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- "Recall" statistics are a factor in new car purchases. I don't particularly care if the fix is OTA, but I do care about a brand's propensity for releasing saf
by hansvm 2y ago
- "Recall" statistics are a factor in new car purchases. I don't particularly care if the fix is OTA, but I do care about a brand's propensity for releasing safety-critical garbage. Skirting around those aggregations and consumer reports by skirting around the language is good for Tesla and not for purchasers.
- If it's not a "recall," there isn't much of a government paper trail for consumers when the OTA update goes awry. You don't even know if you should have such and such version of the software, and if the patches are non-linear then it's non-obvious even to experts examining your car's current status whether it's been applied or not.
- OTA updates for cars seem fraught with peril. Have you ever seen a bricked Tesla driving down the road? It's terrifying. Have you ever been the driver of such a Tesla while not in cell range? It's more terrifying because you don't know if the charge will last till you have cell service or what will happen if you're stuck in the middle of nowhere. Did they ensure the update would only apply after you've turned the car off and on again? Even if they did, if you drove your car and the steering/brakes/gas suddenly behaved differently, do you think you'd be more or less likely to crash? Whether they can technically solve the thing with an OTA update or not, it seems prudent (not that it's happening yet) to force people to make a proactive decision to opt in to the change.
- concordDance 2y ago> Have you ever seen a bricked Tesla driving down the road? It's terrifying. How often has this happened?
- hansvm 2y agoAt least once to every one of my friends with a Tesla. Apparently it's safe enough (your fly-by-wire brakes and whatnot still work), but not even having a speedometer available while you're driving doesn't give a lot of confidence in the machine you're in (and it might not be obvious till you test them that brakes will work or that you'll be able to start the car if you stop it somewhere without cell coverage).
- foobazgt 2y agoYou're talking about the MCU (media control unit), which is completely isolated from the critical driving functions of the vehicle. As its name implies, this unit mostly drives the vehicle's entertainment functions. It's actually incredibly confidence-inspiring to me to know that the MCU can go entirely offline and the vehicle continues to function at 100%. This seems like it must be table-stakes for all vehicles, but I've seen more surprising things. I'm not sure why you mention cell coverage, given that it is entirely unrelated.
- hansvm 2y agoGood to know the legally mandated speedometer is just media (I jest a little). > why mention cell coverage When the culprit is a borked OTA, it's very non-obvious that it'll behave correctly without another remote signal, and the fact that you're allowed to drive your car might only be because you haven't shut it off yet (immediate safety outweighing the danger of driving a partially functioning vehicle).
- foobazgt 2y ago"Have you ever seen a bricked Tesla driving down the road?..." I'm having trouble making any sense whatsoever out of this paragraph. It does not appear to bear any relationship whatsoever to Tesla OTAs. They don't apply while you're driving. The vehicle must be in park and is inaccessible until the OTA has successfully completed. If for whatever reason the update can't complete successfully, the vehicle rolls back to its previous software version. Driving a "bricked" Tesla isn't a thing. Worrying about not being in cell range isn't a thing. Installing an OTA does not involve any kind of act of "turning the car on and off again". (Owner of multiple Teslas for 6+ years).