# Elon asking for suggestions to improve their vehicles



## RoadToLevel5

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1060759329039515648
Get your wish list in.

Which ones will Tesla take seriously is anyone's guess. Perhaps, replies with a high number of Likes will get some attention.


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## Bigriver

The title of the thread is just one interpretation of Elon’s tweet. He asked what we would like improved about Tesla. What we would like improved about the vehicles is just one avenue of how to answer that.

The one word that immediately started echoing in my head when I read his tweet is: COMMUNICATION. The company has to communicate better with its customers.


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## Bokonon

Bigriver said:


> The title of the thread is just one interpretation of Elon's tweet. He asked what we would like improved about Tesla. What we would like improved about the vehicles is just one avenue of how to answer that.


Elon's tweet asked for improvements to "your" Tesla, implying a vehicle. But that said...



Bigriver said:


> The one word that immediately started echoing in my head when I read his tweet is: COMMUNICATION. The company has to communicate better with its customers.


...I completely agree with you here. Some basic process improvement would go a long way, especially with respect to ordering and delivery.


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## Bigriver

Bokonon said:


> Elon's tweet asked for improvements to "your" Tesla, implying a vehicle.


Ah yes he did. My bad. Don't hire me as a proof reader because I read Elon's tweet multiple times and missed the "your" each time.


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## SoFlaModel3

My response...


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1060844279776600064


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## John A Bailey

I responded to the tweet but was one among thousands. More concise:

1) Rack solution for my surfboards. I have boards of all sizes, dogs, grandkids that used to go to the beach with me in my Model S with racks. Now they stay home and eat shoes (yes...dogs and grandkids both eat shoes)
2) some kind of parking record mode. Record the steps to park in my side facing garage from my circular driveway entrance and reverse for pulling back out front
3) car to house electrons (if grid separated) or to intermediate box to plug into (not grid separated). Allow several times a year use for power outages. Battery serves as occasional generator.


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## littlD

My response:


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## lascavarian

I would like to have an factory upgrade option to be able to add some towing capacity for some model 3 configurations. 

It is one of the reasons I stuck with the standard aero wheel when getting the performance package - hoping that down the road there might be a way to do some towing. The power, battery capacity and cooling seem to be there but might need some brake improvements and suspension tweeks. This would expand the utility of an already great car.

For bonus points actually develop the trailer! A smart trailer platform in a couple forms that communicates with the vehicle to allow optimization of the handling characteristics/braking similar to "track mode" but this time "trailer mode". It could be optimized for easy storage and also aerodynamics. It could have electric tilt & lift, it could be able to charge electric tools, it could integrate into the auto parking features, it could use/store winter tires and wheels and have feature not yet dreamed. 

Imagine a trailer well integrated that it cold be configured to even transport people in comfort and safety.

The reality (IMO) is that driving a pickup truck anytime it is not loaded up is horribly inefficient. I understand the popularity but I view PU trucks as a net negative on the road when mostly a fashion or culture choice. A trailer system is so much more efficient because you use it only when you need it and it provides a rich set of options.

It could even be more efficient if it were an option as part of the mobility services model. They could be centrally stored, managed and configured to the need, working with either the 3, Y or PU. 

Anyway, my wish is for a factory developed field installable path to a trailer option.


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## MelindaV

John A Bailey said:


> 3) car to house electrons (if grid separated) or to intermediate box to plug into (not grid separated). Allow several times a year use for power outages. Battery serves as occasional generator.


JB and Elon have come out against V-to-G using a Tesla. Multiple times.


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## RoadToLevel5

I "liked" a few replies on Twitter to help surface them up amongst the thousands of replies.

Now someone at Tesla has to make sense of all this information.

Now, if Tesla used something like UserVoice, it could make for a very powerful way to get feedback.


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## John A Bailey

MelindaV said:


> JB and Elon have come out against V-to-G using a Tesla. Multiple times.


Well actually , as I recall, he fairly recently said he might revisit it. I believe there was talk about battery degradation, but this referred to daily cycling rather than using it occasionally as back up electricity in a power outage. The other factor was people using free supercharging and mooching electrons. Occasional use and paid supercharging would nix this.


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## John A Bailey

John A Bailey said:


> Well actually , as I recall, he fairly recently said he might revisit it. I believe there was talk about battery degradation, but this referred to daily cycling rather than using it occasionally as back up electricity in a power outage. The other factor was people using free supercharging and mooching electrons. Occasional use and paid supercharging would nix this.


See Electreck July 5 , 2018...there is hope!


