Tesla Priorities: Refine Autopilot or Fix Everything Else?

[ohmman]

Except that I did not buy this car in order to take a "long view" on Tesla Motors.

It could be argued that you're taking the "long view" on your Tesla in that you are looking for updates to the software you purchased. It can also be argued that you're asking to keep the initial software, but have them "fixed", similar to a repair. I think the truth lies somewhere in between those things. However - the Nav works as it did when I bought it, maybe a little better with the traffic avoidance algorithm. It works significantly better than my 2013 Honda Odyssey. I knew going into my car that CarPlay was unavailable, and nobody promised it to me. I work around it. I agree they should implement it as a business strategy, but they should prioritize it for new builds.

In case I'm not being clear, I support your arguments and I think you make good points. I would also like to see a lot of the updates and fixes you would. I think our only difference is in how entitled we each feel about getting those updates (or, to phrase it differently, how responsible we feel Tesla is in providing them). I would guess in general, that's the scale of disagreement in this thread.

 

[msnow]

It could be argued that you're taking the "long view" on your Tesla in that you are looking for updates to the software you purchased. It can also be argued that you're asking to keep the initial software, but have them "fixed", similar to a repair. I think the truth lies somewhere in between those things. However - the Nav works as it did when I bought it, maybe a little better with the traffic avoidance algorithm. It works significantly better than my 2013 Honda Odyssey. I knew going into my car that CarPlay was unavailable, and nobody promised it to me. I work around it. I agree they should implement it as a business strategy, but they should prioritize it for new builds.

In case I'm not being clear, I support your arguments and I think you make good points. I would also like to see a lot of the updates and fixes you would. I think our only difference is in how entitled we each feel about getting those updates (or, to phrase it differently, how responsible we feel Tesla is in providing them). I would guess in general, that's the scale of disagreement in this thread.

My NAV works as it did when I bought the car too, that is to say it's still terrible. What happened to the promised map updates? No one told me that it was going to be an issue and Tesla IS responsible for providing them for 7 years. I'm "entitled" to a functional navigation system that I can count on. I understand this is not a universal issue and I'm not sure why that is but in every poll, discussion and forum post that speaks to these things the items that AmpedRealtor wrote about are in everyone's "top 5". I shouldn't have to "work around" these problems by using my phone to handle my navigation and music, they should just work. A world class car should have a world class NAV and media player.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

It could be argued that you're taking the "long view" on your Tesla in that you are looking for updates to the software you purchased. It can also be argued that you're asking to keep the initial software, but have them "fixed", similar to a repair. I think the truth lies somewhere in between those things. However - the Nav works as it did when I bought it, maybe a little better with the traffic avoidance algorithm. It works significantly better than my 2013 Honda Odyssey. I knew going into my car that CarPlay was unavailable, and nobody promised it to me. I work around it. I agree they should implement it as a business strategy, but they should prioritize it for new builds.

In case I'm not being clear, I support your arguments and I think you make good points. I would also like to see a lot of the updates and fixes you would. I think our only difference is in how entitled we each feel about getting those updates (or, to phrase it differently, how responsible we feel Tesla is in providing them). I would guess in general, that's the scale of disagreement in this thread.

I don't feel entitled. If this were any other car, certainly nothing would ever change from the day I purchased the car. It's within Tesla's power to address these shortcomings even though, technically, it doesn't have to. I do feel that my user experience has been slightly downgraded with the version 7 software. That spotlights, for me, the impression that Tesla is changing for the sake of change rather than out of a desire to actually improve functionality and usability. Can we agree that we needed better navigation and media apps more than we needed a new, flattened, and somewhat regressive UI? When I see this kind of stuff happening, I wonder why they can't just focus on giving us the best navigation and media system in the world and then brag about it. Sure, it won't beat a Lambo on the race track, but it does speak to things that are important to many consumers.

Tesla has clearly made a choice, I just wish they had chosen differently.

 

[ArtInCT]

As a committed observer here for over a year I can say that from what I have seen regarding software, it appears that Tesla Motors is on a dual path of innovation and enhancement. Certainly certain software versions are more biased to new features. But there have been some tweaks and fixes to certain functions.

I just wish that Tesla Motors would more openly engage the owner base via some manner to help us steer their enhancement direction.

