Tesla in-car navigation and efficency.

I have been relying on my navigation in the M3 for most of my journeys (Unless i know my way around without a map)

Last week i was looking at my Google maps on my laptop (same on Android phone) and when you input your directions from A to B, the maps on the laptop gives you some selectable route options based on a few things:

1. Quickest
2. Alternative route to the quickest
3. Avoiding Tolls/Motorway/Ferries (These are tick box options)

The M3 (And other Tesla models) only gives you the one route option (plus 2 tickable options) - The Easiest. Its not (Sometimes) quicker, shorter or more efficient. Just Easier.

My M3 tells me to drive from Home to work the same way every time/work day. 50.5 miles on the map directions, door to door. Leave home to motorway, 3.5miles. Down the motorway, 30miles. Along a dual carriage way, 15miles. And into work 2 miles. Return is just that in reverse.

My typical journey (provided by the Tesla Maps navigation) uses 27-35% (Typical Warm and Cold weather usage) all at motorway/road speeds - also i keep to the Speed limits!!

This journey also takes me approx 1hr and 10min leaving between 5pm - 5.30pm (Work to home) (Not including any traffic jams etch on motorway/roads)

My Google maps on the other hand gives me 4 options (as listed above)

1. Quickest - 1hr 10min - Using directions similar to M3 but slightly different route but still using Motorways (50.5 miles)
2. Shortest - 1hr 14min - 45miles (I ticked "Avoid" motorways option)
3. Alternative shortest route - same time and distance - just different route
4. Normal route - 1hr 10mins - Dual carriage way and motorway (50.5 miles)

So i have been driving the shortest route (Option 2) this week and the difference is large. I can do the 45miles with only 20-25% of my battery. I drive slower as the roads are 50-60mph and i use less milage. Also getting home in the 1hr 14mins makes no different to the motorway route.

M3 navigation route - 50.5miles, 1hr 10min approx, 27-35% battery usage
Google maps route - 45miles, 1hr 14mins, 20-25% battery usage

I belive the 70mph on motorways hits the battery harder than the 50-60mph country lanes (luckily these roads are mainly in a stright line)

So to close this off - Tesla need to allow selectable options for different routes - shortest distance, most efficent (would be nice), time related.

I tried to use "waypoints" to plan this route but was a real pain to use and setup and didnt work in the end - ended up using my google maps to tell me the way (Once i know the route i will not use the maps)

Also - less stressfull and nice scenery along the way through the countryside


Pic 1 is my shortest route by using Google maps on my phone and use the option "Avoid Motorways" This gives me 3 options but i chose the shortest of the 3. (Had a journey week ago at 20% used for this route - thought i saw one at 19%)

Pic 2 below is the route Tesla provides me in the car. Slightly Quicker yes but the M1 as most UK people know is horrendous during rush hours. (27% used seems to be the lowest i got on this route, sticking to speed limits)

One more attached of going from work to home (Tesla Maps route) to match that of the alternative shorter route in previous message!

The journey time is longer due to rush hour traffic

 

[GRiLLA]

I think this is a question of User Experience, adding a choice of routes to the Tesla navigation would need some solution to allow people to choose, particularly if using voice control. It is certainly solvable but fiddly.

I wonder how many people use waypoints that were much requested, I know I have never had cause to use them.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I always use Waze, even for short journeys in order to avoid the annoyance of an unexpected traffic holdup (and because I think Waze is better at that than other sources but other choices available of course)

Waze gives me a rat-run around the local town if my journey is at "school run" time - regardless of what the queue for the roundabout is like - I know that 'coz on Monday Morning of half-term I ignored it and went through town at rush-hour with zero traffic, so in that situation not traffic-dependent but more "at this time of this weekday then THIS is usually best"

I agree that shorter country roads at slower speed beats longer dual carriageway route for consumption. Dunno about driver wear-and-tear though

 

[Jason71]

I have been relying on my navigation in the M3 for most of my journeys (Unless i know my way around without a map)

Last week i was looking at my Google maps on my laptop (same on Android phone) and when you input your directions from A to B, the maps on the laptop gives you some selectable route options based on a few things:

1. Quickest
2. Alternative route to the quickest
3. Avoiding Tolls/Motorway/Ferries (These are tick box options)

The M3 (And other Tesla models) only gives you the one route option (plus 2 tickable options) - The Easiest. Its not (Sometimes) quicker, shorter or more efficient. Just Easier.

My M3 tells me to drive from Home to work the same way every time/work day. 50.5 miles on the map directions, door to door. Leave home to motorway, 3.5miles. Down the motorway, 30miles. Along a dual carriage way, 15miles. And into work 2 miles. Return is just that in reverse.

My typical journey (provided by the Tesla Maps navigation) uses 27-35% (Typical Warm and Cold weather usage) all at motorway/road speeds - also i keep to the Speed limits!!

This journey also takes me approx 1hr and 10min leaving between 5pm - 5.30pm (Work to home) (Not including any traffic jams etch on motorway/roads)

My Google maps on the other hand gives me 4 options (as listed above)

1. Quickest - 1hr 10min - Using directions similar to M3 but slightly different route but still using Motorways (50.5 miles)
2. Shortest - 1hr 14min - 45miles (I ticked "Avoid" motorways option)
3. Alternative shortest route - same time and distance - just different route
4. Normal route - 1hr 10mins - Dual carriage way and motorway (50.5 miles)

So i have been driving the shortest route (Option 2) this week and the difference is large. I can do the 45miles with only 20-25% of my battery. I drive slower as the roads are 50-60mph and i use less milage. Also getting home in the 1hr 14mins makes no different to the motorway route.

