Elon Musk: Tesla Model S halts 'range anxiety' with smart navigation, trip planner
Earlier this week,听听听CEO Elon Musk teased us Model S owners with a tweet promising to 鈥渆nd range anxiety.鈥�
In a press conference this morning, Musk revealed the goods: an over-the-air firmware update that, while not increasing the range of the听, will at least set the driver鈥檚 mind at ease about how far he can really go before the juice runs out.
Firmware version 6.2 is now in Beta testing and, according to Musk,听 will be sent out to the Model S fleet at large in about ten days.
Range Assurance
The centerpiece of the upgrade is a Range Assurance app that will constantly assess whether the Model S has enough juice to reach its destination.
The app constantly monitors outside temperature, elevation changes, wind, driving speed, and heat/AC use. If the app determines that range is insufficient to reach the destination, it will warn the driver well in advance.
The app will make it 鈥渆ffectively impossible to run out of range unintentionally,鈥� according to Musk.
He described the app as 鈥渋ncredibly good,鈥� and said that early testing has shown it to be accurate within less than one percent.
Less than one percent? Wow.
Frankly, I鈥檒l believe that when I see it. (Guess I鈥檒l see in about ten days.)
Trip Planner
A second app in 6.2 is a Trip Planner that selects the optimal route to a destination based on听听locations. The car will communicate with various Supercharger stations to determine which are operational and available, and select a route accordingly.
The app will also take into account the much-slower Tesla destination chargers now proliferating at hotels and restaurants around the country. It will give priority to the Superchargers, Musk said.
The Trip Planner will also notify drivers when their听听are charged sufficiently to reach the next Supercharger.
He described the trip planning app as 鈥渋ntelligent cars and intelligent charging stations communicating with each other in a big network.鈥�
In addition, the new firmware will upgrade the sound system and improve radio reception. A 鈥渧alet mode鈥� will limit power, speed, and screen displays.
Finally, 6.2 will improve the 鈥渇eel of the accelerator and brakes.鈥� Musk did not elaborate on precisely what this meant.
For听 sensor-equipped Model S鈥檚 built since last October, version 6.2 will also include some of the promised autopilot features, such as auto-emergency braking and blind-spot warning.
Oh, one more thing:听 if you have a P85D, your top speed is now 155 mph. Enjoy.
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More Coming
As is his wont, Musk also teased firmware version 7.0 for sensor-equipped cars, due out in about three months. It will include more of the long-promised auto-pilot functions, primarily an auto-steering mode for highway driving. According to Musk, the auto-steering has already been successfully tested on a San Francisco-to-Seattle run without the driver ever touching the wheel.
7.0 will also include a 鈥淪ummon鈥� mode, in which the car will drive itself to or from a given location鈥攇arage to front step, for example.听 This feature can only be enabled on private property.
听Put to the Test
For me personally, the timing of update 6.2 and its Range Assurance app couldn鈥檛 be better.听 In 12 days, I鈥檓 scheduled to depart on a 2700-mile cross-country drive from my winter retreat in Carpinteria, CA back home to Mountainville, NY.
Will the Range Assurance app really be accurate to within one or two miles out of 265?
If so, it will be a huge step forward for Model S drivers on long trips. Range anxiety will indeed be a thing of the past.
Stay tuned.
