Awaking from the dark ages as we are, my wife and I do not have smartphones (but we do have cash to purchase a nice S85, so no snickering!!). At the moment I'm stubborn and unwilling to entertain ridiculous phone bills so I'm exploring alternate options for getting the functionality of the App without incurring additional costs. My best idea so far is to grab a lightly used iPod Touch off eBay (penny saved = penny earned), install the App, and then keep the iPod with the car. We'll be switching drivers on a regular basis. When the car is home the iPod would live by the garage door so the state of the car could be checked without going out there, preheating, cooling, whatever (I'll probably rig up a wall-mount for it). When at work, the driver would take the iPod and use workplace WiFi to access the car for the same purpose. When traveling, I think most SpC locations have businesses (Starbucks and the like) with free WiFi also. Also, by having the iPod along would provide for audiobooks and maybe some games for the little creatures (some people call them "children"). Anything I'm missing? Would this work? Is there a better solution w/o the ongoing expense of smartphones? Recommendations for iPod specs/generation I should be shopping for? Thanks!
You can run VisibleTesla on any PC or Mac (or even multiple machines at the same time). If you're on your computer, you can monitor the charge state and other things.
Can you provide a link to a VisibleTesla download? I can't seem to find one on the interwebs... - - - Updated - - - and nevermind. After turning on some brain cells I found it. http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/19975-VisibleTesla
The only improvement I would suggest is to acquire *two* iPod Touch devices, and then each driver can simply carry one with them. And when the whole family is traveling, both kids can glue their eyeballs to their own screen, rather than enjoy the countryside silently whizzing past.
Yup, two original iPads w/o a data plan plus one wireless hard drive = movies and tv shows for endless hours of driving.
Perhaps consider looking for an iPod a Touch with a mobile phone inside as well. That would allow you to check the car wherever you are and even occasionally make calls.....
From a laptop you can use the extension I wrote Chrome Web Store - Tesla Model S Control It is a little more user friendly than Visible Tesla (only pre-req is having chrome installed), and I hope to have some better images soon.
Cool! The Chrome extension might help @ my wife's workplace where installing Visible Tesla isn't possible. I'll definitely keep that link handy.
I too have no cell phone, at all. I stole my wife's ipod touch when she got a nexus. I kind of carry it like a cell phone now since there are so many free wifi places (never know when you need to startle people looking at you car by unlocking and locking it, or really scare them w/ a horn blast) + I have a crappy camera for random Tesla moments visible tesla is really nice too. (laptop too big for pocket)