Navigation/ maps in no cell signal areas (newbie here)

[Az_Rael]

Question for you experts while I (impatiently) await my CPO. How does NAV work in cell phone "holes"? Specifically, can I bring up the built-in maps on the big screen to find a detour if needed in a cell phone hole? (I have lots of no cell signal areas near me, FYI)

I know the built in maps can run a destination while off-line, but what about when your route is blocked in a remote area and you have to re-route on the fly by looking at the map to find a open path (due to fire, snow, flash flood, etc)?

 

[Maximapolak]

I've also been curious about this. Maybe that is why they're thinking of making an internet satellite.

 

[mrElbe]

You are out of luck with the Google maps in a cell hole.

 

[svp6]

Question for you experts while I (impatiently) await my CPO. How does NAV work in cell phone "holes"? Specifically, can I bring up the built-in maps on the big screen to find a detour if needed in a cell phone hole? (I have lots of no cell signal areas near me, FYI)

I know the built in maps can run a destination while off-line, but what about when your route is blocked in a remote area and you have to re-route on the fly by looking at the map to find a open path (due to fire, snow, flash flood, etc)?

 

[svp6]

You cannot reroute when you have no cell signal. And I don't know if you could enter a new destination by typing, but entering a pre-set destination works (home, work etc).

 

[NovemberXray]

You won't get traffic info, and you cannot load new google maps (the maps shown on the center display) when you're offline. However, if you already had a route loaded most likely the maps, at least of the immediate area, are already loaded. You CAN get directions, including the small map shown on the console to anywhere, but you have to enter the address, you can't search. The actual guidance uses a different system, and onboard data, not google.

 

[bob_p]

Originally the upgraded audio system was supposed to provide on-board music storage. The spec was later changed to eliminate on-board storage (which really isn't necessary due to the inexpensive USB storage available now), presumably so that the onboard storage could be used for caching the Google map data.

However, without cell coverage, it doesn't appear much, if any of the map data is being cached. After my car "upgraded" to 8.0, I've been having frequent problems with the Google maps - each morning when leaving my house, when transitioning from WiFi back to cell data, I have minutes when the map data isn't being updated - with may blank squares on the maps - areas that shouldn't have changed since last driving my car. That seems to indicate there isn't any map caching locally - so if there isn't cell data access, the console maps will be blank.

Without WiFi (which could be to a cell phone hotspot) or AT&T cell network access, you also lose the real-time traffic data and the ability to do navigation with anything other than a specific address (which evidently goes directly to the 2 year old Garmin map data stored on board).

For EAP and FSD to work, they really need up-to-date navigation data (the stale Garmin data is already out-of-date when we receive the annual updates) - plus to provide routing at least as good as a human driver, the routing needs to take into account real-time traffic data. If Tesla is counting on Internet access to make this work, isn't that going to be a problem? If the car is in an area where there isn't AT&T data coverage, or the AT&T network is done (which has happened), will EAP/FSD be unusable???

 

[LilWanFu]

I don't know but if you're in Buckhannon, WV...you need AT&T or US Cellular. The first road trip back from touring a college campus with my stepdaughter, I was out of luck on then, Verizon. Thankfully, I had an AT&T mobile hotspot with me and used that to get Internet back and nav out of the area. So long as I routed the trip first, even if I lost signal, I was still good to go.

 

[Az_Rael]

Hmmm, that is too bad that you can't utilize the built in maps on the main screen in a pinch. I might buy one of those navigation apps that do download the maps onto your phone then (I think the Tom Tom app does that).

Or I go really old school: DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer: California

Trying to get any signal on any carrier when passing through our lovely desert areas is an adventure. I spent 4 days in Death Valley last year at Stovepipe Wells without any cell service (that's getting away from it all for sure). With the superchargers in Beatty and Lone Pine (and RV hookups in Furnace Creek) I figure I could do Death Valley in the Model S if I wanted to.

 

[bob_p]

Sadly a number of Tesla owners use the navigation software on their smartphones because of the limitations of the onboard software.

When there is internet connectivity, the Google satellite maps look fantastic on the 17" console display - but the nav software is extremely limited and is still missing basic features like way points, warnings about upcoming traffic restrictions, route customization, ...

Since most navigation is done in relatively close proximity, it should be possible for the software to cache the nearby satellite maps and up-to-date navigation data - and be able to operate without requiring a constant Internet connection.

Of course, that would require some major changes to the navigation software - though it seems likely that's going to be needed to fully implement the vision for EAP and FSD.

 

[aesculus]

You cannot reroute when you have no cell signal. And I don't know if you could enter a new destination by typing, but entering a pre-set destination works (home, work etc).

I did it the other day. There was no Google map for the location, the LTE indicator said it was dead and the destination input was there. It said something like off line input. So it would take a destination and route to it but you could not see the routing on the big map. Also you could not scroll outside of your current route on the big map with anything other than the common gray grid.

I was not able to test this to a destination because after about 15 minutes I got a cell signal again.

 

[Eclectic]

Because of the severe limitations of the Tesla maps system, I have a very good map app on my phone (Backcountry Navigator) and I download maps for areas I know won't have cell coverage. The maps are very detailed and as long as your phone's gps is working, you'll have a usable map. For example, traveling up Highway 1 between SF and the Oregon border you'll find long stretches that have no cell data coverage.

It's saved me quite a few times. Last winter we were on a part of Highway 1 without coverage and there was a nasty storm that closed the road. The Tesla map was blank due to no data coverage. We were able to get around the closed road by using Backcountry Navigator.

 

[Airport Dog]

I just use TomTom where there is no cell coverage, which is most of Oregon. Google maps when you need to enter a destination's GPS coordinates and there is a mobile signal.