This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
software is able to detect if the hood is open and, if so, will display a warning to the driver
Imagine you're on the highway, going fast, and a suddenly some really big red thing sits in front of your windshield, blocking all the view.
Surely you would have better things to do than looking for some warning text somewhere...
(For example, you would try to remember quickly what color your car is ;-)))
If I'm reading things correctly, this issue isn't the latch failing, it's that it's not properly closed after being opened, something that should be detected by software but isn't because of a deformation in the latch. Of course I have no idea if they are just lying.
it had identified the problem as deformation of the hood latch switch
Emphasis mine. It's not the latch, but the latch switch, which presumably is why it's able to be fixed in software.
Every day I'm reminded how glad I am that I changed my mind about buying into the early run of the 3 series. Shit quality and even a bigger POS in the head office.
The problem first became apparent to Tesla in March of this year after complaints about unintended hood opening from Chinese customers. By April, it had identified the problem as deformation of the hood latch switch, "which could prevent the customer from being notified about an open hood state."
Given that China is now an electric car superpower, this situation will not bode well for Tesla in that country.
The new software is able to detect if the hood is open and, if so, will display a warning to the driver to alert them to stop their vehicle and secure the hood
This should not be legal. They should be forced to recall vehicles and replace the faulty part instead of kindly asking drivers to pull over when the part fails.
The shit this company gets away with is astounding.
This right here is why there should be a distinction between software updates and physical recalls. Calling this a recall without actually taking the product in and fixing the product is really deceptive.
Yeah, but that's how it works according to the NHTSA.
Each country has it's own authorities. Hopefully they don't get away everywhere...
Driving on the highway
Hood pops open. Can't see anything. Try to brake but crash.
⚠️ Warning! Your hood is open. Please pull over in a safe location and secure your hood.
Tesla: OTA update successful
Yup. No reason to rewrite the playbook.
"Full self driving" detects an imminent collision of it's own doing. Car beeps and shuts off "full self driving"
Human was "in control" at the time of the crash, not our fault.
What difference does it make if the problem is solved...? Asking customers to bring their cars in and have a latch replaced unnecessarily is super inconvenient.
It literally states the program is due to a deformation of the switch, a physical issue.
I’m sure there are ways to safely engineer around it. I don’t trust any American manufacturer to do so. What guarantee do we have that it won’t continue deforming further after the fix? What happens to the patched sensor software if it does occur?
Do you unironically trust Musk enough to not open your vehicles hood at 80mph?
Really not sure why so many people on this post are having trouble understanding that concept. Maybe they want to justify their $80k paperweight lmao.
I would say more annoying is to getting those alerts more and more frequently. According to the article this is a software "fix" for the lock banding and stopping functioning.
According to the article this is a software "fix"
Exactly. "Fix" being the keyword here. If you have evidence otherwise, please feel free to share with the class.
Personally, I don't like having to take my car into the shop for no reason, so I don't appreciate the suggestion.
Ford did this. On multiple years of some vehicles the fuel injector can crack and leak fuel onto the engine and lead to a fire. Their fix is to put in a fucking drain tube to drain the fuel away if that happens rather than replace the faulty part. I'm wondering if there are any legal options to make them just replace the part rather than their half-ass non-fix.
Not even.
Ford's fix required them to physically add parts.
This is more like if Ford just wrote a software update to detect the crack and leak, then pop up a warning that you need to pull over and "secure" the fuel.
It’s not the actual latch that’s faulty, but the warning the driver should get, if they haven’t closed the frunk properly.
Is a frunk a front trunk, or is that a typo?
Front trunk, yeah
The latch is fault, and so is the sensor. Sensor doesn't go off when the latch starts to fail from deformation.
That’s not what they’re saying. It’s essentially a “door ajar” warning. The sensor is what’s failing, rather than the physical part.
Isn't a sensor... A physical part???
Not if it can be fixed with an update, that's a software issue.
But it's not. If you read the article it literally states it's due to not closing because of deformation of the hood latch switch. Which is a physical object. Sure, you can get a notification now that the thing is open, but guess what, if it flops open while driving, I'll probably already know that.
The comments read like a lot of people don't quite understand the issue.
The bonnet (hood if you insist) latch may not warn a driver if it isn't secured correctly. If it is secured correctly then it is fine. So it isn't going to suddenly open.
If the latch isn't shut correctly and then the sensor doesn't report this then the bonnet may open unexpectedly.
If they can use a software update to correct the reporting then that's it fixed.
There's no issue with the actual latching mechanism. It's just the sensor for reporting the latching state.
It may be that it currently works on a two value system. i.e a value for correctly latched and a value for not latched. If that's the case and isn't just not providing the second valve correctly then a simple software change to only use the latched value would fix this. As any other value or the absence of a value will report it at unlatched.
