Firmware
It’s time for Tesla to advertise, and Autopilot should be first on the list
Tesla is unique among its competitors in the auto industry in the way that the company does not advertise its vehicles. Despite this, Tesla maintains a strong brand, with competitive intelligence analysis firm BrandTotal noting that the electric car maker’s organic social media engagement exceeds that of other automakers who utilize paid ads on platforms such as YouTube and Twitter.
Part of the reason behind the strength of Tesla’s brand is a close-knit community of owners and enthusiasts who are passionate about the company’s products and mission. These, as well as factors like CEO Elon Musk’s celebrity status, has allowed Tesla to become a prominent brand mostly through word-of-mouth. This has worked for years, though considering the current climate surrounding the company, it might finally be time for Tesla to seriously consider advertising its vehicles using more traditional avenues.
A successful misinformation campaign
A quick look through comments in news sites and social media would reveal that there is a lot of misinformation surrounding Tesla and its vehicles. Even at this point, there are still a notable number of people who peddle the long tailpipe argument, and the belief that Teslas are more dangerous than internal combustion cars is still prevalent. Add this to the constant talk of the company’s alleged demise that’s supposed to be just around the corner, and one can see just how much noise is surrounding Tesla today.
Tesla has always been polarizing for mainstream media, though it is difficult not to notice that the narrative surrounding the company has gotten more negative over the past few months. A pervading negative slant from mainstream coverage has become notable lately, as is a dismissal of breakthroughs from the company. A perfect example of this could be found in the little coverage being given to Gigafactory 3’s potentially record-setting buildout in Shanghai, and the close coverage given to every Tesla fire or accident.
It’s unfortunate, but these add to the misconception that Tesla is consistently a hot mess, or that its cars are equally bad, or that the company is being led by an unstable leader who’s but a few steps away from being mad. These are, of course, untrue, but it would take the layman a lot of effort and research to reach this conclusion. At this point, Tesla needs a way to battle and correct the misinformation surrounding itself, and the perfect way to do this would be through actual advertisements. In this light, ads promoting and explaining Autopilot could be at the forefront of this initiative.
Setting the record straight
Partly due to the misinformation surrounding the company, Autopilot is at times perceived to be a full self-driving system that allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel. Both assumptions are incorrect, of course, as Tesla specifically informs drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel and be ready to intervene at any time when Autopilot is engaged. The Tesla community knows this. The public? Not so much.
Perhaps Tesla can actually run advertisements showing what Autopilot is (a driver-assist system) and how it’s supposed to be used. Doing so not only raises awareness of the feature’s real nature; it also dispels the notion that the company is pushing a dangerous self-driving software on the road. If the layman is saturated with the correct information about Autopilot, then there is a good chance that he will not openly accept misconceptions about the system, nor will he be “misled” by the feature when he uses it.
The same is true for the vehicles’ safety. Tesla’s entire lineup of vehicles are among the safest cars on the road today, but the insistent coverage of crashes involving the company’s vehicles would suggest otherwise. An ad campaign surrounding the safety features inherent in electric cars, such as their huge crumple zones due to their lack of an engine, would help the company spread the word that its vehicles are safe.
Even over-the-air upgrades such as Sentry Mode could benefit from an advertising push. With the general public knowing that Teslas are capable of recording footage, fewer vandals or thieves might attempt to break into the company’s electric cars. Ads could also help dispel the public’s reservations about range and charging, as well as debunk the ridiculous misconception that Tesla’s are less “American” than the next Ford or GM truck. These are but the tip of the iceberg.
Beyond word of mouth
Overall, word-of-mouth is an incredibly powerful tool, and it has served Tesla well. With the company entering the mass market with the Model 3, and later on, the Model Y, the time might be right for Tesla to start adopting (at least to a certain degree) information campaigns that are effectively used by its competitors. Teslas are among the safest, most advanced, most fun vehicles on the road, but until the public becomes fully aware of these, the company’s electric cars will mostly remain as niche vehicles. With the right information, perhaps the public will finally perceive Teslas the way they are meant to be perceived — as vehicles designed to accelerate the shift to sustainable transportation.
Think of it this way. Tesla’s brand has reached this point with word-of-mouth alone. Just imagine what it could do with a boost from smart, targeted advertising campaigns.
It appears that Tesla may be preparing to roll out some subscription-based services soon. Based on the observations of a Wales-based Model 3 owner who performed some reverse-engineering on the Tesla mobile app, it seems that the electric car maker has added a new “Subscribe” option beside the “Buy” option within the “Upgrades” tab, at least behind the scenes.
A screenshot of the new option was posted in the r/TeslaMotors subreddit, and while the Tesla owner in question, u/Callump01, admitted that the screenshot looks like something that could be easily fabricated, he did submit proof of his reverse-engineering to the community’s moderators. The moderators of the r/TeslaMotors subreddit confirmed the legitimacy of the Model 3 owner’s work, further suggesting that subscription options may indeed be coming to Tesla owners soon.
Did some reverse engineering on the app and Tesla looks to be preparing for subscriptions? from r/teslamotors
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite has been heavily speculated to be offered as a subscription option, similar to the company’s Premium Connectivity feature. And back in April, noted Tesla hacker @greentheonly stated that the company’s vehicles already had the source codes for a pay-as-you-go subscription model. The Tesla hacker suggested then that Tesla would likely release such a feature by the end of the year — something that Elon Musk also suggested in the first-quarter earnings call. “I think we will offer Full Self-Driving as a subscription service, but it will be probably towards the end of this year,” Musk stated.
