# Tesla tech-geeks out **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 20, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528 "2015-03-20T19:36:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528/21 "2015-03-23T18:31:08Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > There should be no way to ever wirelessly connect to a cars software. > [@](#): > > There should be no physical connection between the receiver and any CPU or program storage without someone physically flipping a switch that completes that connection Please explain why Tesla is wrong in providing over-the-air software updates. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528/22 "2015-03-23T19:52:02Z")
> [@Paxx](#): > > Please explain why Tesla is wrong in providing over-the-air software updates. Because if you are driving two tons of metal at seventy miles per hour, you don’t need a software update _right now_. Even if the only thing the computer controls is the engine timing, a bad patch could still cause a sudden and surprising loss of power which might cause a crash. And there is no guarantee that there won’t ever be a bad patch, either because of a programming error or because a hacker successfully passes their own patch off as a genuine Tesla patch. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528/23 "2015-03-23T19:59:55Z")
> [@Paxx](#): > > Please explain why Tesla is wrong in providing over-the-air software updates. It opens it up to hackers. And now you’re going to tell me why that’s impossible. I’ve worked with software too long, and there have been too many instances of exploits of secure systems, to accept that something that can be connected to and written to is ever totally un-hackable. Imagine a time in the future when the majority of cars on our roads have wirelessly updatable software. Imagine that some hackers, maybe a foreign government, find a flaw in the security, or maybe they have a mole working for the company that writes the software. Imagine the chaos that could occur. ---
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528/24 "2015-03-23T20:15:04Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Because if you are driving two tons of metal at seventy miles per hour, you don’t need a software update _right now_. Take a look at this: [How Does a Tesla Over-the-Air Software Update Work?](http://www.teslarati.com/tesla-air-software-update-work/) > [@](#): > > The car must be in park mode for the update to get applied which can take upwards of 45 minutes to install. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528/25 "2015-03-23T20:16:48Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Because if you are driving two tons of metal at seventy miles per hour, you don’t need a software update _right now_. Even if the only thing the computer controls is the engine timing, a bad patch could still cause a sudden and surprising loss of power which might cause a crash. And there is no guarantee that there won’t ever be a bad patch, either because of a programming error or because a hacker successfully passes their own patch off as a genuine Tesla patch. who says software updates are pushed while you’re flying down the road? AFAIK it updates when parked and (I think) connected to a charger. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528/26 "2015-03-23T20:30:11Z")
I agree that updates wouldn’t be sent while you’re driving, but that doesn’t rule out defective updates or hacking. ---
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528/27 "2015-03-23T21:16:56Z")
Actually, the updates can be sent while you’re driving. They can’t be applied unless the car is in park. > [@davidm](#): > > And now you’re going to tell me why that’s impossible. Nope. It’s silly to say that it’s impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528/28 "2015-03-24T02:50:07Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > That means\* it is just software problem [emphasis added]\* and not a hardware problem so I suspect within a year or two they will get it fixed. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard “It’s just a software problem,” or “We’ll fix it in software,” on major engineering technology development programs which later went vastly overbudget or experienced major technical programs before being cancelled or several curtailed, viz. Delta III, NASP, Hyper-X, HOTOL, F-35, et cetera, I’d be sitting in a penthouse in Las Vegas pissing into milk bottles with dozens of people waiting in the wings with fraudulent wills to inherent my billions. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528/29 "2015-03-24T12:15:30Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > It opens it up to hackers. > > And now you’re going to tell me why that’s impossible. > > I’ve worked with software too long, and there have been too many instances of exploits of secure systems, to accept that something that can be connected to and written to is ever totally un-hackable. > > Imagine a time in the future when the majority of cars on our roads have wirelessly updatable software. Imagine that some hackers, maybe a foreign government, find a flaw in the security, or maybe they have a mole working for the company that writes the software. Imagine the chaos that could occur. Tesla has said that there’s a security key built into its patches. This sounds all well & good except, human nature being what it is, this key is almost certainly sitting in a file on some Tesla engineer’s computer, with a name like “software patch key” or “security key,” and located in an easy-to-access folder, if not sitting right on the computer desktop. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528/30 "2015-03-24T12:34:28Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Guessing it’s related to the new software update from Tesla that will let the car know when miles to dead battery is greater than miles to a charging station to help eliminate [“range anxiety.”](http://www.wired.com/2015/03/teslas-plan-kill-range-anxiety/) My level of admiration for Tesla just went down a couple notches. Why the hell didn’t they have this out there a couple years ago, when the Model S first appeared? Is it that they were coasting on the freakin’ huge battery pack, figuring nobody’s going to be draining that dry every day (at least, not until they got the Supercharger network up and running)? Given the heat they took from Clooney about running out of juice constantly in a Roadster, you’d think a “Hey, buddy, charge this thing once in a while, mmkay?” alarm would have been part of the standard package from day one. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528/31 "2015-03-24T15:11:57Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > No, they’ll make adjustments as well. Here’s the [Skoda](http://www.euroncap.com/en/ratings-rewards/euro-ncap-advanced-rewards/2013-skoda-lane-assistant/) version. It is something that may be fitted as standard on my next car (a fairly run-of-the-mill Skoda Octavia) it’ll also have adaptive [cruise control and other sensors](http://www.skoda-auto.com/en/models/new-octavia/assistants). So there is no reason why my car couldn’t do long stretches of uncrowded highway “hands-off” I’ve seen lane keep assist functions that use braking, also. When the hardware is in place (sensors, cameras) it really does come down to software. However, that’s also the hardest part by far. Creating an algorithm that can read road signs, discern a traffic light color or tell if a driver is watching the road takes a lot of time and money. ---
**Author:** ![Paxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Paxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paxx)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528/32 "2015-03-24T16:29:00Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Why the hell didn’t they have this out there a couple years ago, when the Model S first appeared? What do you mean by “this”? The recent announcement was about [Range Assurance and Trip Planner](http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/model-s-has-you-covered), both of which are based on an extensive Tesla charging network that didn’t exist when the Model S was introduced. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-tech-geeks-out/715528.md?page=1)