Posted on 02/11/2020 8:47:40 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT
Tesla is getting more aggressive in revoking paid software features on used cars, raising the stakes in a battle over what used Teslas can do that has raged for years.
... The entire Autopilot package, which the car had when the dealer bought it, costs an extra $8,000. Then, Tesla remotely removed the software because “Full-Self Driving was not a feature that you had paid for.” Tesla said if the customer wanted Autopilot back, he’d have to fork over the $8,000.
The Model X performance package costs $20,000 more than the standard version, so, in effect, Tesla remotely disabled a performance upgrade that, on its own, costs as much as a brand new car. Tesla did not respond to questions about this story.
A Tesla that doesn’t have access to the Supercharger network is hardly a Tesla. The Tesla Supercharger network is one of the company’s biggest selling points for its charging speed, convenience, simplicity, and integration into the vehicle’s on-board computer.
“If the car originally had supercharging when sold, and has no HV [high voltage] safety issues, I turn it back on,” he told Motherboard via email. “If it had paid supercharging, I restore that.” He claims to have done this with “around 600 cars for hapless owners all over the globe.”
Experts like Sadow are engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with Tesla where the company will update the software—and occasionally the hardware— to try and keep them out, but it doesn’t stick for long.
Sadow sees the act of salvaging so-called “total loss” Teslas as, paradoxically, part of Tesla’s corporate mission to promote sustainable energy. “We (collective white hats) have saved thousands of cars from the scrap heap and put them back on the road,” Sadow said. “That's the only green thing to do!”
(Excerpt) Read more at vice.com ...
This will rightfully reinforce the short-sellers.
Such a deal on a used Tesla! /NOT!
Ping.
I read about this over the weekend and it stinks. Tesla will eventually lose for their bad practices. It is simply wrong for them to remove features from cars they do not own, that they have sold. I’d call it theft and I’m sure someone will find a court to make that call.
Unprincipled. Just not right to change the terms of ownership after the fact.
Coming from musk, no surprise. He has no scruples and therefore whatever brilliance he may have amounts to nothing for me.
I’m still struggling to see how a feature (Autopilot) that frequently destroys the car and kills the passengers is something that anyone would pay extra for. Self-driving will never work unless we rebuild every road from scratch to include embedded guidance technology, perfect road markings that are never faded, and eliminate anything and everything that is out of the ordinary and therefore might confuse the sensors. Real roads are simply far too chaotic and unpredictable for a computer to drive on them without failing spectacularly once in a while.
Where are all of the “Elon Musk is a genius” crowd?
“Elon Musk is a genius”
Yes, but sometimes he get carried away...
No surprise.
Maybe they gave up when Elon “The genius” was “Surprised” a steel ball broke the windows of his ugly truck?
In East Europe there is the whole industry around used Teslas including salvaged ones which Tesla refuses to support. They are getting everything fixed and all the updates and features, all on budget without papticipation of Tesla itself.
Following this model I guess GM should remove accessories from used cars too?
Not the original owner, GM to reposses the stereo, upgrade wheels, AC, leather seats....
How is Tesla allowed to get away with a different standard?
Too bad they do not have to actually access the car for this theft.
BUSY, watching my stocks
Reminds me of most new software. Pay a annual lease fee else they pull the plug.
I can see a future where the AI improves and the driver’s skill atrophy. Then we’ll reach a point where, when the driver needs to take control, he doesn’t have the skill.
Sort of like all these airline pilots that have grown to rely on automation.
READ THE ARTICLE!
YOu didnt read the article!
Unlike you, I was busy reading the article.
STUPID POST!
“I’m still struggling to see how a feature (Autopilot) that frequently destroys the car and kills the passengers is something that anyone would pay extra for.”
apparently, it takes all kinds ...
Like I said, I have read several over the past week and all lead me to conclude that Telsa is committing theft. That people are jailbreaking their cars is a secondary issue—what happens if a jailbreaked feature is defective and someone gets hurt or killed? Who is liable?
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