Navigation system really is not even close to TomTom....

[ValleyGeek]

I previously had a Ford Edge with Sync 3 before getting my Tesla. The screen and UI in the Tesla are infinitely better but I miss many of the navigation related features I had in the Edge. I went on a cross-country road trip and used the Edge's navigation to find rest areas, restaurants, refueling stations (with costs), other POI's, and more "along route" which was spectacular. Basically it was the addition of waypoints but so much more. Dynamically adding, editing, and removing the waypoint destinations was extremely useful on a trip we purposely didn't plan meticulously before leaving. In the current state of the Tesla navigation system, I would still trade it for the non-google maps with all the features I had in the Edge. I generally will defer to function over form though.

*However*, one of the best things about the Tesla is that they are truly treating it like a platform and actively improving the user experience. I fully believe that once they get Auto Pilot to a mostly completed state that they will invest much more time on the MCUs and surpass the experience you can get from most other GPS or existing infotainment systems. At the very least, I expect they'll get the browsers working better which would open up a limitless option set for what's on the screen.

I don't like to claim that Tesla's are perfect, but I see where they have so much potential and I have little doubt that with the companie's current direction we will be seeing more and more great things over time.

 

[Mewtwo]

Joking aside, we definitely could use a waypoint update. Sometimes I’d like to know the estimated battery % and the end of a multilag trip, and the only way to find it is thru a 3rd party website. Google map app on smartphones also allows you to search restaurants etc along your route and tells you how many extra mins of detour is needed, which is very neat. I hope it can be ported to Tesla NAV one day.

 

[bob_p]

I don't like to claim that Tesla's are perfect, but I see where they have so much potential and I have little doubt that with the companie's current direction we will be seeing more and more great things over time.

I've had a similar philosophy since purchasing our first Tesla (S P85) in early 2013 - with Tesla's strategy of providing OTA updates and controlling everything through the user interface, there is huge potential to continue to add new functionality and make improvements after purchase - something no other manufacturer is currently able (or willing) to do.

However... That potential can only be realized if Tesla invests development resources to implement those new features.

In the early years with only the Model S, it was understandable Tesla had limited development resources and needed to focus those on critical software developments - so we didn't see many improvements to the media player and navigation software, other than periodic user interface "improvements". Other than the UI improvements, we haven't seen many new features added to the Media Player since 2013, still missing obvious features like playlists - and we still lack many of the smartphone integration features (voice-to-text, text-to-voice, screen mirroring) present in other vehicles.

With the navigation software, it was understandable that Tesla was limited because the actual navigation work was being done in software provided by Navigon/Garmin, which made it difficult for Tesla to implement a lot of changes. When Tesla shifted to the new navigation software, Musk stated this would make it easier for Tesla to (finally) add missing features like waypoints.

Still waiting...

Even if it's only part of one developer working on easter eggs or Atari games - would prefer they focus more on adding these missing features (or attacking the long and growing list of media player bugs).

 

[shinytop]

It occurs to me that a company that is searching for funding and struggling every quarter and lining up new vehicles to bring to market has scant resources to add functionality to its nav program or its entertainment features.

 

[Fellsteruk]

It occurs to me that a company that is searching for funding and struggling every quarter and lining up new vehicles to bring to market has scant resources to add functionality to its nav program or its entertainment features.

Struggling? Don’t feel they are god know they need logistics help and someone to help with their delivery of key messaging

But their cash flow and orders are healthy so whilst they may not have 40+ billion in the bank like Apple they are far from struggling...

Let’s not forget, debt is a normal thing for anyone and any business asbis raising cash especially for new companies like Tesla, in the grand scheme of things they are super young

And yes waypoints would be super to have, we need that,

@elon musk, can we have waypoints before you intergrate real-time weather?

 

[bob_p]

It occurs to me that a company that is searching for funding and struggling every quarter and lining up new vehicles to bring to market has scant resources to add functionality to its nav program or its entertainment features.

This was the excuse in the early years of the Model S - and when Tesla had very few vehicles on the road.

Tesla is a much bigger company now - and adding just a handful of developers to focus on new features for nav/media player would be a relatively small expense.

Since it hasn't happened, this is more likely due to a conscious decision by management NOT to invest in app improvement - and seem to believe that having a farting app is more important than waypoints or fixing the many media player bugs (really - how hard could it be to get the media player to remember what was playing when you last were in the vehicle?).

 

[hallcp]

Wow, that qTesla Forecast website is neat. I've often wanted a quick weather radar view of my current location.

Very slick.

 

[TonyT]

Waypoints would be really nice. However this has been the best in car navigation I ever had. Easy to use on screen or voice, easy to send any address from phone with the address coming from texts, google maps, apple maps, yelp, etc...

 

[MXWing]

Tesla's electric car is better than TomTom's electric car.

TomTom The Tesla Thrasher would be an amazing Business Insider headline.

 

[rocky1234]

There are a number of great features present in Tesla's NAV software that are not available in other vehicle NAV systems.

The large console maps, with satellite images, looks fantastic.