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## riskrieger

Love my Tesla 3. But the one and almost only thing that bothers me most is the turn signals. I'm hard-of-hearing so I cannot hear if and when the turn signal blinks. Which causes me to frequently get distracted by going to the touchscreen for visual confirmation. . . usually during the most important times not to be distracted. The lane change signals are very finicky. . . even after two months of ownership, I cannot be at all confident that they work when I want them to. The turn signal also is far from perfect. Regardless of whether I need a new signal sensor, I would still like to be able to hear the signal blink. A software update allowing me to change the tonal frequency/volume in settings would be hugely appreciated.


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## Vin

I would really like a "turn off headlights in Park" option.

I frequently drive to pick up my wife (she lucked out that I volunteer to drive her more often everywhere even though she has a car , and the problem is when parked to wait for her, the headlights stay on. That can be annoying at night when the lights are shining into pedestrians' eyes.

The only way to turn them off is to go into the menu and turn auto lights to "off"
Then, when ready to leave and switching stalk into drive the lights remain off if you forgot to go into the menu again and switch back to "auto lights"

Simple solution... option to have headlights turn off when in park, and a setting that ensures that when going into drive or reverse the headlights come on if for some reason you forgot to turn them on.

(Another feature could be to quickly turn off headlights by holding down the Light icon above the speedometer to turn them off instantly without going into the menu)


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## Madmolecule

Birdseyes 360 camera
Voice commands for everything (why else name our cars if they do not respond to their name)
Backup home generator (I though Elon said that with the pickup you would never need and onsite construction generator). I think my tesla is just a Powerwall with wheels and motors.
Trailer mounted battery for extended trips. It would be nice if you could rent one.
Heads Up Display
Built in automatic window shades. By BMW had an automatic on the back and manual ones for the sides. It would be nice for automatic all around. I never put in a shade and I hate to store them when not in use.
Upgradeable and easily replaceable battery packs. Hopefully the future will be order a standard than add on batteries as you need it. Kinda snap in & out. Why should I drive around town with my extended range battery when I only need it for trips. I would prefer that it sits in the garage until needed.
Not a big fan of the new flat white icons. I know the 3D icons can be over used, like having 10 different fonts in a letter, but I would like to see a happy medium where they change color or highlight when used or in auto for example. Not sure if the X & S folks miss the old icons or if they are thrilled they are gone.


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## RoadToLevel5

So Elon and company collected all this feedback, but have been mum ever since. Will we ever see heated steering, active (audible) blind spot monitor, improved rain-sensing wipers/controls, etc. Even simpler improvements such as non-glossy (non-fingerprint catching) surfaces, though easier to modify by user, haven't been seen.

Perhaps, the push to increase yield and to close the quarter/year strong, has caused hardware improvements to take a backseat.


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## Bokonon

RoadToLevel5 said:


> So Elon and company collected all this feedback, but have been mum ever since.


This is pretty typical. Elon periodically solicits feedback about Tesla products, services, and ownership experience. I suspect he does this when he's wearing his "lead product engineer" hat and thinking about the next iteration of the product development cycle. Any feedback that he gathers from these exercises that makes it into the product roadmap isn't typically implemented for several months at least, and that development takes place in parallel to other efforts.


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## MelindaV

RoadToLevel5 said:


> So Elon and company collected all this feedback, but have been mum ever since. Will we ever see heated steering, active (audible) blind spot monitor, improved rain-sensing wipers/controls, etc. Even simpler improvements such as non-glossy (non-fingerprint catching) surfaces, though easier to modify by user, haven't been seen.
> 
> Perhaps, the push to increase yield and to close the quarter/year strong, has caused hardware improvements to take a backseat.


I don't think you should expect any response or otherwise see suggestions rolling out from conversations that happened less than a month ago. If it were any other car company, they would possibly be incorporated into their 2020 or 2021 models. Tesla is way more proactive in making changes, but things don't happen in a matter of weeks.


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## RoadToLevel5

Also, I think it's safer to talk about software improvements and give timing than to do the same for hardware, as the latter would cause some people to delay ordering.

I've heard of just a few hardware improvements since launch (seats, shocks, etc.). I do think aggressive production goals (for various reasons) are weighing on their weekly refinements.


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1054812318096216064
Granted, not all upgrades are noticeable by the users.


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## Karl Sun

Vin said:


> I would really like a "turn off headlights in Park" option.
> 
> I frequently drive to pick up my wife (she lucked out that I volunteer to drive her more often everywhere even though she has a car , and the problem is when parked to wait for her, the headlights stay on. That can be annoying at night when the lights are shining into pedestrians' eyes.
> 
> The only way to turn them off is to go into the menu and turn auto lights to "off"
> Then, when ready to leave and switching stalk into drive the lights remain off if you forgot to go into the menu again and switch back to "auto lights"
> 
> Simple solution... option to have headlights turn off when in park, and a setting that ensures that when going into drive or reverse the headlights come on if for some reason you forgot to turn them on.
> 
> (Another feature could be to quickly turn off headlights by holding down the Light icon above the speedometer to turn them off instantly without going into the menu)


 To add to this:

I wold like the optin to have the Lights OFF setting stay there when set by driver/operator. It always returns to "Auto" on next power cycle. Very Annoying.


