Voice of the DBA

Tag: car update

  • Reimagining the Car with Electricity

    I ordered a Tesla Model Y awhile ago. I was a little anxious about the cost, but my wife calmed me down and I’m getting a little excited to have it come. Supposedly it will arrive in late Aug or early Sept. Now I need to do some garage cleanup and wiring to get ready.

    The other day I ran across this piece on Volvo’s “pure” EVs and their work on a new concept vehicle. It’s a neat idea, though without many details. Just a sketch, which looks a lot like what Tesla has done.

    To be fair, I don’t love the look of the Tesla. It’s streamlined and I’m sure low drag, but it lacks some of the visual appeal of the 911, the Corvette, or even a modern Lexus. I didn’t buy this car because it’s visually stunning. Instead, I bought it because it’s really a computer on wheels, with tech that’s well thought out and is updated in a DevOps style on a regular basis.

    I looked at a number of other electric cars. However, most of them are cars that have added batteries to them, with a lot of the rest of the car the same, and relatively little thought on how cars are changing. I also don’t trust most other manufacturers to update their software often, or well. I expect they’ll want you to visit a dealer, or they will make minor changes to correct bugs rather than introduce interesting new features, like “dog mode”. One other trick I saw recently was “Joe Mode”, which lowers the volume of alerts. My X5 does the opposite, raising volume when I raise the radio volume, which is incredibly annoying. It’s a design choice, which I hate. BMW wants to tell me how things should work often, whereas Tesla gives me more choice, at least, more choice I like.

    I’ve been watching the software for awhile. Glenn Berry has one, as well as a couple others. I’ve watched online, and I see very few issues with the software. Some, but not a lot. And they fix them. I don’t have a lot of confidence in other manufacturers that they’ll do as well, at least not initially. I saw this with my Prius. Toyota tech was way more solid on hybrids than others initially.

    I’ve been impressed in many ways with how Tesla has grown and adapted over time, truly reinventing how a car could work. I don’t love every decision, and I have no desire for a “yoke” instead of a wheel, but I do like where they are now. Ahead of other manufacturers.

    I expect this to change in a decade, but for now, I look forward to only worrying about brakes and tires, and not needing to mess with gas, oil, spark plugs, air filters, etc.

    I’m also going to start doing car updates again, with a comparison between my X5, which I could have kept, and how the Tesla compares.

  • A Computer on Wheels

    I enjoy cars, and I’ve owned a lot in my life. In fact, I resurrected my list and I count 30 for my wife and I, with 1 motorcycle, 2 ATVs, 2 UTVs, and a tractor. Likely a new tractor or skid steer coming in the next few years as this one is 14 years old. I was hoping for a different car this year, but with two kids needing help, I’m going to have to delay my gratification for another year or so.

    For years, Glenn Berry has been trying to get me to look at a Tesla. He’s owned a few and has driven me around. I’ve never been thrilled with them from a design perspective, though they are quick. Recently I ran across this video (5 Features that didn’t exist when I purchased my Tesla model 3), and for some reason I watched it. It caught my eye (especially dog mode) in that Tesla is doing DevOps with their cars, introducing new features in a way that evolves the car into something new.

    Since then I’ve watched a few other videos, and the Model Y is intriguing. It’s got more range than the cars originally did and it’s not a crazy price. It’s expensive, and more than I want to spend, but it’s tempting because it’s a computer.

    The way that DevOps is changing software is moving beyond tech companies. As I study more about how some companies are building better software quicker, I see that this is finding its way into more and more types of industries. From finance to medicine to manufacturing to shipping to anything, there is tremendous investment in software developers and computing technology to transform industries.

    More and more we are going to depend on software, which means that quality, security, and more are going to become more important. They already are becoming issues, as different companies are realizing just how costly it can be to remediate software bugs for their customers.

    I don’t know if I’ll get a Tesla, but it’s on my mind. If I do, I’ll ping Glenn for a referral code, and then likely be reminded forever that he introduced me to the car.

    Steve Jones

    Update: My wife and I went to test drive a Y. She loved it and actually decided to sell her current, 1yr old car and use that money for a Model Y. So I’m getting a Tesla. Or half of one.

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher, Spotify, or iTunes.

  • Tesla and DevOps

    That’s how someone described a Tesla recently, talking about how the software keeps changing. I had watched a few videos after I stumbled on this one:

    That got me thinking, and writing. I’ve got an editorial on this coming up, but really I was intrigued by the idea that the car would be upgraded, and not by unlocking features, but by adding them.

    I wrote before about BMW adding lots of things to the car and letting you unlock them. You could rent heated seats, for example, for a road trip, or a few months. Or rent them in your newly purchased secondhand car, when the previous owner never wanted them. That’s an interesting idea, but it’s simple. We know what’s available, and we pick from the menu of features.

    The Tesla thing is more interesting. They are upgrading the car. They have upgraded software to add more range to vehicles. They added sentry mode and dog mode. The change things, which sometimes is annoying for users when the UI moves, but it’s a neat idea.

    It’s DevOps in real time and in the real world. Not everything works, but not all changes in cars work. Plenty of mechanical designs find flaws and the last few decades, plenty of car software has had issues. I wish that more companies would adopt the upgradeable car, and make changes to improve things. Simple things, like letting me roll up windows remotely. My BMW had remote locking doors from an app, which I used when I got the airport, went inside and wasn’t sure I’d locked the car, but they stopped some of those features and turned off the wireless update (likely a security issue).

    I’m becoming more intrigued by Tesla, and I am considering one for the next car. I wouldn’t have thought that a few years ago, but for some reason the fans are convincing me.

     

  • Something Old Something New

    My neighbor had a 1978 Ford Bronco when I was growing up. He drove his kids and I around to various events, and I loved that car. The look, the removable back, the spacious interior. It was a car I’ve always wanted to own. As I’ve gotten older, however, the rough ride and lack of modern amenities have made me rethink buying an older version. I’ve become spoiled in my older age

    Ford just announced a modern version of the Bronco, bringing back the iconic truck after over two decades. What is interesting to me is that they appear to be trying to take a page from software design and customized websites by allowing lots of custom options. It appears in this look at the truck that much of the truck body can be removed and replaced with custom sections. I’m sure plenty of third party companies will offer new colors, shapes, lights, and even accessories that might truly make this car your own.

    Of course, car manufacturers want to make money, too. There are some mechanical differences with engines, transmissions, and suspension, but also a variety of settings for the drivetrain. However, different trim levels have different numbers of drivetrain settings. I wonder if there is a difference in the models or this is a software limitation (with a different physical switch). I wouldn’t be surprised if this were the case.

    I had hoped years ago that we would start seeing more customization in cars with manufacturers building a flat chassis and custom bodies, having features into software, providing interfaces, allowing for more plugins from their own and partner suppliers. Instead, it seems like we’ve gotten more and more proprietary designs, trying to lock in users rather than selling the flexibility of design. I guess that’s the way of capitalism, doing what’s best for the company rather than creating an ecosystem that might excite the consumer.

    While I know modern vehicles are built for efficiency and airflow, I think many of them start to look alike. I would hate to see every car look the same, as they have in some movies. I miss the different designs and details from the past. I would like to think that at some point we’ll see modern electric engines, controls, and features available in customized, 3D printed bodies and better software interfaces that allow us to bring back the look of the past with the best of today.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.