Nav System: A brief look

[MikeK]

I would definitely like LTE, even as a later upgrade.

 

[contaygious]

Do you really want to pay for lte though? I already have on my phone so will just use as a hotspot for everything in the car. I do this for my iPad now.

 

[MikeK]

That's a good point. If that hotspot stuff works smoothly, it could be okay with my iPhone's LTE. Assuming that Apple announces same in September as expected, naturally. ;-)

 

[chmod a+wrx]

That's a good point. If that hotspot stuff works smoothly, it could be okay with my iPhone's LTE. Assuming that Apple announces same in September as expected, naturally. ;-)

I have a couple issues with using my phone in this manner.....

• It's a Tesla!!!!!! I would expect the wireless system to be as good or better than my phone!!!!
• Data limits. I run close to it every month......if I start using it as a hotspot, I'd be well over.........

 

[FalconNinetyD]

It would be nice if the car had some sort of QoS capabilities, where it would prioritize data traffic for the nav, instead of the passengers using the wifi hot spot...

 

[contaygious]

Wouldn't it be cheaper with one plan and more data? My office pays for my phone so I assume I have unlimited data because I use a ton of it! The only thing I would use my car internet for probably is music anyway. Maybe yelp or something, but typing on my phone is way quicker for a yelp lookup. Hopefully the nav has the zagat ratings built in like google does so I can browse local places based on my location easily.

 

[FalconNinetyD]

An interesting photo from the XC in a Model S Blog

 

[donauker]

An interesting photo from the XC in a Model S Blog

View attachment 9684

Awesome! Looks like Navigon!

 

[contaygious]

That's sick! So glad I have that coming

 

[1young1]

That looks cool!

 

[AnOutsider]

Wow, that's indeed pretty sexy

 

[dsm363]

Very cool indeed. For all the complaints about pricing, this would be a $4,000 option in a Mercedes of BMW considering their seemingly inferior navigation options usually go for around $2,000.

 

[MikeK]

I like the "Cruise On" indicator, too.

 

[TEG]

...
I now drive a Leaf which comes standard with an outstanding navigation system. I live on an island where I could hardly get lost if I tried so I do not use the system for navigation. However, I have used it many times to locate public charging stations in my vicinity when running low on charge. Based on my experience it is my strong opinion that all electric cars should have a basic navigation system to locate public charging stations in their vicinity.

Recargo and PlugShare apps are sufficient but they use the internal GPS feature of the smartphone to pinpoint your location. If a Model S driver leaves their smart phone at home, runs low on charge in an unusual place and has not spent $3,750 on the tech package, they could be in serious trouble. I don't think we can assume this scenario could only happen to an idiot or that it might happen with a Leaf but never a Model S.

What do you think? Should Model S without the tech package have a basic navigation feature to pinpoint public charging stations in its vicinity?

I agree strongly. Part of the solution to so called "range anxiety" is being able to make it easy to find what limited public charging infrastructure is available within range.
I use the LEAF nav all the time to find J1772. It includes some very useful features like:
#1: Public charging station updates automatically sent to the vehicle periodically.
#2: It can be set to remember on the map (automatically) any place you manage to charge as a charging location.
(So, for instance, I can see my house and my in-laws house on the map now as places it knows I charged before.)

By the way, the picture of the freeway signs and highway lanes from the Model S in this thread looks cool !

 

[AnOutsider]

Thanks for the update! Should we take it that maps are not stored locally on the unit since you get the black areas when out of cell coverage?

 

[Cottonwood]

Thanks for the update! Should we take it that maps are not stored locally on the unit since you get the black areas when out of cell coverage?

That is exactly correct. The maps are downloaded dynamicly via the cellular data connection.

 

[Francis Lau]

Thanks for the update! Should we take it that maps are not stored locally on the unit since you get the black areas when out of cell coverage?

I am baffled. I thought the tech package had a nav system with locally stored data and does not rely on cell coverage.

 

[shokunin]

I am baffled. I thought the tech package had a nav system with locally stored data and does not rely on cell coverage.

+1, I hate it when my iphone does this, cuz it starts to tile in the worst moments possible as I come up on an interchange. Shouldn't it have some coverage stored locally? The satellite view, I can understand not storing locally, but at least the vector maps should be stored somewhere...

 

[kevincwelch]

Thanks for posting, and nice pictures!

The maps are downloaded dynamicly via the cellular data connection.

This is not a good thing, and I hope Tesla is modifying that. Especially with the tech package, there should be ample space to have locally stored maps for this very problem. I am sure that most of us will not encounter this problem (being in cellular range), but it could present a problem in any circumstance when cellular service is poor (as it did in your case).

(Why this is an issue when my $300 Garmin has locally stored maps is befuddling to me. Perhaps because it is Google maps.)

I wonder if your driver handle issue is going to be reproducible for all those like myself who live in cold weather environments.

 

[Cottonwood]

(Why this is an issue when my $300 Garmin has locally stored maps is befuddling to me. Perhaps because it is Google maps.)

It is Google Maps!

With some memory, it is very possible to do look aheads and caching of data. On the iPhone and iPad, the cache size seems to be much greater. When I know that I am going into areas without cell coverage, I zoom the map on my iPad there while in coverage, the GPS always works (cell or not), then I can have a reference in the non-coverage areas. Tesla/Google should be able to do this well for the Nav app.