Routing through Tesla superchargers helps make driving easier when driving further than the current charge.

However, there are areas that could be made even better.

Waypoints are needed for trips (with one or more waypoints) that are longer than the current charge. This is what Tesla already does with trips that require stopping at multiple superchargers - and should be extended to account for the additional distance travelled when going to waypoints on the your way to the final destination.

Helping with POIs along the route - is another area that could be improved for long distance travel - to make it easier to look for items like restaurants, shopping or ATMs are the upcoming exits on a road trip. With the current search capability, you can do that, but it gets cumbersome in trying to do that at each of the upcoming exits.

And, with NOAP, it would also be helpful if we could customize the route - like you can do with Google maps - dragging the route onto the roads that you want to use. Under NOAP, when you decide you don't like the route, the software will be very insistent in trying to move towards the exit ramp it wants to use - and then eventually relent and recalculate the route - and if that isn't what you want, you'll repeat the process until you and the NAV software agree on the route you want to follow.

While the current NAV software has some nice features - Tesla should continue to make improvements - especially when there are features that will be likely present in competing EVs.

Thanks @bob_p and @arubinst for getting the jist of the message I was trying to get across. It seems like there are a lot of members here who just want to reply to any message thinking that either they are too geniuses (look out the window for weather, buy a TomTom for Tesla) or too stupid or just want to kill time thinking they are too funny.

This is reply to other members who have replied to my post. Thanks. Yes I know what the google does. So are you going to drive or search the google for damn everything while driving? If you have bought Tesla for just roaming around your neighborhood, then I don't have to say anything to you guys, you are right in your own mind.

I have never seen any NAV which is whitish gray on white background (not the night mode which is totally insane). Can you see any rivers or lakes or water in blue, any highways highlighted in red with thick lines, any exits highlighted at all or in nice different colors. Yes, I am comparing Tesla NAV to Nissan Rogue's NAV. I have both vehicles.

I agree there are a lot of other good features of Tesla NAV. But I am talking about the basic features which are very important to find information fast and help you navigate, not just the one bold blue line to your destination. Not to mention that this blue line to destination shows South direction always going up and North direction going down even though (common sense suggests) that red arrow should always point upwards where you are going, not the downwards (going to bottom of screen).

The street names are not even recognized correctly. I get the left name of street when going right which has a different name. There are tons of streets which have different names on the left and right.

With the new upgrade we just received this week, now the broken red street lines are being shown on the NAV. That means Mr Musk knows everything which is missing on his NAV but wants to update it slowly to remain in the limelight.

More in the next post. Sorry about being bold but then this is the truth, believe it or not.

 

[shinytop]

One wonders what else you don't know about the Tesla's navigation system. The manual clearly states you have a choice of having the car symbol always heading up on the display or north always up.

 

[MXWing]

I could have all the *sugar* OP requested, navigate a bunch of menus or I could just tell my navi where I actually want to go?

Who wants to select the mall from a list of shops?

It’s like asking for the turn of the century again.

Wtf

 

[Bluewish]

Is this a joke?

With the Tesla nav, you have the power of Google Maps for searching. Have you even tried entering "arbitrary" text in the search field? You can ask for any kind of food (fast food, asian, italian, etc.), any kind of store (by name, type of product they sell, etc), tourist attractions, airports (by name in several languages, airport code, etc.), whole or partial adresses, parking lots, superchargers, etc. You can also see stars-based Google reviews of the search results (awesome for restaurants).

I haven't tried using a phone number, but I wouldn't be surprised if it worked, since it does work on regular Google maps.

My friends are actually blown away by how seamless and powerful the search is in my Tesla. Now, if you want to permanently show POI icons, indeed, you cannot do that (of course, it depends on your needs. The only POIs I used to display with my old car were gas stations...). Weather is not available either (and I was not aware that every low priced car had this kind of information).

Weather is in the browser. I check it all the time. Sometimes it is slow but it is there, so you don't miss anything in the Tesla.

 

[Big Earl]

Thanks @bob_p and @arubinst for getting the jist of the message I was trying to get across. It seems like there are a lot of members here who just want to reply to any message thinking that either they are too geniuses (look out the window for weather, buy a TomTom for Tesla) or too stupid or just want to kill time thinking they are too funny.

This is reply to other members who have replied to my post. Thanks. Yes I know what the google does. So are you going to drive or search the google for damn everything while driving? If you have bought Tesla for just roaming around your neighborhood, then I don't have to say anything to you guys, you are right in your own mind.

I have never seen any NAV which is whitish gray on white background (not the night mode which is totally insane). Can you see any rivers or lakes or water in blue, any highways highlighted in red with thick lines, any exits highlighted at all or in nice different colors. Yes, I am comparing Tesla NAV to Nissan Rogue's NAV. I have both vehicles.

I agree there are a lot of other good features of Tesla NAV. But I am talking about the basic features which are very important to find information fast and help you navigate, not just the one bold blue line to your destination. Not to mention that this blue line to destination shows South direction always going up and North direction going down even though (common sense suggests) that red arrow should always point upwards where you are going, not the downwards (going to bottom of screen).

