Tesla

Latest version (4.51.1) or earlier (?) has severely limited my ability to remotely set *charge limit and precondition cabin when vehicle has been asleep for a while. Takes several attempts and app closures only to learn, sometimes, that the command went through and just wasn’t reflected in the app. To top it off, instead of waiting until scheduled charge time, I often find that the car is actively charging (peak time) when I finally get the app to update. This app functions as my car key and does a great job. That said, it also does a great job of letting me manage my car’s charging* and other features which don’t require Bluetooth to be enabled however, every time I open the app without BT or turn off my BT antenna, the app sends an alert about that. I know. I made a conscious decision. Unfortunately, there is no way to disable specific alerts/notifications for this app so the choice is to put up with this and other nuisance alerts or disable all alerts including ones that could be critical (e.g., alarm triggered). Please, give users finite control over alerts and notifications or, at the very least, separate control for status messages vs charging/safety messages.

I got a Tesla 18 months ago after my leaf died and they bought it back. I took the cash and got a 23 Y with extended range. Had the car 5 days and left Seattle for Pennsylvania, New York State and then Florida. The app was amazing. Trip planner took me from supercharger to supercharger seamlessly. App helped me to drive in a way to better manage my power and increase my utilization curve. I heard Tesla was years ahead of everyone on battery technology but they were decades ahead in software, batteries, charger stations and more. A Tesla is more computer than car. The leaf I had had a GPS built in. After a couple years I noticed the new freeway on ramps didn’t show up. The dealership said I needed to bring the car in some Saturday and get the GPS updated. They needed about 6-8 hours to do the update and cost $350, Interesting Tesla sends me about a dozen software updates a year. No cost and they are sent by WiFi and take about 45 minutes to run . Tesla encourages owners to write in with ideas for software programs. Now I can leave the dog in my car in summer. My screen will tell people, the AC is set at 75 degrees and owner will be back in 20 minutes. No need to smash a window. That dog mode was an idea an owner sent to Tesla . So I’m saying that driving an EV from any other company was like riding a bike covered with cardboard. Driving AAA Tesla with the ever improving app is like having the newest, fastest and most intelligent machine available. I am impressed. It is the first American made car I bought in 46 years. It’s good to be back.

Update: Dropping this to two stars. All of the below still stands true. I have the lovely added benefit that whenever my car goes to sleep, the widget used to display “asleep”. Now it displays an error icon and says “please open app”. This has been an ongoing issue now for months. All in all the ability to cool/heat my vehicle, remotely open doors, honk the horn, and view where the vehicle is at at any time is amazing! Light years beyond my last car. That said, a few things I think would add a lot of benefit. 1) When setting a charge limit, let me see percentages on the lines. You guys recommend a specific percentage for extended battery life. Don’t make me guesstimate where that is. 2) allow me to either pick and choose or show more options on the widget. Currently, if I want to open the frunk I’m good; swipe right and tap widget button. If I want to open the trunk I have to open the app, tap controls, then open the trunk. Minor, but if I use the trunk far more than the frunk, it gets frustrating. 3) Allow me to view WiFi connection and signal strength from the app. I have a detached garage. I’m trying to find a better location for my router so that my car gets more than one bar of WiFi. Currently I have to move the router, walk to the car and get in, check it...rinse and repeat over and over. I may end up needing to get an extender, but the app would save me a lot of headache if it just exposed this data.