There was a lot more to that story but just to be clear it was not just the fact that Tesla had Over-The-Air/OTA capability which allowed it to be "tuned" *BUT* that they had hardware designs that allowed software to talk to some of the hardware that is not normally the case. Often it is built into the firmware on the device. ie. Chevrolet Bolt had wiper motor issues in Canada and they had to replace the motors since the software involved was in the 3rd party/supplier motor and they didn't have software communication access within the car (recall notices described this). My Volt has needed software/firmware flashed. I have to take it to the dealer. They either hardwire a cable to it or download software to a USB depending....
When Consumer Reports first tested the Model 3 they rated it unacceptable because the braking distance was too long. Elon tweeted that a software update to fix it would be out shortly, and within a few days they sent an update out that fixed the problem. Consumer Reports then retested the car and confirmed the brakes were now working fine. What other car company could have done this? Any other manufacturer would have needed to initiate a major recall, which would have cost millions of dollars and wasted everyone’s time with additional service visits. That is what makes Tesla so impressive.
Several videos and stories on the hardware and software aspects of this scenario that help describe the solution. Similarly, software tuning of various aspects have allowed for advanced 'Track Mode' features to be OTA added to the Model 3s.
In retesting after the software update was downloaded, the Model 3 sedan stopped in 133 feet from 60 miles per hour, an improvement of 19 feet. Jake Fisher, director of auto testing at Consumer Reports, described the improvement as unprecedented.
“I’ve been at CR for 19 years and tested more than 1,000 cars, and I’ve never seen a car that could improve its track performance with an over-the-air update,” he said in a statement.
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