They know what they have to do as far as the innovation is concerned.

 

[omarsultan]

Are you just making this stuff up? I don't mean to single you out, but much of what you say is pure fiction. There is no corroborating evidence to support what you are suggesting. No media articles, no words from Tesla or Musk, nothing. This sounds much more like fantasy that you are making up rather than reality. Would you care to post any corroborating articles, quotes, or any other evidence to support what you are saying? I'm sure your intentions are good, but you seem to be making up facts as you go along that aren't supported by any actual evidence.

While I am not sure about Julian's specific examples, mapping data and usage data is viewed as a competitive advantage for the types of scenarios he points out. It is the reason Apple split from Google and has bought 9 companies with mapping related technologies, Uber spent $3B on HERE and, would venture, why Tesla is doing its own thing. In Tesla's case, each of our cars is collecting all sorts of metadata about the routes we travel that will make AP work better for everyone and as AP technology becomes more widespread, the quality of the underlying mapping data is going to help differentiate one manufacturer from another one. BTW, the "scout" vehicle example is similar to something you can already to in Waze, so it does not seem like much of a stretch to imagine our cars could do the same thing automatically.

Link: http://fortune.com/2015/10/16/how-tesla-autopilot-learns/

 

[ohmman]

I don't feel entitled.

I'm sorry for the negative implication that carried. I tried to word it in a couple of ways to keep it from sounding accusatory, but apparently failed. Linguistically, though, I think it's the right word.

Can we agree that we needed better navigation and media apps more than we needed a new, flattened, and somewhat regressive UI? When I see this kind of stuff happening, I wonder why they can't just focus on giving us the best navigation and media system in the world and then brag about it.

We already agree, I think. I do imagine that fixing a layer on top of a third-party supplied navigation system is probably more difficult than redesigning a UI. So while they may be happening concurrently, one might be simpler to complete. Of course, I could be wrong and they might just think everything's dandy.

From a media player perspective, there are tweaks that can be made to the existing setup, and it seems like they've added Spotify in some markets. CarPlay carries a licensing fee, so there may be resistance to it. Or there may be a legal department slowing down the adoption of the contract. Or, as above, they might have just moved on from it.

 

[vdiv]

Agree with everyone Tesla Motors has to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. It is not an either/or proposition. So far what they have accomplished is nothing short of amazing, let's not lose sight of that. However they need to be more responsive to their customers.

Google proclaims "Don't be evil!" Tesla's equivalent should be "Don't be like GM!"

 

[omarsultan]

It seems the spirit of Verucca Salt is alive and well on this thread.

While there are no shortage of things that I think Tesla could be doing better, I think its a huge mistake to attribute lack of forward progress to incompetence or apathy. At the end of the day, they are a start-up--in 2014 they had ~$3B in revenue, by comparison, BMW, Diamler, GM, Toyota and VW had combined revenues of ~$850B.

The reality of a start-up is you have to be very judicious with spending, especially headcount, otherwise you end like Fisker or Better Place or (it seems) Faraday Future. You have a certain amount of people you can hire based on expected revenues. So, say you can hire 5 people, where do you put them?
- Do you add a market manager to the MarComm team to improve marketing and owner communications?
- Do you hire more delivery specialists to keep up with the 40% growth in vehicle deliveries?
- Do you hire more service center technicians to shorten wait times to get appointments and while you are at it, do you trade a headcount for some additional parts inventory to also shorten repair times?
- Do you add an engineer to the hardware team to work on more efficient battery chemistry?
- Do you hire a software engineer to work on better media player and CarPlay/Android Auto integration?*
- Do you hire a software engineer to increase feature velocity on the mapping software?*
- Do you hire a software engineer to work on AP 2.0?*

*Let's dispel the myth that there is a single "software team", there are many teams working on different technologies and they are not interchangeable--the software engineer you hire to program the drivetrain behavior today is not going to be working on the AP UI tomorrow, so these are all long term bets.

I think we can all agree these are all things Tesla needs to do, but what is the priority? I actually think Elon & Co are doing a good job in managing the bottom line and focusing investments on things that will help the company differentiate in the market--things like AP and battery technology. The reality is a better Nav software is not going to sell more cars whereas smarter AP, longer range and lower prices will, or do folks expect media headlines when Tesla finally adds waypoints to the Nav?