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## HeavyPedal

John A Bailey said:


> Rack solution for my surfboards. I have boards of all sizes, dogs, grandkids that used to go to the beach with me in my Model S with racks. Now they stay home and eat shoes (yes...dogs and grandkids both eat shoes)


What about the Model 3 Roof Rack?


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## John A Bailey

AmpHog said:


> What about the Model 3 Roof Rack?





AmpHog said:


> What about the Model 3 Roof Rack?


Are you taunting me LOL....? They sold out in 0.1 milliseconds. I would have traded a kidney to be one of the 3 fictional successful buyers


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## HeavyPedal

John A Bailey said:


> Are you taunting me LOL....? They sold out in 0.1 milliseconds. I would have traded a kidney to be one of the 3 fictional successful buyers


I have to use a web page monitor to keep up with availability on that site, some things go so quickly. 😏


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## John A Bailey

Here is a request for Elon to consider. How about a ring, wrist bracelet or watch band that contains the card circuitry to unlock the car?


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## SoFlaModel3

John A Bailey said:


> Are you taunting me LOL....? They sold out in 0.1 milliseconds. I would have traded a kidney to be one of the 3 fictional successful buyers


I'm sure it will be for sale on eBay soon at a huge mark up and then back in stock on shop.tesla.com moments later.


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## Wooloomooloo

I was pretty surprised very few people wanted the infotainment system to be improved - my reply to the tweet was exactly this. It's pretty awful right now, the slightest weakening of the signal results in stuttering music or podcasts, Tune-In really isn't a great service and I'd love to be able to control things from my phone via the big screen or voice (ApplePlay anyone) like you can in cars costing $50k less.


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## John A Bailey

SoFlaModel3 said:


> I'm sure it will be for sale on eBay soon at a huge mark up and then back in stock on shop.tesla.com moments later.


You are sooo right. Like when they came out with the surfboard, I had to have it...3k on ebay (merry Christmas to me...but now its too expensive to ride and will be a wall decoration). At least they won't be making more of the surfboards. I have actually been checking ebay for racks. I haven't seen any so I suspect Tesla posted the racks in error or to personally torture me LOL.


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## John A Bailey

AmpHog said:


> I have to use a web page monitor to keep up with availability on that site, some things go so quickly. 😏


Web page monitor? How you do that? I'm still using cassette tapes for music and VHS to record movies


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## ev0lm3

Vin said:


> I would really like a "turn off headlights in Park" option.
> 
> I frequently drive to pick up my wife (she lucked out that I volunteer to drive her more often everywhere even though she has a car , and the problem is when parked to wait for her, the headlights stay on. That can be annoying at night when the lights are shining into pedestrians' eyes.
> 
> The only way to turn them off is to go into the menu and turn auto lights to "off"
> Then, when ready to leave and switching stalk into drive the lights remain off if you forgot to go into the menu again and switch back to "auto lights"
> 
> Simple solution... option to have headlights turn off when in park, and a setting that ensures that when going into drive or reverse the headlights come on if for some reason you forgot to turn them on.
> 
> (Another feature could be to quickly turn off headlights by holding down the Light icon above the speedometer to turn them off instantly without going into the menu)


I find that if you put it in park, open and close the door quickly, and lift your butt off and sit back down on the chair, the car will turn off, but the screen remains on. It thinks you left the car but still in close proximity thus keeping the screen on. Works perfectly when I'm waiting for someone at night. And when your ready to go, tap on the brakes then everything works like how you first enter the car.


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## RedModel3

I'd love to have service reminder messages pop up, like when it's time to rotate the tires, etc. Now that the odometer isn't in front of me all the time, I tend to forget to keep track. Just a simple pop up message on the screen when it powers up would be nice.


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## groovetesla

Oh god, where to even start?

How about delivering the car in pristine condition, instead of dirty and with streaks, nicks and scratches?
Be 100% up front and crystal clear about all taxes and fees at the BEGINNING of the buying process (instead of swerving us at the very end).
Give us the ability to connect a bluetooth keyboard to the screen and remove Slacker Radio alltogether, it's useless.
Better sound system.
Turn by Turn Navigation.
Better accessories.
Matching lugnuts.
USB 3.0 ports.
Actual, useful tint or no tint at all.