While the signs for an upcoming FSD subscription option seem to be getting more and more prominent as the year approaches its final quarter, the details for such a feature are still quite slim. Pricing for FSD subscriptions, for example, have not been teased by Elon Musk yet, though he has stated on Twitter that purchasing the suite upfront would be more worth it in the long term. References to the feature in the vehicles’ source code, and now in the Tesla mobile app, also listed no references to pricing.
The idea of FSD subscriptions could prove quite popular among electric car owners, especially since it would allow budget-conscious customers to make the most out of the company’s driver-assist and self-driving systems without committing to the features’ full price. The current price of the Full Self-Driving suite is no joke, after all, being listed at $8,000 on top of a vehicle’s cost. By offering subscriptions to features like Navigate on Autopilot with automatic lane changes, owners could gain access to advanced functions only as they are needed.
Elon Musk, for his part, has explained that ultimately, he still believes that purchasing the Full Self-Driving suite outright provides the most value to customers, as it is an investment that would pay off in the future. “I should say, it will still make sense to buy FSD as an option as in our view, buying FSD is an investment in the future. And we are confident that it is an investment that will pay off to the consumer – to the benefit of the consumer.” Musk said.
Tesla has started rolling out update 2020.36 this weekend, introducing a couple of notable new features for its vehicles. While there are only a few handful of vehicles that have reportedly received the update so far, 2020.36 makes it evident that the electric car maker has made some strides in its efforts to refine its driver-assist systems for inner-city driving.
Tesla is currently hard at work developing key features for its Full Self-Driving suite, which should allow vehicles to navigate through inner-city streets without driver input. Tesla’s FSD suite is still a work in progress, though the company has released the initial iterations of key features such Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control, which was introduced last April. Similar to the first release of Navigate on Autopilot, however, the capabilities of Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control were pretty basic during their initial rollout.
2020.36 Showing Speed Limit Signs in Visualization from r/teslamotors
With the release of update 2020.36, Tesla has rolled out some improvements that should allow its vehicles to handle traffic lights better. What’s more, the update also includes a particularly useful feature that enables better recognition of speed limit signs, which should make Autopilot’s speed adjustments better during use. Following are the Release Notes for these two new features.
Green Traffic Light Chime
“A chime will play when the traffic light you are waiting for turns green. If you are waiting behind another car, the chime will play once the car advances unless Traffic-Aware Cruise Control or Autosteer is active. When Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control is activated, a chime will play when you can confirm to proceed through a green traffic light. To enable, tap Controls > Autopilot > Green Traffic Light Chime.
“Note: This chime is only designed as a notification. It is the driver’s responsibility to observe their environment and make decisions accordingly.”
Speed Assist Improvements
“Speed Assist now leverages your car’s cameras to detect speed limit signs to improve the accuracy of speed limit data on local roads. Detected speed limit signs will be displayed in the driving visualization and used to set the associated Speed Limit Warning.
“As usual, to adjust Speed Assist settings, tap Controls > Autopilot > Speed Limit.”
Footage of the new green light chime in action via @NASA8500 on Twitter ✈️ from r/teslamotors
Amidst the rollout of 2020.36’s new features, speculations were abounding among Tesla community members that this update may include the first pieces of the company’s highly-anticipated Autopilot rewrite. Inasmuch as the idea is exciting, however, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that this was not the case. While responding to a Tesla owner who asked if the Autopilot rewrite is in “shadow mode” in 2020.36, Musk responded “Not yet.”
Tesla has rolled out a free three-month trial subscription to Sirius XM, in what appears to be the company’s latest push into making its vehicles’ entertainment systems more feature-rich. The new Sirius XM offer will likely be appreciated by owners of the company’s vehicles, especially considering that the service is among the most popular satellite radios in the country today.
Tesla announced its new offer in an email sent on Monday. An image that accompanied the communication also teased Tesla’s updated and optimized Sirius XM UI for its vehicles. Following is the email’s text.
“Beginning now, enjoy a free, All Access three-month trial subscription to Sirius XM, plus a completely new look and improved functionality. Our latest over-the-air software update includes significant improvements to overall Sirius XM navigation, organization, and search features, including access to more than 150 satellite channels.
“To access simply tap the Sirius XM app from the ‘Music’ section of your in-car center touchscreen—or enjoy your subscription online, on your phone, or at home on connected devices. If you can’t hear SiriusXM channels in your car, select the Sirius XM ‘Subscription’ tab for instruction on how to refresh your audio.”
Tesla has actually been working on Sirius XM improvements for some time now. Back in June, for example, Tesla rolled out its 2020.24.6.4 update, and it included some optimizations to its Model S and Model X’s Sirius XM interface. As noted by noted Tesla owner and hacker @greentheonly, the source code of this update revealed that the Sirius XM optimizations were also intended to be released to other areas such as Canada.
Interestingly enough, Sirius XM is a popular feature that has been exclusive to the Model S and X. Tesla’s most popular vehicle to date, the Model 3, is yet to receive the feature. One could only hope that Sirius XM integration to the Model 3 may eventually be included in the future. Such an update would most definitely be appreciated by the EV community, especially since some Model 3 owners have resorted to using their smartphones or third-party solutions to gain access to the satellite radio service.
The fact that Tesla seems to be pushing Sirius XM rather assertively to its customers seems to suggest that the company may be poised to roll out more entertainment-based apps in the coming months. Apps such as Sirius XM, Spotify, Netflix, and YouTube, may seem quite minor when compared to key functions like Autopilot, after all, but they do help round out the ownership experience of Tesla owners. In a way, Sirius XM does make sense for Tesla’s next-generation of vehicles, especially the Cybertruck and the Semi, both of which would likely be driven in areas that lack LTE connectivity.
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