The downside of this focus is that there is plenty of stress in the rest of the company, be it scarce DSes, long repair wait times, sloppy communications, or slow software updates. Its the nature of where the company is in its mission. If it was content to sell high-end sedans and CUVs, it might invest differently but is is not and so it should not.

 

[brooklynrab]

Indeed a pipe-dream.... Tesla doesn't want our input.

Everyone has a different view into what the priorities should be... and none of us are certain how much Tesla hears us or what they're up to. It's bound to cause anxiety.

It'd be nice if they enhanced the MYTESLA section of teslamotors.com for verified owners and included some sort of Cumulative Voting Prioritization mechanism. A user generated feature/bug backlog, prioritized by votes. Each owner could have 3 votes to identify their "top 3" wishlist. Items with highest votes float to the top of the priority list. If your item is resolved, you get that vote back to apply to another item (or you can remove a vote to place somewhere else as needed).

There'd be no guarantee from Tesla that they would (or could) address the issues in that order. But they could see where interest from owners was at. There'd be overhead, you'd need people to administer the list, review new submissions and periodically update the list (remove items that were addressed, either by fix or by confirmation that it cannot or will not be done).

Maybe a bit of a pipe-dream... but to me, that'd be my ideal way to communicate my desires to Tesla

 

[msnow]

It seems the spirit of Verucca Salt is alive and well on this thread.

While there are no shortage of things that I think Tesla could be doing better, I think its a huge mistake to attribute lack of forward progress to incompetence or apathy. At the end of the day, they are a start-up--

Indeed which is why the topic is about setting priorities. Redirect resources to fix the stuff that is broken or deficient based on owner feedback.

 

[omarsultan]

Indeed which is why the topic is about setting priorities. Redirect resources to fix the stuff that is broken or deficient based on owner feedback.

The premise is flawed, that is not how software development projects are managed. The firmware we see is a packaging construct, in reality its made up of a number of modules such as navigation, HVAC, entertainment, UI, etc. Each of those modules has a developer team and a roadmap or a release plan with each release being a mix of new features and bug fixes. Modules that are more heavily resourced will have higher feature/bug fix velocity than teams which are lightly resourced. Based on what we have seen, we can extrapolate that things like AP are more heavily resourced than things like the media player because that aligns with the company's strategic priorities.

Software engineers are not a fungible resource, you are not going to move them around from SW module to SW module for the short-term, teams are most efficient when they are stable. We can guess that Tesla has lean staffing typical of a startup, so any re-direction of resources is going to be long-term and will be from lower priority projects to higher priority projects.

 

[msnow]

The premise is flawed, that is not how software development projects are managed. The firmware we see is a packaging construct, in reality its made up of a number of modules such as navigation, HVAC, entertainment, UI, etc. Each of those modules has a developer team and a roadmap or a release plan with each release being a mix of new features and bug fixes. Modules that are more heavily resourced will have higher feature/bug fix velocity than teams which are lightly resourced. Based on what we have seen, we can extrapolate that things like AP are more heavily resourced than things like the media player because that aligns with the company's strategic priorities.

Software engineers are not a fungible resource, you are not going to move them around from SW module to SW module for the short-term, teams are most efficient when they are stable. We can guess that Tesla has lean staffing typical of a startup, so any re-direction of resources is going to be long-term and will be from lower priority projects to higher priority projects.

We mostly agree. Management has obviously prioritized things like AP and Summon ahead of fixing broken modules likely because strategically they believe selling new cars is more important than a quality product. Time will tell if that ends up being reflected in future consumer satisfaction surveys like CR.

By the way software project dev managers don't set the priorities they follow direction of senior management and resources are indeed fungible. It's called "resource management" and that's how effective and efficient projects are run in most mature companies. Perhaps the difference is we are looking at this at different levels.

 

[ohmman]

By the way software project dev managers don't set the priorities they follow direction of senior management and resources are indeed fungible. It's called "resource management" and that's how effective and efficient projects are run in most mature companies. Perhaps the difference is we are looking at this at different levels.

There is a limit to how fungible the resources are - you don't take a GUI developer and have them build a learning algorithm. Shuffling is also disruptive and generally avoided. Tesla is hiring a ton of engineers for AutoPilot specific tasks, which implies that the resource they're managing is actually budgetary. This is similar to the mistake many people make when looking at the distribution of world wealth. It's not a single cake that we all divvy up. It's a growing resource - and in Tesla's case, they can grow multiple teams simultaneously, as the budget permits.

