That is not how the updates are done, at least not for Tesla. The phone app pushes you a notification about software update being available. You choose the time when you want the update to be downloaded and installed. The update can only be downloaded when the car is connected to wi-fi. The app also tells you how long the update (download + install) will take and the car cannot be driven while performing the update.
As for bad updates, there are usually few bug fix patches following the major updates but you have the option to wait until the bugs are cleared and download a mature version. In fact there is a setting in the car that gives you the option to to have updates to be pushed to you as they become available or to receive them later.
I used to own a Model S, so I know very well how the updates works. Also as a software engineer I know how updates can go bad due to a myriad of issues. But be sure to browse any Telsa forum for people who bricked their cars on bad updates.
I guess my earlier statement wasn’t clear enough. I wasn’t saying that Tesla was going to be pushing bad updates, but if every car maker out there goes out there to push OTA patches there are a lot of ways things can go wrong. It’s a lot easier for the general layman to take the car to the dealership to have their car’s ECU / firmware / whatevers updated.
Easier is relative here. Software updates are software updates, if you do them at home or at the dealer. I will say that neither is fool-proof and there’s pros and cons to each approach. Your vehicle can as easily be bricked by the dealership as well. Take a look at this :
I’d rather have a bricked car at a dealership where I could be provided a loaner and the people needed to fix the vehicle are right there, rather than having a bricked car in my garage that would require a tow truck to get to a dealership to be fixed.
Rest assured no one present at the dealership is going to so much as touch a bricked car. There will always be a “tech” flown in from corporate to not only fix the car, but also to collect data as to why it happened (I’m sure you’ve heard of remote logging as a software engineer and the advantages it brings, but sending in a tech is the BMW way I guess hah)
I’m not pro or anti Tesla (own and love BMWs), but as a software engineer myself, I just prefer knowing my car is bricked right away and needs a tow than wait more than a week potentially to be told there’s a “tech” being flown in. You have a preference and so do I, hence my statement
I am pro software though, which ofcourse may be a biased opinion
That’s all well and good, but what happens if power goes out? What happens if the update gets corrupted during transmission/install? Can Tesla rollback an update if it detects a problem?
I honestly don’t know how often any of these things happen in the real world, nor do I know enough about the patches and the possibility of a rollback, but I can say that it seems like If someone farts too hard, my power flickers. Personally, I’d be skeptical of doing OTA updates on something as important as a car, but that’s just me. I’d much rather download the update on a thumb drive, plug it into the car, have the car determine if the update is eligible to install or if there’s a problem and abort. That said, that doesn’t prevent a fubar by the developer that may brick the car, but it would help minimize OTA problems.
total storage ~= 3x update (running os + logs, plus space to download/unpack/verify the update before applying it). We’ve seen with phone updates (OS not Apps) it’s possible, but also designed to brick occasionally in the case of cars (“good enough, can fix in person”)
for more critical systems or harder to service (think Martian rovers), you truly have an A and B everything: redundant storage, processors, software. You would update B and verify it’s working before giving B control of the vehicle to put A in maintenance mode. (This is not how rolling updates are done on distributed systems).
But I’m not here for OTA updates, I came for this:
That ladies and gents is $11,500 in damage to a Model 3.
I wouldn’t waste my money or risk my insurance premiums going up fixing that unless it actually rendered the car undrivable due to battery and or serious alignment issues that can’t be remedied by the usual methods.
When did we lose the ability to be even the slightest bit handy? Another case of the Tesla Tax strikes again.
Tesla doesn’t have the physical infrastructure to support that, point blank. Even in places they’re allowed to actually operate unfettered (Not Texas)
I see positives and negatives to OTA updates but as someone who’s been driving new, lightly used, heavily used and arguable totaled luxury vehicles for the better part of 15 years there’s a certain nicety to not having to book a service visit for a software update. (And if you code your BMW’s frantically trying to remember every change you made)
I haven’t seen the rest of that just yet (I didn’t see a picture of a destroyed tesla wheel and beyond repair tire) but judging by the initial estimate that’s all there is to it.
I get wanting to have your vehicle look perfect but I’m also willing to let certain things go when the overall cost to fix far exceeds the inconvenience to me having some scuffs on my rocker panel but I’m practical like that.
I have seen people reporting updates not installing properly in their first try so it can definitely happen for various reasons but there are also ways to reboot the car. Tesla can also remotely diagnose the car and potentially help you without needing to go to the service center. Since I bought the car in October it received 4 or 5 updates with no technical issues. All in all I love that OTA updates add features and improve range/performance and I am ok with the remote chance of update not installing properly for the aforementioned gains.