It's a soft close latch, the frunk pulls the lid into the latching mechanism. The mechanism isn't doing it's job and needs to be replaced either with a properly adjusted soft close mechanism that grabs the lid, or with a non soft close standard latch that is very obvious to the user when it has not been properly closed.
It's a bit ambiguous, but I read it as saying it isn't the mechanism that's at fault, it's user error that's not currently being properly detected.
I don't think it's 'user error' exactly. Maybe when this has occurred, something in the frunk has obstructed the closing of the hood so it almost latched, but the deformed switch is detecting it as closed. I think they might be adjusting the switch sensitivity in software (maybe it uses a Hall effect sensor and a magnet?) so that this almost-closed condition will be reported as just being open.
Too bad the software isn't open source.
diff --git a/hood.js b/hood.js
- if(false) {
+ if(true || false) {
+ alert("Check your hood")
+ if(crashed) {
+ alert(e)
+ } else {
+ load_ad("vote_for_trump")
+ }
You missed the part where the latch is deforming, causing it to not close or alert the driver. The software fix is yet another attempt to dodge the fact that they do not have enough repair capacity or financial reserves for a major fleet recall.
The comments read like a lot of people don't quite understand the issue....There's no issue with the actual latching mechanism.
..."Although the problem is with the hood latch" <--- literally from the article. Care to re-read?
It's just the sensor for reporting the latching state.
You skipped over the part where a) the latch is deforming, and as a result of that deformation b) the sensor can't detect that it's not closed, and so c) Tesla is pushing an update that lets people know their deformed latch isn't closed properly.
But yes, we all misread the article. Not you. Definitely not you.
the problem can be fixed with an over-the-air software patch
I was about to make a bad joke about Tesla trying to fix a mechanical issue with a software patch but apparently that Elon beat me to the punchline.
Although the problem is with the hood latch, as with many Tesla safety recalls, the problem can be fixed with an over-the-air software patch. The new software is able to detect if the hood is open and, if so, will display a warning to the driver to alert them to stop their vehicle and secure the hood.
Patching the software isn't a "fix". Changing out the hood latch so it doesn't come open door driving is a fix.
"Warning: wheels falling off imminent! Please pull over!'
You have 3 seconds to comply. 3. 2. 1. Goodbye!
Fkn lol. How the fuck are these cars selling?
Surely this was all worth the 47 billion
Tesla should recall all their cars because CEO is wearing a pointy hood
Beyond any issues with the owner of the company, these cars have multiple dangerous issues.
You cannot treat a company that makes physical stuff that can endanger lives the same way you treat a software company that makes a leisure activity platform.
Iterative design for a purely software environment is way more forgiving than iterative design for physical hardware or even software that interacts with physical hardware. You can profoundly fuck up the backend for a website and take the whole thing down until you could roll back to last known good production, you won't kill anyone, but you'll make the line go down temporarily.
If you profoundly fuck up an iteration on an embedded vehicle system and don't catch it because you don't respect safety regulation or existing engineering norms you can and will kill people.
giving elon another $55b bonus should fix it
Do your thing, ma-gic man! Chanted the crowd as Elon in robes entered the golden restroom with his xPhone in the right and a ceremonial vial of coke in the left hand. It was followed by a series of thunder-like farts and sniffs.
My late-Dad used to have an old flatbed truck he kept around for hauling bulky items. It was faded metallic dark-blue with a cracked white fibreglass shell and oh, so many dings.
I borrowed it once to move furniture. Was driving on an open stretch of a 6-lane freeway (California 🤷🏻♂️) going past rolling hills. Enjoying the scenery, listening to tunes on the only FM station it could play.
Then BAM! The front hood whipped up and completely covered the windshield. Was going 65mph, but luckily not too many cars on that stretch. Tried to slow down, stupidly hoping it would flop back down, but of course, too much wind. Turned on the hazard lights, stuck my head out the window (front was completely blocked), and gradually moved to the right shoulder.
The hood was solid metal, and was amazingly not destroyed. The hinges were also super strong, and had kept the hood from hitting the windshield. Realized things could have gone a LOT worse. But the hinges had bent back a bit. I tried to pull it down again, but it wouldn't close. I ended up hopping on top and jumping up and down like someone having an episode. It was enough to reach the little latch. Ended up using some old rope to tie the hood down to the fender, enough to hobble off the freeway and make it home on city streets.
My father took the truck back, then used a sledgehammer and a winch to bring the hood back into alignment. No big. The dents just added character. That truck lasted another 10+ years.
The Tesla recall is more about the latch sensor and it sounds like it can be fixed with an OTA update. Point is, seriously doubt a Tesla's hood would survive an actual catastrophic flop-up event like Dad's old beast.