 

[BertL]

I don't think we need worry how Tesla SW Development is organized. From my MS ownership POV, I don't care. I do care about what has and should be delivered to me as a customer. I paid good money for my MS, which replaced a relatively new Lexus and MBZ with all the traditional appointments I have come to expect from a luxury vehicle over many years. I'm happy to be part of an early set of Tesla owners helping to contribute to this EV Vision. I researched and thought long and hard what some of the challenges may entail and admittedly there were trade-offs -- it's in-fact why I waited to buy my MS until this past fall, when from my POV, a decent positive track record was being demonstrated. Unlike some early adopters it appears, I just couldn't bring myself to take undo personal risk with a $100K+ investment, when a start-up may go out of business, be unable to deliver on its commitments, or if my only mode of transportation were to be unreliable. I'm not flush enough with cash to treat my MS as a donation of sorts to a really smart entrapeneur that I admire in many ways, nor am I a Tesla or Elon Musk zealot as some may be. I do love my MS, but as I’ve said before, my satisfaction is going down ever so slightly as time goes on and my expectations are not being completely met.

I expect my MS, like the former luxury vehicles I’ve owned for 25+ years, to have reproducible defects corrected. That is what a warranty is all about. I also generally try to be a reasonable guy knowing not everything can be done immediately, but in-turn, there needs to at least be demonstrated progress or communication to keep me that way. I bet most owners here expect if they have a hardware failure, that Tesla, like any auto mfgr, will resolve the problem. We've seen Tesla get proactive with issues like door handles, 12V batteries, seat belts, and others. As Tesla’s face to us as customers, the SCs appear to generally go above and beyond ensuring excellent customer satisfaction resolving nearly any physical thing they can address. GREAT.

We all know MS is highly dependent upon software to run most of it’s systems. That's a huge benefit allowing Tesla unlike their competition to control their destiny and easily introduce new functions. Tesla also has the ability to provide OTA updates unlike it’s competition which is stellar. The rub for some of us begins when something is broken and acknowledged by Tesla as needing a software fix (with no known ETA). The SC documents it, and the customer is sent on their way with an unresolved problem and no further communication. Now that I’m an owner, I’ve also come to know some of the problems I and others have encountered, have existed -- unresolved -- for months or years awaiting a future software update. THAT, at a minimum, becomes a customer satisfaction problem that festers and grows with an increasing population of owners as time goes on and the problem isn't fixed. It's human nature that we end up telling many more people about our dissatisfaction, than when we are satisfied -- just think about posts on forums like TMC to confirm that point. Tesla needs to fix both hardware AND software bugs. Hiding behind "Autopilot is the Priority" and seemingly ignoring “maintenance” that may not be as interesting to the leadership, or will not generate positive Press, is unacceptable to I’d say most customers that pay for a Tesla of their own.

While it could be debated forever, Tesla also needs to focus additional resources on basic functions like Infotainment (e.g. Nav and Media Player) to make them more usable, and keep functionality at least current with the competition. The IC and 17” display were the big talk when MS first came out. I suspect early adopters overlooked and didn’t care as much about things like Nav routing and lack of USB media functions back in the day, because of their excitement having an internet connection, free streaming services, and other goodies that no other car had, and were new to them at the time. The potential of OTA updates providing additional functionality some day, likely also delayed some concern. It’s now been more than 3 years will little enhancements to a number of these almost utilitarian capabilities — especially when compared to what other luxury brands (that cost less) have delivered for years. Additionally, Tesla chose to be forward thinking and not provide a CD player, iPod or other hardwired media player support like most other luxury brands still do. So be that, except there are owners like myself that care about quality music when I'm driving, purchased UHFS, knowingly gave up full-function hardwired iPod capabilities with playlists and easy syncing from our music libraries coming to Tesla, and remain today with a less than optimal Infotainment experience compared to what I’ve owned and just grown to expect from my former Lexus, BMW and MBZ for years. Other mfgrs are now making CarPlay and Android Auto standard even in their non-luxury vehicles, and IMHO Tesla can't stand tall with what MS delivers functionally on that front today. My point being, as far advanced as Tesla is in say battery tech and having a growing Supercharger network, Tesla is behind in some of the basics and needs to step up or be surpassed. Sure, Infotainment isn’t the holy “Autopilot” we read about in the press, but it is what many (or is that, "most") drivers use and interact with every single time they get in their vehicle -- perhaps many times each day. As owners mature with their new toys -- even an MS -- and volumes sold increase, not having basic capabilities that are expected to just be there, become a disappointment and will ultimately impact sales. The need to deal with negative Sat and the Press as non-sexy capabilities get too far behind, then try to catch-up, in my experience, takes away even more from focused growth. What I call "the basics" need to be attended to more than they are.

