151–160 of 241 posts
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It is different because in this case, the upgraded "parts" are already present in the car!
For example, there are already many cars with ESP, software limited to ABS.
When you exceed your sales target, the thing you did was set your target incorrectly. It's great that they're selling lots of cars, but "exceeded the target" is a wholly artificial accomplishment.
No, it depends on what your goal is. Here, the goal is satisfying shareholders. You want to satisfy shareholders because it's in your best interests to do so, the value of your company depends on it. The easiest way to satisfy shareholders is to underestimate (but not too drastically, just enough to be a little dramatic) your numbers, so that when you surpass your estimates, you look amazing. Underpromise and overdel…
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It's not too different from adding an exhaust or new stereo. Not really the same as in-app payments.
It is different because in this case, the upgraded "parts" are already present in the car!
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I've restored an old car from the ground up. That was lots of fun. One day someone will do it to a model 'S'. Working on old vehicles is interesting because you get to be creative because of a lack of manufacturer supplied parts. Welcome to the aftermarket, where nothing is too crazy. Want to slap a 160 HP engine into your classic mini? That's possible: http://jamesfawcett.co.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_content&#...…
If you're modifying the software, such that in certain edge cases your battery overheats and explodes, or the brakes stop working, does it still make sense to rely on road approval to deem a car road-worthy, and get appropriate insurance? Since all software has bugs, I feel this is an interesting discussion point even if you don't modify it. Basically, should road approval include a check on the software? (which woul…
http://pics.ww.com/v/jacques/cars/minis/greeni+1993mini/0529...
One day in Canada a mechanic in a car alignment shop that I won't name here told me that my left front wheel could not be aligned. I immediately jumped into the pit and started looking at the main components of the drivetrain and sure enough the left front diff was cracked all along its length.
Note that this guy was a professional that did alignments for a living and I'm nothing but an amateur. But at least I do know when and where to start looking for real trouble. A broken diff can seize up without warning (because all the lubricant will have run out) and can cause your neat Jeep Grand Cherokee to do cartwheels.
Working on car software is old hat to many, from increases in power (messing around with fuel injection tables) to fixing production issues that manufacturers never bothered to do recalls for to reverse engineering the software to be able to maintain older cars and to get them past emissions testing. Some of the people in the modding scene have absolutely awesome skills, on par with the best in the industry (and since they're working their way backwards from the designs in some ways more impressive).
All software has bugs, indeed, including the software that your vehicle came with in the first place.
If you mess with the charge curves on your batteries then you'll likely reap what you sow (I'd stay the hell away from there), but if it does overheat or explodes that will be just the same overheating or explosion that you could expect in a regular accident. Likely your EV has been designed around such failures, if it hasn't then you're in trouble even if you don't mod it.
If the brakes stop working then you're in trouble (and so is everybody within striking distance), but brakes failing due to a software bug that you induced is a thing that I've yet to come across. Most brake systems have mechanical back-up, and if all that fails you can still reach for the 'oh-shit' lever, aka the emergency brake. Anybody that has ever had a master cylinder fail on them knows what I mean.
Insurance companies deal in statistics. If you register your vehicle by brand and type then they'll quote you a value. If you plan on doing experiments with the drive train, if you increase the stock power by more than 20%, if you start messing with the structural components of the car (which I think is far scarier than any software mod) then there are procedures on how to deal with that. In some countries insurance companies will insure anything that moves, in others you need to go through a complex formalized procedure that tries to ascertain whether or not your car is fit for the road.
As with everything you mess with: know what you are doing and err on the side of caution, especially when lives are involved. But don't let that stop you from learning skills and applying those skills to real world hardware. After all, if everybody would stick to theory we'd never have a lot of nice things.
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I wonder too. What I would expect is that 4% of their customers will be reminded that their car is artificially limited whenever they need to travel more than 160 miles (260 km) and have to pull over early to recharge a battery that is actually capable of 230 miles (370 km).
Isn't that shorter range what they pre-ordered/paid for?
When you get to the end of the charge on your 40kwh model, you know that the car is capable of 50% more - but you are not allowed to because you haven't paid Tesla an extra $10k.
It's similar to airline pricing. It makes rational sense to sell early seats at lower cost, and increase prices as the plane gets closer to selling out, effectively auctioning off seats. But people hate it. The guy sitting next to you is getting the exact same service as you, but might have paid 3x less.
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I don't see why. Would you be happier if they made two versions with no way of changing one into the other? I see this as a great plus, if you are not interested in a feature, do not pay for it, if you later are, you can enable it without buying an entire new car. Also if you sell it, the new owner can decide if and when to enable those features. It seems a clear win-win to me, and a very clever strategy from Tesla.
> Would you be happier if they made two versions with no way of changing one into the other? Yes. I can't bear the thought of driving around a bigger battery and charging hardware that I cannot use. They have already built it, given it to me and it will cost them close to nothing to activate it but I cannot use it because of their pricing structure and I have to use my own money to transport this hardware that I am n…
I wonder if you can upgrade to the 60kwh battery while driving. "You need to recharge now. Or click here to unlock the rest of your battery." I bet most ppl will upgrade. ;)
Next Step: Freemium cars!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've restored an old car from the ground up. That was lots of fun. One day someone will do it to a model 'S'. Working on old vehicles is interesting because you get to be creative because of a lack of manufacturer supplied parts. Welcome to the aftermarket, where nothing is too crazy. Want to slap a 160 HP engine into your classic mini? That's possible: http://jamesfawcett.co.uk/cms/index.php?option=com_content&#...…
If you're modifying the software, such that in certain edge cases your battery overheats and explodes, or the brakes stop working, does it still make sense to rely on road approval to deem a car road-worthy, and get appropriate insurance? Since all software has bugs, I feel this is an interesting discussion point even if you don't modify it. Basically, should road approval include a check on the software? (which woul…
