Tracking Tesla's Quiet Changes To the Model S

cartechboy (2660665) writes "Tesla won't reveal its production figures every quarter, but it has now likely built about 50,000 all-electric Model S luxury sport sedans. Unlike other automakers, Tesla doesn't group its changes to a model year, rather it makes running changes to cars whenever updates are tested, validated, and ready to roll out. Which raises the question, are model year 2012 Model S sedans already outdated? The answer is it depends how you look at it. From a powertrain perspective, no. There are still two battery-size options and the shape is still the same. But under the surface of the car there are a surprising number of updates and new options. Not including software changes (of which there are dozens already pushed to the car), changes range from power folding mirrors and a new cold-weather package (which cannot be retrofitted) to a new ultra-high-fidelity sound package and three-zone, three-mode rear seat heaters. It's worth noting that none of these are mandatory changes — there are merely options that have been added to the roster of available equipment."

Comments

"Unlike other automakers, Tesla..."

[Anonymous Coward]

Not so. Different manufactorers have different approaches - PSA for example have always had a "continual change" process so that what's available not is slightly different to 3 months ago, and slightly more different to 6 months ago, independantly of "new model facelifts".

WTF?

[Anne Thwacks]

These are changes to the options not the car. Surely all manufacturers do this (in most of the world, if not the USA).

FIle under underwhelming slashvertisment?

Mod -1: pointless

Re:WTF?

[Grishnakh]

How is adding new available options a "sleazy practice"? I am a little surprised they didn't have power folding mirrors before, but still, offering them now as an option isn't a "sleazy practice", it's the normal practice of a manufacturer updating a product line.

Ripe for abuse

[Anonymous Coward]

I had actually ordered a Tesla, but cancelled it largely due to their: "ultra-high-fidelity sound package." The $2500 ultra-high-fidelity sound package" is the exact same package as the original $500 "sound studio" package. The only difference is the price hike and they now list the subwoofer as speaker 12 vs. they used to only list 11 speakers -- everything else is the same which my dealer admitted to me as did the stick on a previous model car sitting in the shop area. If you want a citation, see: http://www.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/new-sound-system .

When I began investigating the updates that Tesla had been rolling out, it untangled a lovely mess of what amounted to nothing more than price hikes. The sound system was the most obvious, but the "leather" package is another. It's now split into multiple packages at 3X the price vs. the former single package that included everything.

Tesla's upgrade system makes it very difficulty to sort out, and I found the practice highly deceptive. The final straw was when I went to pick up my car. They showed me my car at just under $90,000, and then a demo car that had just been delivered that was under the old pricing with substantially more features on it than the car I had ordered. At a $2,000 difference, it was a no-brainer. They went to do the paperwork and told me that couldn't sell it under the previous pricing (aka. before the packages had been split up, sound system jacked to $2500, etc.), but could sell it to me for $108,000.

I walked out. They're welcome to make money, but their system is confusing and I believe designed to hide their price gouging. I found the practice to be worthy of a traditional car dealership, and not something I wanted to participate in.

Oh well, I'm sure they sold both cars to someone else.

Re:Ripe for abuse

[joe545]

I'd wager that petrol prices are comparatively higher in europe vs usa then electricity ones.

Re:Ripe for abuse

[mspohr]

Rich people's problems.
Dude, it's an expensive car.
Bend over and take it like a man.
You are overpaying for an expensive status symbol. So, the more you overpay, the more status. You can complain to all of your other rich friends how much you overpaid for the car. Just think, you'll be the envy of your friends when they find out that you paid $108,000 for a $90,000 car. Dude, you the man.

Re:Ripe for abuse

[westlake]

I'd wager that petrol prices are comparatively higher in europe vs usa then electricity ones.

Europe pays a stiff premium for oil, gas and electricity.

In findings likely to inflame claims EU climate change policies are damaging the bloc's manufacturers, the International Energy Agency said Europe will lose a third of its global market share of energy-intensive exports over the next two decades because energy prices will stay stubbornly higher than those in the US.

European gas import prices are currently around three times higher than in the US while industrial electricity prices are about twice as high, creating an energy price gap Dr Birol said would last ''at least 20 years''.

''Too much of the blame for Europeâ(TM)s high energy prices is being directed at its ambitions on climate change while the main factor --- the high cost of imported energy --- is being all but ignored,â he said in a speech to Londonâ(TM)s Imperial College where he elaborated on the IEAâ(TM)s analysis of the problem.

Cold Weather Package

[bill_mcgonigle]

Interesting - I didn't know this was out.

"Cold Weather Package: Stay warmer as the weather gets colder with new heated second-row seats, heater windshield wiper nozzles & cowl, improved defrost grill, and an upgraded battery coolant heater to improve vehicle performance and range in cold climates."

Sounds fancy. Even the cars I've had with heated seats (not a fan - I wear pants anyway) haven't had rear seat heaters. This may be a competitive item in the luxury car class. If you're bringing your kids to school and it's actually cold out they're wearing snow pants, but for those kids in Florida when it his 45*F, I guess.

I'd presume the improved defrost grill and battery coolant heaters will become stock at some point. Personally I'm waiting for the Model X (wishing for quad-motor - dammit Goodyear) because we get real winter here, but this sounds nice for folks who live where a bit of wintry mix can ruin your day in a hurry.

