Previously, Tesla owners simply had to go to their mobile apps to pay and unlock the extra range.
God, I hate this timeline.
It makes me happy that Telsa did this because Tesla owners deserve this.
We don’t deserve a country where companies can do this
Honestly it makes sense if it pushes the batteries out of the optimal (say 40-80%) charge level.
E.g. It wears out the battery faster and so makes them more prone to fail faster.
But if, and only if, you’re getting an extension on the warranty where Tesla is eating the cost of the replacements.
Pay to disable a battery lifetime saver mode??
Basically and then that only makes sense if the company’s going to foot the bill. Otherwise they could just make it very very clear that by using extended mode they’re reducing the lifetime of the battery and doing so at their own risk, yadda yadda.
If it’s, as the article suggests, to use what’s already there (larger capacity) then nah. That’s slimy just like BMW.
Pay to use an insecure 2FA via SMS.
it’s a car. it’s not an app. stop trying to apply subscriptions to everything. it’s wasteful to have unnecessary bloat for features people don’t want.
We, as an entire society, will have to stop paying for any of this shit to make that happen.
Yeah there would have to be a total psychological shift for society to fight the marketing
Maybe we, as a society of workers, simply eat the rich? Or at least feed them to hounds
As productivity increases, artificial scarcity becomes necessary to maintain pre-existing levels of inequality.
Holy shit he really did the sleep(30) trick
“Pay me more for the thing you already bought, or I will leave you stranded.” -Elon
Also, Broadcom with VMware products. Fuck those pricks.
One more thing that makes Tesla hacking a profitable skill.
From the article…
Over the years, Tesla has periodically offered cheaper vehicles with shorter ranges, and rather than building a new vehicle with a smaller battery pack, the automaker has decided to instead use the same battery packs capable of more range and software-locked the range.
I can see business wise why they would want to do that, but P.R. and public perception wise, that’s one step forward, two steps back.
It’s tricky. It’s not like BMW locking heated seats, a trivial feature, to nickel and dime the owner out of $300.
Reducing the battery capacity severely alters the value of the car possibly dropping it into the range of more budget conscious buyers.
There are benefits too. Less wear on the battery by not using its whole range, faster charging to “100%,” and more potential value when it comes time to sell should the buyer want to unlock the extra range.
Leave it to Tesla though to bungle the PR and completely lose the narrative.
If I own the car then either those are all my cells or someone else has abandoned their property in my car.
You don’t have to buy the car. People aren’t getting conned here… They would buy a more expensive version of the car with a higher range if they thought that would suit their needs.
You don’t have to buy the car.
If it’s a profitable decision then it has the potential to become the de facto standard, so simply not buying it isn’t enough.
The manufacturer using software to lock use of hardware in people’s own cars is an attack on ownership rights.
When it comes to things that are trivial to include but locked behind exorbitant paywalls (i.e. heated seats), I agree.
However, range/battery capacity is the primary price differentiator for EVs and also the primary cost for manufacturing. Finding a way to offer options that suit the needs of different people at varying prices just allows more people to enter the market.
to become the de facto standard
I feel like it might be nice to have a sliding scale of ranges available for people who have a sliding scale of needs. If I need a second car strictly for my 20 mile commute, it might be nice to have an option to pay less for 100 miles of range over 200. And I assume if a market is established for low-range EVs, manufacturers will compete with each other on how to deliver that for the best price. Perhaps if the market is large enough, Tesla will find it better to actually remove the extra batteries and put them in other cars.
If manufacturers made parts available for longer (or perhaps at all in some cases?) then 2nd-hand cars already make for a cheaper option.
I believe artificially limiting hardware is an unacceptable for a health society because proprietary software gives the developer power over their users. Even people with good intentions will be tempted to use that power at the user’s expense. A software update could suddenly make that 20 mil commute no longer possible unless you agree to pay more for some subscription, or accept a new terms of service where you agree to forced arbitration if you don’t want to lose access to even using your vehicle.
proprietary software gives the developer power over their users.
Agree here, but that’s a much larger issue than just this particular pricing structure.
You are 100% right it improves the lifespan, and when selling it, a battery in better condition makes the car worth more.
I think somehow some people misunderstand your post? Or they don’t get how it can be an advantage to have a bigger battery than you pay for?Mind you I don’t condone this business model, which to me feels like cheating.
It’s funny how frequently this business model is used in the digital space, but when it comes to physical hardware, people freak.
Like look at movies. Does anybody really think it costs substantially more to deliver the 4K version of a product over the HD version? Everything, Everywhere, All At Once is $12 on Blu-ray on Amazon. It’s $20 on 4k UHD.