Tesla Executives have the ability to prioritize what is worked on, no matter what their budgetary or staffing constraints are. I certainly did for many years, including as a young manager trading off my own secretary/assistant to transfer a new service technician into a remote geography, and IT and software teams I personally believed I needed to invest in for 2-3 year projects, while maintaining and growing today’s business despite increasing budgetary and off-shore pressure. Executives can make short and longer-term trade-offs if they want to. The question is, are non-Autopilot fixes and maintaining the basics even on Tesla's radar? I appreciate not all resources are immediately transportable (fungible -- had to look that up!), but IMHO, the real issue is Tesla Executives need to evolve more rapidly from operating a business that isn’t just a start-up focused on one man’s priorities any more, to where a little more “maintenance” is an expectation and established part of the every day norm. From my peanut gallery and owner perspective, priorities seem out-of-balance meeting obligations to:

1. FIX the backlog of software that is acknowledged as broken to existing customers
2. Enhance the non-sexy software basics (yes, like Nav and Media Player) to keep up with the competition and deliver the things owners simply expect a Tesla or premium luxury vehicle should have when they buy it
3. ...while creating all the new longer-term high-profile capabilities like Automous Driving and M3 that the future demands

The latter cannot be done almost to the exclusivity of the others, as it seems to for the most part be happening In recent times. Fortunately, all of this is deliverable OTA to the fleet when it’s ready. For me, it will be better than Christmas when those presents hopefully begin to arrive.

 

[brooklynrab]

+1 BertL. At least we have OTA update ability, but the company has to modify its priorities. Musk kind of acknowledged that when he made his famous tweet about 7.1 taking care of Classic owners, and then he did what he usually does, and didn't follow through on when he said he would do (maybe he meant 7.2?). I would like to see an announcement from ANOTHER senior person at the company of a somewhat more specific plan to satisfy us -- UI, NAV, media, and if we are lucky, voice control, before I use up my 8 year battery warranty period.

 

[Camera-Cruiser]

I don't think we need worry how Tesla SW Development is organized. From my MS ownership POV, I don't care. I do care about what has and should be delivered to me as a customer. I paid good money for my MS, which replaced a relatively new Lexus and MBZ with all the traditional appointments I have come to expect from a luxury vehicle over many years. I'm happy to be part of an early set of Tesla owners helping to contribute to this EV Vision. I researched and thought long and hard what some of the challenges may entail and admittedly there were trade-offs -- it's in-fact why I waited to buy my MS until this past fall, when from my POV, a decent positive track record was being demonstrated. Unlike some early adopters it appears, I just couldn't bring myself to take undo personal risk with a $100K+ investment, when a start-up may go out of business, be unable to deliver on its commitments, or if my only mode of transportation were to be unreliable. I'm not flush enough with cash to treat my MS as a donation of sorts to a really smart entrapeneur that I admire in many ways, nor am I a Tesla or Elon Musk zealot as some may be. I do love my MS, but as I’ve said before, my satisfaction is going down ever so slightly as time goes on and my expectations are not being completely met.

I expect my MS, like the former luxury vehicles I’ve owned for 25+ years, to have reproducible defects corrected. That is what a warranty is all about. I also generally try to be a reasonable guy knowing not everything can be done immediately, but in-turn, there needs to at least be demonstrated progress or communication to keep me that way. I bet most owners here expect if they have a hardware failure, that Tesla, like any auto mfgr, will resolve the problem. We've seen Tesla get proactive with issues like door handles, 12V batteries, seat belts, and others. As Tesla’s face to us as customers, the SCs appear to generally go above and beyond ensuring excellent customer satisfaction resolving nearly any physical thing they can address. GREAT.

