Electric Vehicles: Tesla specific talk, current firmware, purchasing, modifications

[Cmaier]

We have a seemingly decent dealer out here in Sonoma at Hansel.


It was and i4, I say was because I just heard back that they already leased it. But they know what my numbers are and I won't bend on it, if they can find something in my range then I'll talk with them about it. I will still be taking a loss but not a huge loss, it'll be worth it to get out from under Tesla.

My wife is nagging me about her getting an i4 (she doesn’t need my permission, fwiw). I suspect it will happen in the next couple months. I will probably get an iX, but if my model s doesn’t show signs of further trouble I may wait until later in the year for the Neue Klasse version of the x3. Only downside is carplay appears to be worse on the Neue Klasse (at least so far), being unable to use the auxiliary screens. My wife drives an x3 now, and previously drove an x5, and we don’t really need an x5-sized car. I may take the x5 PHEV for a test drive just in case. On the plus side, it’s significantly cheaper.

I know I’ve been talking about replacing the tesla for quite awhile, but each month I wait saves me about $1000, so long as I don’t have service costs for my existing car.

 

[Eric]

My wife is nagging me about her getting an i4 (she doesn’t need my permission, fwiw). I suspect it will happen in the next couple months. I will probably get an iX, but if my model s doesn’t show signs of further trouble I may wait until later in the year for the Neue Klasse version of the x3. Only downside is carplay appears to be worse on the Neue Klasse (at least so far), being unable to use the auxiliary screens. My wife drives an x3 now, and previously drove an x5, and we don’t really need an x5-sized car. I may take the x5 PHEV for a test drive just in case. On the plus side, it’s significantly cheaper.

I know I’ve been talking about replacing the tesla for quite awhile, but each month I wait saves me about $1000, so long as I don’t have service costs for my existing car.

For me it's more about coming to an amicable agreement than asking for permission, in the end it makes things much easier at home. I agree about waiting, not really in a hurry but if they can get me what I want for the payment/duration I'm asking for I'll certainly consider it.

It feels like there is a wave of hatred coming for the Tesla brand and I don't want to become a victim of it so I'll move if something comes up.

 

[Citysnaps]

I may take the x5 PHEV for a test drive just in case. On the plus side, it’s significantly cheaper.

IIRC... with respect to the cities you live and work in, it seems the round trip distance dovetails pretty nicely with being able to handle that with only battery capacity of a typical PHEV. Correct? If so, that's pretty sweet. And you still have gas as a backup (for just in case).

 

[Cmaier]

IIRC... with respect to the cities you live and work in, it seems the round trip distance dovetails pretty nicely with being able handle that with only battery capacity of a typical PHEV. Correct? If so, that's pretty sweet. And you still have gas as a backup (for just in case).

yep, I have about a 40 mile round trip. Depending on traffic and route, some days I might not need gas at all. Or I can put a couple bucks of charge in at the office and never use gas on my commute (at least until the battery starts to degrade).

 

[Cmaier]

For me it's more about coming to an amicable agreement than asking for permission, in the end it makes things much easier at home.

The idea is my kid would get her old car (a BMW. My first car was a 1973 Plymouth Duster. My kid is spoiled). Problem is, despite being 16, I can’t get her to get moving on getting her learner’s permit. Most of her peer group is used to being driven around by chauffeurs, so there isn’t peer pressure on her to get it either.

In any event, we’d have the x3 around as road trip backup, at least until she goes to college (if she takes a car to college, which will presumably depend on the college).

 

[DT]

Problem is, despite being 16, I can’t get her to get moving on getting her learner’s permit. Most of her peer group is used to being driven around by chauffeurs, so there isn’t peer pressure on her to get it either.

Same thing here. Our 16 year old is still just plinking around on her learners without much real effort to finish. Her 17th birthday is coming up, so she's about to the point where just getting her perm license is about the same duration as the learners-to-perm (in FL, you have to have your learners for 12 months, or be 18 for your perm).

It's a different culture now, she's like why bother when I get dropped off right in front of the school vs. dealing with student parking, she orders things to the house, so need need to go out for stuff/food. Her academics are spectacular, she's a super sweet person, we don't really care, but at some point she's going to have to DRIVE

 

[Yoused]

However, you're adding weight, complexity

I have addressed this before. Some hybrid designs integrate the electric motors into the transmission in a way that yields a lighter (no torque convertor, just one gearset) CVT layout that is capable of augmenting the ICE when you need more power as well as harvesting excess power to feed back into the battery when ICE loads are low. In many ways, the gearing-intergral hybrid design is less complex than a traditional ICE and the only added weight is the battery. Sadly, not everyone goes that route with their hybrids.

 

[diamond.g]

Man that FSD is the worst implementation ever created for a vehicle IMO. In fact I would say that unless you're the little old lady from Pasadena it's more likely to do harm than good.

The link for that article doesn't match the contents. You'd think FSD would be perfect in Sunny California on HW4. v13 seems to be fine on my vehicle in the boonies (though I don't trust it around school zones during school zone hours). I thought it was common knowledge that HW3 wasn't enough compute for the task. The crappy part is it sounds like they plan on only upgrading the computer, but the cameras are also in need of replacement.

Technology Connections has ranted on this a couple of times now. Somehow gas stations already solved this, but now because the tech industry is coming in and "disrupting" things, we gotta break what works in favor of feeding the data beast?

At least it looks like SAE sees this as something needing correcting, but they seemingly miss the problem that this whole system doesn't have the same level of accessibility of POS systems and someone working a cash register: https://www.sae.org/news/press-room/2024/12/sae-evpki-plug-and-charge

Charging isn't fast enough for the gas station model to work yet.

 

[rdrr]

We have a seemingly decent dealer out here in Sonoma at Hansel.


