Update of Alder 1.2.0
Last year, when upgrading 8155, I missed the Aspen and Alder fleets consecutively. Seeing the subsequent SOTA fleets of members, I was very envious, but could only watch. π€ͺ Luckily, I caught up with the Alder 1.2.0 fleet this time, haha. π
Without further ado, here are some of my user experiences, sorted by the degree of obviousness according to my personal perception.
Remaining Battery Life
The most obvious change is the display of “Remaining Battery Life” in the lower left corner of the dashboard. Previously, it showed remaining range. Now, percentage has been added.
After nearly three years of owning my car, I no longer care about the “remaining range”. It is just a number. When it is below 100, I arrange to go for a battery swap. Sometimes, I also ask my car friends “how much range is left” and roughly estimate whether I can drive back home safely.
Aspen 3.0.0, released on August 30, 2021, added “estimated range,” resulting in two numbers fighting on the screen. Fortunately, “estimated range” can be hidden from the dashboard.
This time, the percentage added another dimension, fortunately it always existed on the mobile App. Compared with “estimated range,” it is not a stranger’s face.π€£
NOMI
The second most obvious update is NOMI, which I think has become more talkative.
The upgrade log mentioned three things: 1. Added voice interaction support related to battery swap orders. 2. Added safety reminders for other vehicles/pedestrians when opening the door. 3. Added a reassuring reminder to fasten the seat belt when getting on.
For me, all three features are useful, but unnecessary. π€ͺ
The first new feature interferes with the interaction of battery swaps. My habit for swapping batteries is to navigate to a certain battery swap station, and then the car console will pop up and prompt me to confirm whether to “automatically place an order”. This popup has a countdown, and I can just automatically select the option to place an order without any processing. Only when I go to check-in without swapping batteries do I need to manually select the gray button.# NIO ES8 ownerβs review: new features and upgrades
As a translator for the automotive industry, my job is to provide English translations, proofread the spelling and revise the expressions. Here is the output with corrections and improvements. I will only provide amended and enhanced parts, without explanations.
Now, when I ask NOMI to navigate to a battery swap station, it starts mumbling away without a pause. And when I give a command, it sometimes mistakes the background music for my voice. π
The second and third new features cause further disruptions. The seatbelt reminder only applies to the front passenger seat, but my passengers always buckle up as soon as they get in. Even when they forget or simply cannot fasten the seatbelt in time, the “ding-ding” sound does not come across as a reprimand. Now that NOMI is speaking, I feel like being scolded.
The open-door reminder is similarly superfluous. All passengers have developed a good safety habit. As the driver, I keep an eye on the rear-view mirror and give prior warnings. Now two people are doing the same thing, but the driver, bearing full liability for door-related accidents, feels insecure and NOMI has nothing to do with it. π€ͺ
These functions were launched too late. I have already formed my habits, and now this interference is unwelcome. I hope NIO can pay more attention to those afraid of social interaction and add more finely grained switches for these features in future updates. π
Amap
The third update is obviously targeted at “Amap”.
The upgrade log only mentions “New feature: Share Amap location to the car in one click.”, but from my observations, there is also an “Upload driving path” feature.
Let’s talk about sharing, as it was impossible to share the destination on Amap App before. Although you could initiate the sharing function through the share button, the NIO App would pop up a black box saying, “Address cannot be resolved, please search it on the car’s map.” It was quite embarrassing.
The NIO App also has a “Send navigation” feature, but it is not a full-featured map app compared to Amap. Unless you know the name and address of the destination and only want to send a navigation instruction, I don’t think I would ever use it.
After the update, things have changed. There are now two ways to share the navigation destination. In practice, the “Send” option on the left sometimes fails, while the “Share” option at the bottom almost always works. It seems that cooperation with Amap has taken a step forward, and I hope to see “lane-level navigation” online soon. π«£
# Alder 1.2.0 Release Notes
Improvements in Driving Path Upload
In terms of driving path upload, I have been paying attention to Amap’s “Footprint Ranking” for some kind of perverse pleasure. π In the past, in order to participate, I had to turn on navigation in the Amap app on my phone. But now, the car can automatically upload driving path data without doing so, and I can automatically participate in the “Footprint Ranking”.
Moreover, it can no longer obtain data from the phone’s accelerometer, and thus does not calculate my aggressive acceleration, braking, or turning behavior. As a result, Amap gives me a perfect score for every journey, which is really satisfying. If you don’t step on the accelerator pedal, might as well jump into the sea. π
Okay, let me explain a bit more. Most of my violent acceleration behavior is not recognized as “aggressive acceleration” by the NIO app. I just simply don’t like Amap’s algorithm for evaluating electric cars based on gasoline cars.
Other Enhancements
Below are some upgrades that may not be obvious, but are important to NIO in my opinion.
Three Modes
Alder 1.2.0’s three modes are: No Power Off When Leaving the Car, Camping Mode, and Pet Mode.
For me, “No Power Off When Leaving the Car” will be more frequently used, such as using the restroom at a service area, without having to break a long journey into two halves. You’ll understand when you look at the monthly report- I clearly drove over 300 kilometers continuously, but because I shifted to “P” gear briefly in the middle, the “single longest journey” for “this month’s best” cannot reflect it. π§
Originally, I thought that just setting a time with no power off would do, but it turns out that it still needs to be manually activated. This is not what I expected, as it may still save energy by delaying the shutdown for ten minutes after shifting to the “P” gear.
After using it once, the onboard system will suggest adding a shortcut for convenient use in the future. This operation is quite user-friendly.
I haven’t tried the Camping Mode and Pet Mode.
Support for NIO Air AR Glasses
Do you want to deceive me into buying more accessories? π€¨Optimized Low Speed Alert
It is said that the low-speed alert in the car cannot be heard now, or as NIO puts it, “reduces the perception of sound in the cabin”.
Now, I can finally invite the friend who asked me “Why is the motor so loud?” two years ago to test NIO again.
New Option for Cruise Speed Adjustment Mode
Now, you can change the NP/NOP cruise speed adjustment behavior. Before, it was a short press to change 1km/h and a long press to change 5km/h. Now, you can change it to a short press of 5km/h and a long press of 1km/h.
I haven’t changed this setting yet because I have been driving it for nearly three years and I have already formed a habit.
A Little Life Experience
My old car that is about to be discontinued can still receive software updates, and I am grateful. From this upgrade, it can be seen that NIO is still continuously iterating. Many new features this time were released from NT2.0’s Banyan platform. Although it was a bit slow, it happened in the end. NIO did a really good job on this.
I can also see that cooperation with third-party manufacturers is deepening. For example, the upgrade of “Amap” this time is finally not like a half-finished product. Next, I’m going to start looking forward to the upgrade of “Tencent Video”.
But I still think that some of the modifications challenge my driving habits, and I hope to add some switches to retain old habits. The “cruise speed adjustment mode” is really good in giving users the choice of habits. Compared with this, the “remaining battery percentage” is a bit dominant.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.