design and functionality. I'm fine with the design change -- overall I like it. But the functionality changes are what I don't like. Here's my thoughts -- and I will be sending a note to Tesla (and will do some bug reports in the car also).

• Smaller battery icon / remaining range indicator. This needs to be front and center. Please put it back instead of the always visible car icon.
• Swapping the PRND and odometer locations. Odometer font is too large, and it takes up part of the primary control read out -- it belongs on the lower row of always-on status info. You could argue PRND should also be on the bottom row.
• Removal of status info like time and temp (I can live without date...) from always being displayed along the bottom row. This appears to be part of an effort to remove duplicate info (since this is also on the center console) -- but the dash is for the driver, and the center display is partly for the other passengers. Please put Time and Temp back on the bottom status row, which take up at most 12 characters total (110°F = 5 characters and 12:12PM = 7 charachters).
• Relate to above, the new clock requires use of a side screen to display info that was always visible previously. I keep the side screens static -- other than the info that pops up automatically (like Nav or incoming phone calls). I do not want to flip between these screens just to see what time it is or how hot/cold it is today.
• Trip meter. I'm more or less OK with the new layout and icons. But why is it showing different info than previously? I kept that screen up always, and would compare my current use since last change to my Month (Trip A) and Year to date (Trip B) while driving. Trip A and B are still avail, but only from the center console now (which is part of secondary controls screens -- to 2 taps away most of the time). I'm not opposed to adding new functionality -- and the "current trip" with time is a nice add -- but the car now has 4 trip meters (Current Trip, Since Last Charge, Trip A and Trip B). Would be nice to be able to pick what is displayed on the dash -- either show all 4 or let us pick 2-3… If they go that route, it would be nice for the car to also tell us Lifetime (and the data is most likely in the logs…).
• The always-on car icon is pretty much useless. I'm not one of those that has been asking to see when my brake lights are on (other cars don't show that --and I trust that they come on when I hit the brake and when regen is above a certain point where the car is decelerating quickly). The headlight on blob will be annoying when driving at night -- the last thing I need is a bright white spot right in the middle of my dash. Then there's the functionality it doesn't show -- no door/roof open info, no charge port open info -- that's on a left side panel. Get rid of it -- or make it an optional side screen for those that want the brake indicator.

Very good points! I would add four more characters for date: 10/18 with an option for Metric temperature/time/date.

 

[gregincal]

Function, however, is another matter. How many posts by non-AP owners have praised the new information provided? Oh wait, except for the totally useless information that your brake lights are on, there's not any. The objections to the loss of information, the insertion of largely content-free elements of distraction (the cartoon car), the crippling of other information elements (the clock, the energy graph/chart, etc.) is not about taste. It's about the information we need to operate our cars in a safe and comfortable manner. We (non-AP) are never going to be able to just let go of the steering wheel and "not worry our pretty little heads" about it.

I've praised it. Having an easy button to lock/unlock the doors and showing the elapsed time for the current journey are improvements that are just as valid as some of functionality changes people are complaining about, and ecarfan pointed out some of the other things that make the new UI nicer. Some complaints certainly are valid (there is no question that battery is more important than odometer, I think they wanted to keep the battery in the same position as the AP cars), but there is some people who will argue bitterly against any change and a lot of these posts have that feel. I definitely feel that having the full date on the center display was clutter that made it harder to find the important information, for instance. In my opinion date is not something that belongs on a driving console.

 

[Merrill]

Maybe the reason I like the new update is because I'm an old fogie, I think that the watts per mile update quicker and seems more efficient. I agree that the battery with miles left should be center and larger.

 

[jerry33]

That's actually reported to be false. We've seen the diagnostic screen where the PSIs were reported. It's just that it was impossible to associate each of the four reading with a specific tire. So they could give us an unordered list, but that's it.

An unordered list would be fine.