Tesla Software Update 8.0
tesla.com
tesla.com
I hope that besides cooling the car it includes a feature that pulls down some signs in the windows that says "no really the A/C is on and my kid/dog is fine, don't break the glass".
I mean I'm kinda joking here but not really. This has been a problem for Prius owners for a long time (they can have a/c on manually when the car is off)
I once left my dog in my car while I walked 150 feet across a single level parking lot into a building, spent 90 seconds inside, and walked back to the car, to find a note on the windshield saying "Your dog is dying in there! You should be ashamed! This is illegal and I should report you!" The car was chilly from A/C before I left, every window was cracked at least a few inches while I was gone, and obviously the person couldn't have stuck around long, because I wasn't gone more than a few minutes. If it's that easy to mistake a panting dog for a "dying" dog, I can see how this is a problem.
Then, if you're still concerned call the police, and wait for them. If while waiting you become concerned for the dog's life, break the window.
(In case I did deadpan too well, BIG FAT SARCASM INDICATOR.)
Edit: That was in a small town though, I guess it's different in the city where I constantly hear sirens.
O.k. What's up with the vitriol dude?
Over the years I have owned some large breed dogs. A Bull Mastiff, and two rescued pit bull/American bull dog mixes. They were all over 140 lbs. All three dogs wanted nothing to do with anything within 8 feet of my truck.
I had them at different points in my life. The pit bull mixes went to dog obedience school, but didn't do well. I was talked into putting one on Proxax for behavioral problems. Hell, at one point we were both on the same SSRI.
The problem with my dogs is they were very territorial. I tried to socialize the pit bull mixes, but by the time the the vaccines had time to build up an immunity; it was just to late for socialization, or obedience school success. They were too set in their ways, and didn't want to be around other dogs, or certain people without my presence. They just didn't like anyone near my truck, or within 8 feet of it.
I didn't like to leave my dogs in their backyard, so I would take them out on the weekends, and after work. Sue me!
I would sometimes do errands with them. I would park my truck, with a Leer shell, filled with bowls of water, and two windows open, with custom grating on the sliding Windows, under a tree, or a remote area with shade. I was never gone more than 20 minutes.
They were never in danger of overheating. The "the over-reactors" always seemed to assume the worse. This one lady accused me of going to work, and leaving my dogs in the truck all day. Another accused me of leaving my dogs in a hot vechicle, and was in the process of calling the Humane Society, as I took off.
It only happened two times I know of, but it hurt. Those dogs were never in any danger. I treated those dogs like babies.
After everything I just wrote, I'm still glad they have that law about breaking windows.
I can guarantee this, if anyone decided to break the plexiglass widows on my Leer shell, or cut the wire over the windows; that "know-it-all" would not be alive. My dogs would have tore them to pieces.
I think the moral of the story is don't assume. Don't stereotype. Don't always assume the worse.
(I am now I a bad mood, and miss my dogs. They all lived to old age, but passed. I miss them more than my father. Now--that's not right? You didn't have my father. Good night people.)
Pittie-Mastiff came to live at our house as of February. Friendliest guy, loves everyone he meets. I stop at the Korean grocery down the street a lot, talk to the owners all the time as best their limited English allows. Had Brody in the car one day, owner expresses interest in saying "hi". "Sure, he loves everyone", I said as the guy approached the open window. Whoops, Brody loves everyone as long as they STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HIS CAR. No harm, no foul, and now we know better.
But I pity the fool who thinks they're going to "save" Brody from the car that's parked in the shade in the blistering 70F Seattle heat.
Thanks for taking a step back to consider the lol-plebs discussion
Yes, that's all not so likely, but why take any chances?
Probability may be low, but it is an increased risk that can be mitigated to a certain extent by just not getting in the habit of leaving your kids in the car when running even short errands.
Oh, wait, we live in Seattle, where 90F is record-breaking heat. And it was 68F that day. If I were in that car, I would have been rolling the windows up a little for fear of getting chilly.
That's quite a dangerous myth to be propagating. Automobiles are greenhouses, a technology which allows them to reach substantially higher temperatures than the ambient air.
As for that chart, it might accurate in Florida. But I've tested our camper van with its picture rear window facing south all day in July. Approximately 70F ambient, it got to low-90s in there, not 104F. I don't know what the dogs did when I was growing up when it would be 90s for days on end, but I don't recall them dying in droves.