It was and i4, I say was because I just heard back that they already leased it. But they know what my numbers are and I won't bend on it, if they can find something in my range then I'll talk with them about it. I will still be taking a loss but not a huge loss, it'll be worth it to get out from under Tesla.

I couldn't convince the wife on the BMW cost vs a ID.4. In her eyes it was "good enough" for our needs, plus the sedan(ish) style turned her off.

 

[Eric]

The link for that article doesn't match the contents. You'd think FSD would be perfect in Sunny California on HW4. v13 seems to be fine on my vehicle in the boonies (though I don't trust it around school zones during school zone hours). I thought it was common knowledge that HW3 wasn't enough compute for the task. The crappy part is it sounds like they plan on only upgrading the computer, but the cameras are also in need of replacement.

Charging isn't fast enough for the gas station model to work yet.

Even under the best of circumstances the big brother systems are sounding alarms left and right, even looking off for a few seconds, moving your hands wrong, etc.

I thought I would try it again for my road trip this time around, particularly for navigation but after 5 minutes of turning it on was disgusted with it and shut it off for the remainder of the drive.

The bottom line is it's far more concerned with what you are doing inside the cabin than what's going on outside around you and coupled with no CarPlay makes me far more willing to eat the cost of replacing it.

 

[diamond.g]

Even under the best of circumstances the big brother systems are sounding alarms left and right, even looking off for a few seconds, moving your hands wrong, etc.

I thought I would try it again for my road trip this time around, particularly for navigation but after 5 minutes of turning it on was disgusted with it and shut it off for the remainder of the drive.

The bottom line is it's far more concerned with what you are doing inside the cabin than what's going on outside around you and coupled with no CarPlay makes me far more willing to eat the cost of replacing it.

I'd blame NHTSA for the nagging. They felt that Tesla wasn't doing enough to make sure drivers were paying attention. Sadly no one has found a way to get the new models yet keep the old no nag system we used to have. Though I guess your tape on the camera and steering wheel weight is close enough. You have a HW4 vehicle?

 

[Eric]

I'd blame NHTSA for the nagging. They felt that Tesla wasn't doing enough to make sure drivers were paying attention. Sadly no one has found a way to get the new models yet keep the old no nag system we used to have. Though I guess your tape on the camera and steering wheel weight is close enough. You have a HW4 vehicle?

Right, I don't think we're ready for this technology quite yet, even though we have cars literally driving themselves all over San Francisco, so go figure. However, for the most part I just disable all systems and drive the car manually most of the time, cheating it on a regular basis is cumbersome and really not worth the trouble unless it's a long drive.

Not sure about the HW of my car, I'll have to look.

 

[diamond.g]

Right, I don't think we're ready for this technology quite yet, even though we have cars literally driving themselves all over San Francisco, so go figure. However, for the most part I just disable all systems and drive the car manually most of the time, cheating it on a regular basis is cumbersome and really not worth the trouble unless it's a long drive.

Not sure about the HW of my car, I'll have to look.

From OOS Motoring the BMW system is closest to Tesla on the highway, and even surpasses it in places (especially if you are stuck on the V11 highway stack). No one (that sells cars in the US) has anything close on city streets, which is interesting.

 

[Eric]

From OOS Motoring the BMW system is closest to Tesla on the highway, and even surpasses it in places (especially if you are stuck on the V11 highway stack). No one (that sells cars in the US) has anything close on city streets, which is interesting.

I assume that Tesla is the best when its hands aren't tied but since they're all restricted I am not so focused on that specifically anymore. For me the biggest factor by far is no CarPlay, once you've had it going back to something like the Tesla system is horrid. I have my iphone on a suction cup device hanging off my windshield and use it exclusively, it sucks but is still far superior functionality wise.

Aside from that I loath Elon Musk and want nothing more to do with any of his products.

 

[Citysnaps]

I have my iphone on a suction cup device hanging off my windshield and use it exclusively, it sucks but is still far superior functionality wise.

And with iOS 18.3, you'll soon be able to send Apple messages via Starlink satellites (in addition to the Globalstar satellite network). Initially only with T-Mobile, but speculation is other carriers will offer it. And maybe voice calls in the future.

I hate to see Apple/Cook cozying up with musk. But... if I'm stranded in the middle of the desert somewhere (not very likely), it's nice having that option available.

 

[DT]

I couldn't convince the wife on the BMW cost vs a ID.4. In her eyes it was "good enough" for our needs, plus the sedan(ish) style turned her off.

You know, we've gone into "SUV" only mode, quotes by design since that term has such a wide application, basically anything you wouldn't call a coupe/sedan. A little higher ride, a little more ground clearance, much more upright sitting position (and easier in/out), improved visibility, utility.

Like I'd certainly call the new Lucid Gravity an SUV ... even though it's a Minivan

But... if I'm stranded in the middle of the desert somewhere (not very likely), it's nice having that option available.

Death vs. using a Muskrat service ... hmm ...

 

[Yoused]

much more upright sitting position

That is really driver preference in modern vehicles. Except for a few models, the front seats have some degree of reclineability (probably to help homeless people who are living in their vehicles). I always put my seat back a couple of clicks, because it makes me drive more relaxed and also, a fully upright car seat puts pressure in my torso that is very uncomfortable.

 

[DT]

That is really driver preference in modern vehicles. Except for a few models, the front seats have some degree of reclineability (probably to help homeless people who are living in their vehicles). I always put my seat back a couple of clicks, because it makes me drive more relaxed and also, a fully upright car seat puts pressure in my torso that is very uncomfortable.

We've had a quite a few vehicles, and none of the coupes/sedans (mostly of some sporty variety) had an upright seating position that matched the SUV type vehicles we've owned when adjusted for a good driving position. Just the basic ergonomic design differences between the vehicle types is pretty notable.