We all know MS is highly dependent upon software to run most of it’s systems. That's a huge benefit allowing Tesla unlike their competition to control their destiny and easily introduce new functions. Tesla also has the ability to provide OTA updates unlike it’s competition which is stellar. The rub for some of us begins when something is broken and acknowledged by Tesla as needing a software fix (with no known ETA). The SC documents it, and the customer is sent on their way with an unresolved problem and no further communication. Now that I’m an owner, I’ve also come to know some of the problems I and others have encountered, have existed -- unresolved -- for months or years awaiting a future software update. THAT, at a minimum, becomes a customer satisfaction problem that festers and grows with an increasing population of owners as time goes on and the problem isn't fixed. It's human nature that we end up telling many more people about our dissatisfaction, than when we are satisfied -- just think about posts on forums like TMC to confirm that point. Tesla needs to fix both hardware AND software bugs. Hiding behind "Autopilot is the Priority" and seemingly ignoring “maintenance” that may not be as interesting to the leadership, or will not generate positive Press, is unacceptable to I’d say most customers that pay for a Tesla of their own.

While it could be debated forever, Tesla also needs to focus additional resources on basic functions like Infotainment (e.g. Nav and Media Player) to make them more usable, and keep functionality at least current with the competition. The IC and 17” display were the big talk when MS first came out. I suspect early adopters overlooked and didn’t care as much about things like Nav routing and lack of USB media functions back in the day, because of their excitement having an internet connection, free streaming services, and other goodies that no other car had, and were new to them at the time. The potential of OTA updates providing additional functionality some day, likely also delayed some concern. It’s now been more than 3 years will little enhancements to a number of these almost utilitarian capabilities — especially when compared to what other luxury brands (that cost less) have delivered for years. Additionally, Tesla chose to be forward thinking and not provide a CD player, iPod or other hardwired media player support like most other luxury brands still do. So be that, except there are owners like myself that care about quality music when I'm driving, purchased UHFS, knowingly gave up full-function hardwired iPod capabilities with playlists and easy syncing from our music libraries coming to Tesla, and remain today with a less than optimal Infotainment experience compared to what I’ve owned and just grown to expect from my former Lexus, BMW and MBZ for years. Other mfgrs are now making CarPlay and Android Auto standard even in their non-luxury vehicles, and IMHO Tesla can't stand tall with what MS delivers functionally on that front today. My point being, as far advanced as Tesla is in say battery tech and having a growing Supercharger network, Tesla is behind in some of the basics and needs to step up or be surpassed. Sure, Infotainment isn’t the holy “Autopilot” we read about in the press, but it is what many (or is that, "most") drivers use and interact with every single time they get in their vehicle -- perhaps many times each day. As owners mature with their new toys -- even an MS -- and volumes sold increase, not having basic capabilities that are expected to just be there, become a disappointment and will ultimately impact sales. The need to deal with negative Sat and the Press as non-sexy capabilities get too far behind, then try to catch-up, in my experience, takes away even more from focused growth. What I call "the basics" need to be attended to more than they are.

Tesla Executives have the ability to prioritize what is worked on, no matter what their budgetary or staffing constraints are. I certainly did for many years, including as a young manager trading off my own secretary/assistant to transfer a new service technician into a remote geography, and IT and software teams I personally believed I needed to invest in for 2-3 year projects, while maintaining and growing today’s business despite increasing budgetary and off-shore pressure. Executives can make short and longer-term trade-offs if they want to. The question is, are non-Autopilot fixes and maintaining the basics even on Tesla's radar? I appreciate not all resources are immediately transportable (fungible -- had to look that up!), but IMHO, the real issue is Tesla Executives need to evolve more rapidly from operating a business that isn’t just a start-up focused on one man’s priorities any more, to where a little more “maintenance” is an expectation and established part of the every day norm. From my peanut gallery and owner perspective, priorities seem out-of-balance meeting obligations to:

1. FIX the backlog of software that is acknowledged as broken to existing customers
2. Enhance the non-sexy software basics (yes, like Nav and Media Player) to keep up with the competition and deliver the things owners simply expect a Tesla or premium luxury vehicle should have when they buy it
3. ...while creating all the new longer-term high-profile capabilities like Automous Driving and M3 that the future demands

The latter cannot be done almost to the exclusivity of the others, as it seems to for the most part be happening In recent times. Fortunately, all of this is deliverable OTA to the fleet when it’s ready. For me, it will be better than Christmas when those presents hopefully begin to arrive.

