> no need for software updates because everything was properly designed to work with the hardware before the vehicle was sold.
I think there's your answer. That's hard to do, and software mistakes cost a lot of $$$ and time to fix. You have to go into a dealership/service area to get any updates.
Also, the vast majority of Tesla's customers are attracted to the idea that their car will continuously update itself and get better over time.
> I think there's your answer. That's hard to do, and software mistakes cost a lot of $$$ and time to fix. You have to go into a dealership/service area to get any updates.
Do current BEVs require frequent updates to maintain off-the-lot functionality and drive-worthiness? Like in practice, if I bought a BMW BEV and ripped out any internet connectivity / only drove around in a faraday cage, would it break after 3mo (or 3yr) unless I took it into the dealership for a software update?
>Also, the vast majority of Tesla's customers are attracted to the idea that their car will continuously update itself and get better over time.
Yes, I think this is a selling point too. However it need not be a requirement for all BEVs. If switching to this model is prohibitive then it shouldn't be a roadblock.
I didn't update my Tesla for about a year and half.
It eventually complained with a custom message that I would completely lose cell access in the car (which powers navigation, etc) if I didn't run the v11 update.
I reluctantly updated because I know, and by that point they had fixed most of the UX issues that I had complaints about. The UI team at Tesla at least seems to listen to feedback from customers, which is more to say for bugs in any infotainment system that I've ever had in any other car I've owned.
Once AT&T 3G shuts down, chances are it won't be able to connect to the network due to how it logs on. While the AT&T site[0] says "will decommission our 3G networks on February 22, 2022", but it's actually been pretty slow with 3G still lingering in many places and others getting it turned off around the time they're working on 5G deployments utilizing the now-free spectrum[1,2]. They probably could've fixed this by updating V10 with only the modem changes but they want people on V11 more.
Connected navigation is a pretty big feature for EVs, ie trip navigation that plans your charging stops based on up-to-date list of charger locations and their current availability.
So you can get by without this using your phone nav etc. but you'll likely be missing some key info like how many chargers are in-use vs available, and triggering the car to precondition the battery for fast charging before arrival.
> Also, the vast majority of Tesla's customers are attracted to the idea that their car will continuously update itself and get better over time.
For how long though? I have since long realized that for me autoupdates is a anti-feuture that just makes it possible for the cooperations to mess with me.
We have the story of the Tesla owner that got his battery software limited due to a workshop messup two owners earlier.
My car had no sentry mode aka security cam feature (it blinks lights and records a few mins of video locally to my external ssd if something is happening near it) when it came out, but thanks to the update it now does. Same for being able to access live camera feed from my car remotely on my phone, if i want to check on it. Oh, and another update later made it so that I can review the recorded security footage on the car screen directly (only when the car is parked), without having to unplug the SSD and reviewing videos on my laptop/phone.
Those features above was never mentioned or promised when I was buying the car, because they simply didn't exist or weren't even planned at the time. Other updates improved the UI/UX in some major ways. All in all, I have no complaints about that experience at all.
Also, none of those are auto-updates. Tesla will notify you if the update is available, but it won't be downloading them usung the built-in cell connection, only using wifi connection.
> it blinks lights and records a few mins of video locally to my external ssd if something is happening near it
Interesting. Yesterday I showed my 2yo a parked Tesla and it blinked when we got a meter away and I didn't understand what it did. Notably, CCTV of public spaces is illegal where I live without authority approval.
I am not opposed to updates, just auto-updates that can't be turned off by the user. Also there need to be a way to revert to an older version if a new one you manually approve messes things up.
I think there's your answer. That's hard to do, and software mistakes cost a lot of $$$ and time to fix. You have to go into a dealership/service area to get any updates.
Also, the vast majority of Tesla's customers are attracted to the idea that their car will continuously update itself and get better over time.