Re:Cold Weather Package

[CrankyFool]

Actually, my 2011 Hyundai Elantra with the Limited package has rear-seat warmers. And that car retails for something like $22K.

Re:Cold Weather Package

[Anonymous Coward]

Makes a lot of sense in electric cars:
Since there is no excess heat from the combustion engine it is way more efficient to just heat the seats.
Heating the whole car takes quite a bit of energy.

Re:Cold Weather Package

[CanHasDIY]

Question:

...coolant heaters...

WTF?

Re:Cold Weather Package

[necro81]

I am a little puzzled about why they would need to add battery coolant heaters: if their inverter is 95% efficient, that would already give them 1-7kW of waste heat they can use as a heater to get batteries to operating temperature fairly quickly if they bypass the radiator until then.

For similar reasons to why people in cold climates have engine block heaters. Certainly there's lots of waste heat from an ICE to warm things up, but it is also a matter of reducing wear and tear. Using waste heat from the inverter (and the pack's own self-heating) is a sound strategy, and one that I'm sure they use, but that only works once the vehicle is operating. If the battery pack is frozen, you may not get the thing to start at all.

Additionally, keeping the engine block from such extreme (and rapid) temperature swings keeps things running smoothly and for longer. The same is true for batteries and electronics. Operating Li-Ion batteries when they are stone cold is bad for their cycle life and greatly reduces their available output (energy capacity, obviously, but also maximum sustainable current). In some chemistries, the electrolyte can actually freeze (or near enough to it), such that your output drops to zero. Keeping all the cells at the same temperature is necessary to prevent cell drift and capacity loss over time. Thermal cycling all those electrical connections in the pack (many of which are welded) is probably a bad idea, too. Batteries really, truly, do their best when they are kept at a uniform, constant, human-tolerable temperature

Lacks information

[Thanshin]

Upon reading this article I miss:
- More information on which are those options.
- Whether there are packages that already include these options.
- A comprehensive "where to buy" list. Ideally, with a price reference.
- Financing offers. In case I can't buy it today but want to add it to my mortgage.
- More pictures. For reference, the traditional "Shiny car with bikini models." can suffice.
- A video where a pro pilot drives the car while describing why it is the best feeling he's ever had since he won the world cup, or something.

And, finally, a big yellow "ADD TO CART" button.

Optionally, there could also be a "Direct CHECKOUT" button that charges the cost to my google wallet and gets me the car by the time I get home from work.

Long term repair complexity

[torkus]

I wonder what this will do for the long-term viability of the car though...in regards to repairing it. If I have a 1998 Honda civic DX I know I can find parts for the windshield wiper assembly.

If I have a model 1.5.14b (mod alpha) Tesla S with options XYZ ... do I need this wingding or that one for the rear-view mirror? Repair shops are going to hate this game.

At the same time...knowing the battery, motor, and other major components are the same is a huge win for the same question. Frankly the car industry revamping cars every freaking year is beyond stupid. Why is a 3000 pound, immensely complex, expensive piece of machinery rebuilt every year? To tweak a fender and include the radio buttons it should have had last year?

As usual...go Tesla. I just hope they have a good compatibility matrix for the upgraded components.

Software methodology for automobiles

[aviators99]

One of the reasons I was one of the first to buy a Tesla is because I love the fact that Elon Musk refused to abide by all of the known "rules" of automotive manufacturing. I love it that I get regular updates to the car's firmware/software that actually adds features to the vehicle (one of the first ones I got actually made my 0-60 time faster!).

But I think that when it comes to this idea of not following the established rule of "model years", it doesn't work very well. The modern-day method of rolling software updates is great--for software. But when it comes to hardware, it is a bit more difficult. It's made even worse when things are not retrofittable (like the rear seat heating referenced here).

I understand that the company has a great new hardware feature and wants to get it onto the assembly line as quickly as possible, and you have to applaud that. But you end up with people ordering a car and not knowing what they will get. Some improvements are announced at or around the time they hit the assembly line, and many cars without the improvement are then delivered for a period of time. Note that although the summary only references "options", there are many more improvements other than options that are added in an add-hoc manner.

We haven't even seen the confusion this will eventually cause when there is a substantial resale market for the Model S. There will be no "shorthand" to say what features the vehicle has or doesn't have. Even the Roadster had "version numbers".

Re:Software methodology for automobiles

[kick6]

Whether it's great for physical products or not, everyone is doing it. firmware updates for entertainment systems ecu firmware updates. Shoot, I have an '08 Ford F250 that's a "job 2" truck. There were 3 "jobs" under the '08 model year with running changes. Sometimes rather major like moving from a frame-mounted, user replaceable, transmission filter to an in-pan filter.

Planned Obsolescence

[greb22]

Are you complaining that Tesla isn't like most companies and adds a few simple features every year that makes last years model irrelevant? Sounds ridiculous this is a win for consumers who are obsessive compulsive about new features. They are giving you free software updates they could charge for like GPS manufactures for new maps.

Re:No retrofit

[j-turkey]

No, and you clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

I would have been happy to discuss this with you, but you've chosen to eschew polite conversation. Good luck with that smugness, my friend.