One of the best posts I have read here. I too worried, and still do about Tesla going "poof" and my car becoming an albatross. Maybe I shouldn't, but I do.

As I posted elsewhere, I don't know if I would have pulled the trigger on the CPO I have if I had read this forum. It is that simple. I really thought buying the car after it had been out for three years meant that I would get all the benefits of the OTA updates and fixes. But no. I test drove it with 6.2, but by the time it was delivered it was 7. I was too dumb to ask what the hell happened to the interface that I loved. I just thought I was a setting or two away from making it look good again. Flat, low contrast interfaces suck for those of us who might have a touch of gray starting at the temples.

Interface aside, while irksome, it's bearable. But after 90 days of ownership and having to use my phone for NAV and web stuff, it really makes me wonder. I just thought all of that would have been improved by now. Nothing is sadder while waiting for your kid after school than using an iPhone 4s because its faster and more reliable the the Tesla with its beautiful 17" screen.

Thankfully the driving experience is amazing.

So Tesla, pretty please. Fix, upgrade, make better the stuff that affects all Tesla owners. I'll even pay for a CPU upgrade if that is what it takes.

 

[msnow]

Agree, well said @BertL!

 

[AWDtsla]

+1 BertL. At least we have OTA update ability, but the company has to modify its priorities. Musk kind of acknowledged that when he made his famous tweet about 7.1 taking care of Classic owners, and then he did what he usually does, and didn't follow through on when he said he would do (maybe he meant 7.2?). I would like to see an announcement from ANOTHER senior person at the company of a somewhat more specific plan to satisfy us -- UI, NAV, media, and if we are lucky, voice control, before I use up my 8 year battery warranty period.

Don't worry, today's owners will become "classic" owners soon, so you'll have company.

 

[ohmman]

At least we have OTA update ability, but the company has to modify its priorities. Musk kind of acknowledged that when he made his famous tweet about 7.1 taking care of Classic owners, and then he did what he usually does, and didn't follow through on when he said he would do (maybe he meant 7.2?). I would like to see an announcement from ANOTHER senior person at the company of a somewhat more specific plan to satisfy us -- UI, NAV, media, and if we are lucky, voice control, before I use up my 8 year battery warranty period.

I'm not a Tesla apologist by any means (I've been called out for being too critical at times), but I'd ask you to re-read this post and think about what you're saying. I think the words "specific plan to satisfy us" are the ones that come off as overly demanding. As I've mentioned upthread, I am generally pretty satisfied, as most MS owners are (look at any satisfaction index). Yes, I would like some improvements, and they have the capability. This is the double edged sword of OTA updating. As soon as we realize we can get improvements, we start to expect them. But to "satisfy us", all Tesla needs to do is service the mechanics of our vehicles properly IMO.

This was posted in another thread (or maybe this one), but it's a favorite of mine, and it's relevant.

 

[msnow]

I'm not a Tesla apologist by any means (I've been called out for being too critical at times), but I'd ask you to re-read this post and think about what you're saying. I think the words "specific plan to satisfy us" are the ones that come off as overly demanding. As I've mentioned upthread, I am generally pretty satisfied, as most MS owners are (look at any satisfaction index). Yes, I would like some improvements, and they have the capability. This is the double edged sword of OTA updating. As soon as we realize we can get improvements, we start to expect them. But to "satisfy us", all Tesla needs to do is service the mechanics of our vehicles properly IMO.

This was posted in another thread (or maybe this one), but it's a favorite of mine, and it's relevant.

It's only relevant if you think that having NAV getting you lost 6 out of every 10 times using it or losing 4% of your rated range the first few weeks of ownership in addition to these other issues is asking too much for a car that cost ~$115k out the door then you're sadly mistaken. It's embarrassing to me, my family and my friends and it should be embarrassing for Elon and Tesla. I'm all about patience but it's wearing thin and if these things are not addressed very quickly the owner satisfaction surveys won't be so kind to Tesla. I hope it doesn't come to that as I want them to succeed.