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After my 5-year anniversary article, here’s an addendum.
Figure 1: The Future and The Past. Elizabeth and Tesla Model 3 in front of settlers’ dugout homes and barn. Castle Valley, Utah. November 17, 2019. Photo by Fritz Hasler.
Soon after my 5-year anniversary, Tesla notified me that my 12-volt battery needed to be replaced. This is not the drive battery, but the small battery needed to boot up the car and run accessories. There were veiled threats: I could no longer install software updates and who knows what else wouldn’t be working. I scheduled an appointment on Friday and a mobile service technician was at my driveway in Lindon, Utah, bright and early Monday morning.
I had left the frunk unlatched, which he opened, and then he opened a compartment towards the wind screen, took out my old battery, and installed a new one. Figure 2 shows the red 12-volt battery in the frunk of a Tesla Model 3. The battery was on the small size compared to the big battery for the V8 engine on my ski boat. I asked the service technician whether I could have done it myself. He said that would not be a good idea and relayed the story about someone who had changed his own 12V battery and fried the $15,000 drive battery. I also asked him whether the repair notification came because I was at my 5-year anniversary or whether it had detected poor performance of my battery. He said it was the latter.
The good part: the cost was only $120 including labor.
Figure 2: Red 12V battery. Tesla Motor Club image.
I had been ignoring my wife’s complaints that the controls on her electric seat weren’t working. One of the knobs had broken. I had only added this to my service request at the last minute and the repair technician said he didn’t know if he had the correct part to fix it. He tried a few knobs, none of which worked, and he said I would have to schedule another appointment. The appointment was to be the following Friday, but we are on travel, so we will have to wait at this point to reschedule.
The bad part: the cost will be $160 when I have this done. This seems like a lot for a broken knob.
FSD 12.5.4.1 Fails
I’ve been driving with Tesla Full Self Driving (FSD) Beta, now “Supervised,” for 2.5 years. Over this period, I have received 10+ software updates. Changes from some of the updates were insignificant, However the rest of the updates gave me significant improvements in performance. However, that changed with Full Self Driving Supervised 12.5.4.1. For the first time I’m finding the performance significantly worse under some conditions. In fact, I’ve found some circumstances where it is driving me crazy. The software still performs very well at highway speeds and making turns on city streets. However, at intermediate speeds on winding roads, it’s totally nuts. It no longer tells you the speed you have set, it just says MAX. Coming down very winding Provo Canyon from Heber to Orem, Utah, I like to reduce the requested speed to the speed limit of 50 mph or even 45 mph so that I can relax and let FSD automatically drive me down the Canyon with no worries. I’ve found FSD Supervised 12.5.4.1 bringing me down at 65 or 70 mph, and it couldn’t stay on track on the curves at that speed. I tried to lower the speed but it wouldn’t let me do it. I found this much too fast to come down the canyon safely. Finally, I disengaged FSD and drove down the canyon with only Autosteer, which would let me set any speed I wanted.
Please, Tesla, always let me set the speed I want again, and tell me what I have set, not just MAX. Do this at every speed not just at highway speeds!
Furthermore, FSD Supervised 12.5.4.1 no longer keeps me centered perfectly in my lane, I find my car drifting both right and left. To the left I once hit the rumble strip in the center of the road, and to the right I’ve actually drifted off onto the gravel and one time grazed a curb. The Autosteer performance is worse — are you kidding me?????? Under some conditions, I don’t trust it anymore.
FSD Supervised 12.5.4.1 also has a strong bias to the right. Merging onto a freeway, it hugs the right lane until the lane finally joins the main highway. Only then will it finally center itself in the proper lane.
FSD Supervised 12.5.4.1’s right bias often has me in a right turn lane instead of the main center lane required for going straight as specified by the navigation. I’ve seen this problem before, but the most recent software updates (before this) had reduced or eliminated this problem.
However, one of the best new features of FSD Supervised 12.5.4.1 is that it no longer requires tugging at the steering wheel to let the system know you are paying attention to the road. The camera above the mirror watching your head and eyes does that function very well. But when reducing the level of automation from FSD to Autosteer, you are back to tugging at the steering wheel. Keeping all these different modes straight is driving me crazy. Before I knew it, I had failed to tug on the steering wheel enough and received two forced disengagements. Three more and I will lose access to FSD and Autosteer for 7 days.
Why We Still Love Our Model 3 after 5 years & 139,993 miles
We love the incredible acceleration of our dual-motor Tesla Model 3. It’s smooth as silk and far exceeds any car we’ve owned in the past 70 years. Following a slow truck on a two-lane road, you only need 100 yards to pass. Full Self Driving is a joy except on windy roads. The navigation system is also amazing, where a voice command will take you to nearly any address or business you ask for. The sound system with a couple subwoofers is marvelous, and you can give it voice commands to play nearly any song you can think of. Alternatively, it will play from your playlist on your phone when driving through Wyoming with no cell connection. The two electric seats are great and the driver’s seat will automatically retract and raise up to any setting you choose when you get out. When you get back in it automatically returns the driver’s seat, steering wheel, and mirror settings to the driver’s preference.
However, the suspension is very stiff and gives you a jolt with every bump in the road. If the road is recently resurfaced and smooth, it’s no problem, but if the road is old and bumpy, you feel it. I understand that the new Model 3 refresh has addressed this problem.
Referral Program: If you are buying a new Tesla, Tesla has reactivated its referral program. If you find any of my articles helpful to you, please use my referral link: https://ts.la/arthur73734 (be sure to use it when you make your order). If you are buying a new Tesla and use my link, I believe you’ll receive $1,000 off the purchase price of a Model S or X, or $500 off the price of a Model 3 or Y. You will also get 3 months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised). Just be prepared to intervene immediately if it screws up.
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