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## FRC

groovetesla said:


> Oh god, where to even start?
> 
> How about delivering the car in pristine condition, instead of dirty and with streaks, nicks and scratches?
> Be 100% up front and crystal clear about all taxes and fees at the BEGINNING of the buying process (instead of swerving us at the very end).
> Give us the ability to connect a bluetooth keyboard to the screen and remove Slacker Radio alltogether, it's useless.
> Better sound system.
> Turn by Turn Navigation.
> Better accessories.
> Matching lugnuts.
> USB 3.0 ports.
> Actual, useful tint or no tint at all.


You identify 9 items in this list. I completely agree with your first item. There is no excuse for delivery of dirty cars. Item 2-I don't have my delivery docs handy, but I don't recall any Tesla imposed taxes or fees(other than the well documented delivery fee). Do others dealers detail all taxes, etc. in their advertising? I'm not sure. Item 3-keyboard ability might be useful, but only while stationary. Slacker is far from useless, I enjoy it. Item 4-This car has the best factory system I've ever heard. Item 5-my car does this. Item 6-specify which accessories in order to make your suggestion useful. Item 7&8-no opinion. Item 9- Don't know what tint factory uses, and I would prefer a little bit darker, but the real question is what level of tinting would satisfy the most purchasers?


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## groovetesla

1) It was definitely a disappointment that the car showed up with scratches and dirt. Nothing my detailer can't fix when he wraps the car. Just seems a bit silly.
2) I'm speaking mainly of the purchase process. I had no idea that there was a "delivery fee" of nearly $1200 until the very end of my process. I don't care what other dealers do, they should be clear up front.
3) Bluetooth keyboard would be very helpful for me and I'm fine with only being allowed to connect while the car is in park.
4) I should have clarified that slacker is useless *for me*. I will never use it. We should have the option to remove it entirely.
5) Sound system is decent for stock via USB, nothing that amazing and it sounds like absolute crap when streaming.


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## pdp1

Not sure if this is going to go anywhere, but here goes


On the UI, things like the fan icon for the HVAC, or the HD Radio icon.. (and probably several other similar icons) are kind of hard to tell if they're on or off because "off" is a shade of grey and "on" is just a slightly darker shade of grey. If they could make the "on" and "off" shades more distinct from each other, or better yet, make the icon a different color when "on" (like the defrost icons), that would be awesome.
I'm also irritated that the headlights turn on right away upon unlocking the car when it's dark. It would be better if only the parking lights turned on in this case or just make it an option in the settings. EDIT: and what makes it worse is, they turn off when you close the door! Then turn right back on again when you step on the brake to turn on the car!!!!


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## Canuck42

ev0lm3 said:


> I find that if you put it in park, open and close the door quickly, and lift your butt off and sit back down on the chair, the car will turn off, but the screen remains on. It thinks you left the car but still in close proximity thus keeping the screen on. Works perfectly when I'm waiting for someone at night. And when your ready to go, tap on the brakes then everything works like how you first enter the car.


I found if you pop open the charge door, everything goes black, then just close it 

I just want the app to have the ability to re-start the charging cycle, after losing so much overnight in the cold (-25c windchill today) .......Yes, turning the heat on works, but you need to remember to turn it back off lol


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## Karl Sun

John A Bailey said:


> Are you taunting me LOL....? They sold out in 0.1 milliseconds. I would have traded a kidney to be one of the 3 fictional successful buyers


 Is that kidney still available? I will make you a custom rack to suit your needs.

Just askin'.


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## John A Bailey

Karl Sun said:


> Is that kidney still available? I will make you a custom rack to suit your needs.
> 
> Just askin'.


thanks but I was one of the lucky ones that got the rack on the second go round when it was available for about an hour.. It is on my car (also put a hitch on) and I love it..and the surgical incision has almost healed.


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## $ Trillion Musk

MelindaV said:


> JB and Elon have come out against V-to-G using a Tesla. Multiple times.


This article hints at a new battery chemistry that would allow for V-to-G:



> The new patent filed by Tesla's battery research group mentions that the technology would be useful for both electric vehicles and grid-storage.


https://electrek.co/2019/02/01/tesla-patent-battery-cell/


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## MelindaV

$ Trillion Musk said:


> This article hints at a new battery chemistry that would allow for V-to-G:
> 
> https://electrek.co/2019/02/01/tesla-patent-battery-cell/


the quote you included sounds more like a shared cell between vehicles and home powerwalls, not specifically V-to-G


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## John A Bailey

$ Trillion Musk said:


> This article hints at a new battery chemistry that would allow for V-to-G:
> 
> https://electrek.co/2019/02/01/tesla-patent-battery-cell/


Cool... I wonder what my wife's response would be if I said I wanted another (3rd) Tesla within a 4 year period?

I may as well just go ahead and reserve a spot in the university of Florida intensive care unit.


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