The street names are not even recognized correctly. I get the left name of street when going right which has a different name. There are tons of streets which have different names on the left and right.

With the new upgrade we just received this week, now the broken red street lines are being shown on the NAV. That means Mr Musk knows everything which is missing on his NAV but wants to update it slowly to remain in the limelight.

More in the next post. Sorry about being bold but then this is the truth, believe it or not.

You should take some time to familiarize yourself with how the Tesla navigation system works. There is a setting for NORTH UP or HEADING UP, depending on which you prefer. When I'm navigating, I prefer heading up. When I'm not navigating, I prefer north up. There is an icon in the top right of your map... touch it to toggle through the display settings.

 

[PrGrPa]

Hilarious. While the Tom Tom algorithms are pretty good I never find myself wanting to go back to a Tom Tom.

I can understand an interest in an old database of waypoints and stuff in a SatNav back in the day. These days there are these smart phone gizmos that have all that sort of stuff in spades.

The Tesla navigation system does a fair job of finding things I want to go to. Hey, if you zoom in you’ll see a bunch of local-to-you locations start to get labelled. Some of them might be of interest.

 

[cwerdna]

Tom Tom? Are they still in business??? Who the heck uses Tom Tom in the age of Waze and Google maps?

There are. They also bought Tele Atlas, one of the two major map data providers.

For the longest time, there were only two: Tele Atlas and Navteq, now called Here.

 

[bob_p]

Having owned a Tesla since 2013, I've seen firsthand the evolution of the onboard software since the early Model S software releases.

Tesla seems live in a world of "rapid prototyping" on their software. They'll quickly deliver 90% of the functionality when they release the new features and do so with a UI that looks great. But they never get around to delivering the remaining 10% and finish out the functionality users want to have in a completed product.

This happened with the first navigation app - other than adding the trip planner through superchargers, they didn't make any major changes after the first release.

This is still happening with the media player, that has had several UI changes, and hasn't had much improvement in functionality since 2012 (and actually lost some functionality when they removed source selection from the steering wheel and the station slider for XM radio).

And we're seeing this again with the new navigation app. Musk claimed the new version would allow them to add long-missing features - and that hasn't happened yet.

In most software organizations, when you deliver a major piece of functionality, you keep some resources on that code, fixing bugs and continuing to develop the remaining features.

That doesn't appear to be Tesla's philosophy - instead they go "all in" to implement major features - and then appear to shift resources onto the next big change.

As long as Tesla didn't have any EV competition - they could get away with this. They will be at increasing risk as other manufacturers bring out their long range EVs - which will (eventually) have more completely implement apps, or major features like Apple CarPlay/Android Auto - which Tesla has promised (with an alternate screen mirroring implementation) and hasn't delivered.

Though... Despite missing obvious features, the Tesla onboard software overall is the best available today...

 

[MXWing]

Thanks @bob_p and @arubinst for getting the jist of the message I was trying to get across. It seems like there are a lot of members here who just want to reply to any message thinking that either they are too geniuses (look out the window for weather, buy a TomTom for Tesla) or too stupid or just want to kill time thinking they are too funny.

When sit down at a table and think that everyone is a patsy:

You are either an Oracle that sees things that no one else can’t.

Or just maybe - you might be the patsy.

 

[BryWay]

Is this a joke?

With the Tesla nav, you have the power of Google Maps for searching. Have you even tried entering "arbitrary" text in the search field? You can ask for any kind of food (fast food, asian, italian, etc.), any kind of store (by name, type of product they sell, etc), tourist attractions, airports (by name in several languages, airport code, etc.), whole or partial adresses, parking lots, superchargers, etc. You can also see stars-based Google reviews of the search results (awesome for restaurants).

I haven't tried using a phone number, but I wouldn't be surprised if it worked, since it does work on regular Google maps.

My friends are actually blown away by how seamless and powerful the search is in my Tesla. Now, if you want to permanently show POI icons, indeed, you cannot do that (of course, it depends on your needs. The only POIs I used to display with my old car were gas stations...). Weather is not available either (and I was not aware that every low priced car had this kind of information).

I just came off a three year lease on a fully loaded 2016 BMW 7 Series. It had all of the aforementioned features in its nav system, but it was way too much work trying to search for things using the iDrive control wheel. I absolutely LOVE having a near full-sized on-screen keyboard as part of the nav system in my Tesla -- and combined with the power of Google searches, the destination possibilities are endless.

I do understand what the OP is wanting to see added, but from my perspective, I'd turn all of that crap off anyway. I keep it pure and search for what *I* want.

 

[rush6410]

There just doesn't seem that anything would help the OP especially since the OP didn't ask for it. I would argue everything the OP complained about is represented with Tesla's nav but differently. The OP would actually need to learn the functionality which might be too much to ask. But, at a minimum the OP may want to ask "the google". Maybe if the OP admitted to complete ignorance on how to use the navigation system and kindly asked for help, the OP may get some informative tips and help.