The movie was mastered at 4k or higher, so why not just give you the UHD version with the Blu-ray version? The physical disc can’t cost more than a few cents to manufacture.
It’s because some people have decided they don’t need 4k and are happy to take a shittier version of the product for a lower price.
Don’t get me started how much people hate when content is included on the game disc locked behind a paywall yet somehow have less of an issue when there’s day 1 downloadable content also locked behind a paywall.
Perhaps typical people can more easily understand how a physical device might work. People probably understand gears and electricity more so than “software” (never even heard of source code or binaries).
That just means they could be selling the full range version cheaper. You’re getting the same hardware. It’s insane. Not “tricky”.
That just means they could be selling the full range version cheaper.
No. The additional price of the full-range version is partially subsidizing the lower priced version. People are willing to pay the current price for the longer range version, why would they lower the price?
The additional price of the full-range version is partially subsidizing the lower priced version.
That makes it even worse!
Another advantage is that it doesn’t force people to initially buy the higher version because “what if I end up needing it in the future” (like what Apple forces you to do with non-upgradable storage), even if you never do. It lets you buy the cheaper version for now, with the possibility to change your mind later.
Letting rich people have access to the internet was a mistake. This shit is begging for regulation.
Meanwhile my old car works fine and doesn’t need a subscription
Mine does, too. But I’m interested in moving to an EV for the sake of the environment and the planet. Not necessarily a Tesla, though.
From what I can tell they all have issues. Some more than others though
It’s important to do my part for the environment, even if it comes at a cost. I’m willing to deal with some initial issues since it’s a newer technology.
Conversions are a thing and they are looking more and more like a better option
“Software-locked” is a weird way to say you need to install Linux to get it all working properly.
Then it just gets “driver locked” because of some weird hardware compatibility issue with linux and you have to spend hours debugging and searching for a fix before you can drive.
What an original, modern, accurate joke
Obviously not original, but unfortunately still accurate. I still have driver issues on many laptops running linux, especially with BT, touchpads and WiFi.
Well, at least there’s no rare earth metals in Tesla batteries that are sourced from countries with exploitative labor practices. Might as well waste a few to create an artificially shittier product.
Tesla section on XDA forums when
Your warranty is now void. I am not responsible for bricked devices, flat tires, an empty fuel tank, or you getting fired because the fart app goes off at random. Please do some research if you have any concerns about features included in this ROM before flashing it! YOU are choosing to make these modifications, and if you point the finger at me for messing up your device, I will laugh at you.
Is xda still a real player? Last i saw of it it was becoming a shell and shit was dumbly moving to telegram (bleh)
The forum structure is a complete shitshow, so if your device isn’t the prime target for mods, it’s very uncomfortable to use
It’s such a sadness, it was so useful and (kinda) decently organised. I don’t wanna go looking to shady telegram groups and stuff. And they’re not indexable by search engines!
Good news is that now people have decent options for non-Tesla EVs.
Now we just need to make sure those cars have access to widespread and reliable charging. NACS is a good start, but NACS cars will only have access to less than a third of Telsa’s network.
It really depends. If by “offering 40-60 more miles” he means being able to fully deplete or charge your EV battery, that’s a good way of bringing down its longevity. A particularly scummy CEO might first hard lock your EV battery buffer so they don’t have to deal with insurance on battery degradation complaints, and only after it’s out of insurance coverage they would remove those locks to accelerate how fast your EV battery degrades, which generally tends to cost about as much as a new car to replace.
I’d be game for ads if it took $5k off sticker lol
And therein lies the problem ☝️
Cars are fucking expensive.
Would I take a $5k discount on a vehicle for Ads-In-Vehicle? Absolutely.
Would I then invest less-than-$5k in DIY aftermarket ad-block? Absolutely.
If you think a shitty company like Tesla wouldn’t instantly stop your car from working if you did that, you’re even more gullible than your comment suggests
If 5k is the difference between a car you wouldn’t buy and a car you would buy, you need to buy a car you can afford, not a car you want
If you think a shitty company like Tesla wouldn’t instantly stop your car from working if you did that
Presumably, the hack would involve segregating the car from the Tesla network and disabling any auto-lock feature. Otherwise, sure, its not worth much as a hack.,
But we’ve solved this problem in DRM-locked video games for decades. We’ve even got pirated backend servers, for hosting illicit versions of MMORPGs. This isn’t an unsolvable problem. It isn’t even an unsolved problem.
If 5k is the difference between a car you wouldn’t buy and a car you would buy, you need to buy a car you can afford
Particularly for low end models, $5k translates to a lot of car. The difference between a $10k vehicle and a $15k vehicle is substantial.
10k car go brrrr
15k car go brrrr
🤷
But which one’s A/C still works?
