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| DATE | 2020-11-02 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Telsa's need for Free Software
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https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3mb3w/people-are-jailbreaking-used-teslas-to-get-the-features-they-expect?utm_source=vicefbuk
_____ vice.com
People Are Jailbreaking Used Teslas to Get the Features They Expect
6-7 minutes
People have certain expectations when they buy a car. For example, they
expect it to work for years afterwards needing only basic maintenance.
They also expect that the purchase price includes ownership of not only
the physical car itself but all the software that runs it.
Tesla doesn’t agree.
Last week, Jalopnik ran an article about a person who bought a used
Tesla from a dealer—who in turn bought it at auction directly from Tesla
under California’s lemon law buyback program—advertised as having
Autopilot, the company’s Advanced Driver Assistance System. The entire
Autopilot package, which the car had when the dealer bought it, costs an
extra $8,000. Then, Tesla remotely removed the software because
“Full-Self Driving was not a feature that you had paid for.” Tesla said
if the customer wanted Autopilot back, he’d have to fork over the $8,000.
Tesla clawing back software upgrades from used cars is not a new
practice for the company. “Tesla as a policy has been doing this for
years on salvage cars,” said Phil Sadow, an independent Tesla repair
professional. One former employee, who used to work in an official Tesla
service center and asked to remain anonymous because he still works with
Tesla in another capacity, said he was told to put the software features
back if people complained to avoid bad publicity. He left about a year ago.
But that doesn’t mean Tesla owners are helpless. Sadow and others have
ways to push back against Tesla by jailbreaking the cars and getting the
features owners feel are rightfully theirs.
“As far as I am concerned removing a paid-for feature, regardless of the
state of the car, is theft,” Sadow said. “It's as if a bunch of guys
show up in a van and take your upgraded 20" wheels. Just because it's
software, it's no different.”
Do you work for Tesla or know anything else about its policy towards
used vehicle parts and software? We'd love to hear from you. Using a
non-work phone or computer, you can contact Aaron Gordon at
aaron.gordon-at-vice.com or aaronwgordon-at-protonmail.com.
Teslas function more like consumer electronics than traditional
vehicles. Similar to smartphones and laptops, the cars receive software
updates over the air that affect everything from the infotainment system
to the car’s road performance and range. For example, Teslas with dual
motors are sold with an optional performance package that, among other
physical features like a different interior, improves acceleration and
top speed for an extra $8,000 to $20,000, depending on the model.
While every car company offers different “trims” that vary the car’s
styling and performance, Tesla is the only car company that we know of
that remotely disables those performance features via software update
(few other automakers even offer OTA updates and those that do are
limited to things like the infotainment system and associated apps).
Tesla appears to have clawed back these performance features, too.
Shortly after Jalopnik published its article, the dealer in question
wrote in to tell them this has happened before:
I sell dozens of Teslas a year, and sold my father in law a Model X
P90D with ludicrous speed package. 60 days after the purchase of the
car, Tesla removed his ludicrous speed package. Upon complaints to them
they said he never paid for it. We have video evidence and multiple
pictures of the vehicle with it. They even removed the line under the
P90D. I am still shocked at these acts.
The Model X performance package costs $20,000 more than the standard
version, so, in effect, Tesla remotely disabled a performance upgrade
that, on its own, costs as much as a brand new car. Tesla did not
respond to questions about this story.
Teslas are notoriously expensive to fix, partially because the automaker
retains a tight hold on parts availability. So when a Tesla gets into a
crash, insurance companies are quick to declare them a total loss
because the cost of repairs approaches the value of the vehicle. At that
point, Tesla stops supporting the vehicle, meaning all warranties are
voided and Supercharging is disabled, even after the repaired vehicle
passes a high-voltage inspection by Tesla’s own repair staff.
A Tesla that doesn’t have access to the Supercharger network is hardly a
Tesla. The Tesla Supercharger network is one of the company’s biggest
selling points for its charging speed, convenience, simplicity, and
integration into the vehicle’s on-board computer.
This is why specialists like Sadow have for years worked around this
salvage title problem. They jailbreak Tesla’s software and restore the
features one expects when they buy a Tesla.
“If the car originally had supercharging when sold, and has no HV [high
voltage] safety issues, I turn it back on,” he told Motherboard via
email. “If it had paid supercharging, I restore that.” He claims to have
done this with “around 600 cars for hapless owners all over the globe.”
Experts like Sadow are engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with Tesla where
the company will update the software—and occasionally the hardware— to
try and keep them out, but it doesn’t stick for long.
Of course, jailbreaking the Tesla comes with consequences. Tesla repair
YouTuber Rich Benoit told Motherboard that jailbreaking the software
voids the warranty. That didn’t mean much when the car had been declared
a total loss, which voided the warranty on its own. But in the cases of
authorized used car sales such as the one Jalopnik highlighted, voiding
the warranty could cost the new owner more than a few thousand bucks in
the long run.
Sadow sees the act of salvaging so-called “total loss” Teslas as,
paradoxically, part of Tesla’s corporate mission to promote sustainable
energy. “We (collective white hats) have saved thousands of cars from
the scrap heap and put them back on the road,” Sadow said. “That's the
only green thing to do!”
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https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3mb3w/people-are-jailbreaking-used-teslas-to-get-the-features-they-expect?utm_source=vicefbuk
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