Though that chart is a good way to bring the problem to light, I guess, don't be breaking my window based on its presumed accuracy for all situations.
If you park in the sun it's still going to be hot in the car, but it's not as uncomfortable when you first open it - I still wouldn't leave myself or a dog locked inside without the windows open.
You can however leave the ignition on, with the AC on, and the engine will kick in every 10 minutes or so - however that's effectively the same as leaving you keys in the car, if you break in you can just drive away.
All modern vehicles allow this...
You're essentially saying the when the engine is on, the AC works. It has nothing to do with being a Prius or not. The only difference is that a Prius can switch into EV mode while the battery allows (and gets pretty silent) before switching back to motor (when the battery is depleted).
I've never seen a vehicle which couldn't run the AC without the vehicle moving. Maybe that was the case with vehicles before my lifetime.
PS - We own a Prius V and a Subaru Outback, both allow this.
As I said, you can do this with a Prius but it's effectively the same as leaving the keys in the ignition as the car needs to be in "READY" mode, which means everything is running (at least on my standard 2010 model - maybe the PHEV model is different) - if you can get it, you can drive away without needing the key. You can also start the AC from the remote, but it cuts out after 3 minutes or when the battery gets low - it doesn't use the engine to recharge it.
What, they're not getting range rate directly from the radar? You can tell if an object is moving towards or away from you from one frame if you have range rate. Bosch automotive radars do return range rate.[1] Even 1990s automotive radars returned range rate. That's one of the huge advantages of radar over vision. Range and range rate go into a very simple formula which yields time to collision. Vision is lousy at range rate and gets worse as the distance increases. Radar is good at range rate and the error is constant out the range of the radar.
Whomever wrote that piece of PR probably doesn't really know how it works.
[1] https://etd.ohiolink.edu/rws_etd/document/get/ohiou130408338...
The radar was added to all Tesla vehicles in October 2014 as part of the Autopilot hardware suite, but was only meant to be a supplementary sensor to the primary camera and image processing system.
You don't actually have this option - if you are sharing roads with these cars, you're automatically a beta tester.
[1] http://qz.com/694520/tesla-has-780-million-miles-of-driving-...
It's like beta-testing without actually beta-testing.
9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
Oh, how we laughed.
IMO, if the touchscreen serves as more than one button/action while driving, it's a broken design.
Even the BMW "wheel button" is a better one.
Are the UI text and interface elements large enough?
They appear pretty small for their intended use in a busy and distracting car environment. I notice that with each revision they bump up in size and simplicity just a little, so maybe they're narrowing in on a more optimal size, but I probably would have started much larger and simpler. I've always been curious how it is to actually use in day to day driving.
Working with an active navigation route was the one area where I felt they could improve. In particular, the UI for cancelling guidance is too small and fussy. I'm probably not the only one who noticed because it looks like they reworked some of that.
I am NOT optimistic about how they appear (in 8.0) to be hiding the main navigation at the top. Doesn't seem like the extra space was ever needed. It feels like a cosmetic decision that adds an extra step.
The one thing I immediately did miss in the car though, oddly enough, were the assist handles – the ones above the passenger doors where you can hang dry cleaning etc. There were none of those. I know this has nothing to do with the original question, but still. One of those details I didn't think I needed (or wanted) until they were missed.
Small detail you're right, but that's pretty funny.
The vulnerability has been "patched", but I cannot help but be peeved at any private automobile that can be remotely controlled. Of course, it isn't only Teslas: https://www.wired.com/2016/03/fbi-warns-car-hacking-real-ris...
Even when they apparently employ idiots who hook the web browser up to the brakes.
What if I park a black Tesla at the San Diego airport for a week-long vacation, and it's 100 degrees and unmitigated direct sun? Will I come back to a battery that can't get me home?
That would be when I would want this feature to avoid damage to my car from it overheating. But also when it's most likely to run down the battery.
>Can be turned on or off. V8.1 will allow always-on min and max temps to be set.
>currently stops at 20% state of charge. This number will be configurable.
I suspect they considered it and decided not to do it because the safety threat of a minute mistake is just too high.
Weirdly, it doesn't seem like tesla.com/lang/software exists - which it redirects to.
> Every time we get a new update it seems like something got better [...]
What? Is not that the main purpose of an update? To make things better?