M3 navigation route - 50.5miles, 1hr 10min approx, 27-35% battery usage
Google maps route - 45miles, 1hr 14mins, 20-25% battery usage

I belive the 70mph on motorways hits the battery harder than the 50-60mph country lanes (luckily these roads are mainly in a stright line)

So to close this off - Tesla need to allow selectable options for different routes - shortest distance, most efficent (would be nice), time related.

I tried to use "waypoints" to plan this route but was a real pain to use and setup and didnt work in the end - ended up using my google maps to tell me the way (Once i know the route i will not use the maps)

Also - less stressfull and nice scenery along the way through the countryside

The problem with shortest is that it tends to use tiny backroads and can be a pitta. There is no substitute for actually knowing the roads.

But I agree with you. living at the end of the M54 if coming North you can go M5/M6/M54 or cut off the M5 via Worcester/Kidderminster/Bridgnorth.
Second route is way shorter and on slower roads and saves a huge amount of energy and similar time often. Car will only send you that way though if there is traffic.

 

[dysys]

Interestingly enough, there's been a very small announcement at Google I/O this year that's bringing an "eco" route planning mode to Europe. Apparently, it's been in the US for a while. I'd be intrigued to see if this is available via their maps platform and what difference it makes to EV energy use.

First link has a small snippet at the bottom talking about release in Europe - All new Google Maps features announced at Google I/O 2022

Second link is an official page - Giving you more sustainable choices with Google

 

[Mrklaw]

in theory you should be able to consider efficiency based on how much stop/start there is to reduce acceleration from a stop, that kind of thing.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Second route is way shorter and on slower roads and saves a huge amount of energy and similar time often

Presumably (if not dual carriageway?) if you encountered stationary traffic you could just turn around and go a different way ... which could be an additional benefit

Not sure I'd want the extra driver-effort most of the time though.

 

[Neilio]

I think this is a question of User Experience, adding a choice of routes to the Tesla navigation would need some solution to allow people to choose, particularly if using voice control. It is certainly solvable but fiddly.

I wonder how many people use waypoints that were much requested, I know I have never had cause to use them.

It's not that fiddly surely? Waze has a single button to show alternate routes, wouldn't be a big deal.

I do use waypoints, they are really useful for planning charges on round trip journeys

 

[WannabeOwner]

I do use waypoints, they are really useful for planning charges on round trip journeys

hadn't thought to do that, thanks. But ... how hard would a "Roundtrip?" button be ... <rhetorical>

 

[Lx2m3]

I too would like to see more options for alternative routes like energy saving, avoiding narrow country lane excursions etc.
Also the Sat-Nav female voice gives very poor pronunciation of road names at times, sometimes unintelligible and sometimes quite amusing e.g. “King George vee one Avenue”. Maybe one day there will be improvements! Can only hope.

 

[Jason71]

in theory you should be able to consider efficiency based on how much stop/start there is to reduce acceleration from a stop, that kind of thing.

Distance and speed are more critical in an EV than stop start for efficiency. You are thinking like an ICE driver

 

[GRiLLA]

It's not that fiddly surely? Waze has a single button to show alternate routes, wouldn't be a big deal.

I do use waypoints, they are really useful for planning charges on round trip journeys

Waze can do that because it doesn't start navigating immediately, you have to pick 'Lets Go' or wait for a countdown before it starts on a phone (admittedly I've not seen what it does by CarPlay). With voice in a Tesla the aim is that you don't touch the screen at all if using voice and it navigates immediately. I'm not saying it's impossible, but adding more choice will make the experience more complex.

 

[MrBadger]

In a previous life, the project that I worked on could use pollution as part of its route planning algorithm. It could use existing pollution as both an input into the route planner and model predicted pollution to come up with routes (and traffic control scenarios) that could mitigate against future pollution change.

I would really like to see that (well the first bit - routing via less polluted routes) in a commercial route planner. The second part required us to do a bit of an 'Italian Job' which isn't realistically going to happen on an integrated wide scale any time soon...

 

[page3]

I’d like to see “scenic route” added. None of the navigation apps have this, so it’ll be a unique feature.

 

[Mrklaw]

Distance and speed are more critical in an EV than stop start for efficiency. You are thinking like an ICE driver

That’s the meanest thing I’ve ever heard. Take it back!

;p

 

[Big Dunc]

Waze appears to be much better than Tesla for live traffic info and also for camera (and other) warnings. Waze cannot plan supercharger stops.
Normally when I drive I am not in a Tesla and I use Waze. However, when I do a long trip I tend to borrow my wife’s Tesla and use the car nav as it tells me when / where to stop to charge. I also run waze in parallel to warn me of cameras. Waze and Tesla give different instructions almost all journey. I enjoy listening to them argue…..

 

[a1psx]

I wonder how many people use waypoints that were much requested, I know I have never had cause to use them.

I use them to navigate to chargers then onto destinations, find it really useful.

 

[Lockey]

I think this is a question of User Experience, adding a choice of routes to the Tesla navigation would need some solution to allow people to choose, particularly if using voice control. It is certainly solvable but fiddly.

I wonder how many people use waypoints that were much requested, I know I have never had cause to use them.

I've used waypoints a few times - it's useful if I need to drop in at a site as a bit of a detour on the way home of if the car pointedly ignores the super charger I actually want to stop at (it doesn't seem to like Mansfield and tries to get me to go to Woodall or Rugby).

 

[Jason71]

That’s the meanest thing I’ve ever heard. Take it back!

;p

I'm sorry. You're right that was very offensive.

 

[_MJF_]

So to close this off - Tesla need to allow selectable options for different routes - shortest distance, most efficent (would be nice), time related.

Pretty much the only good thing about the sat-nav in my last car was a setting to get it to offer either the quickest, shortest or most efficient route. That would certainly be useful although I reckon the vast majority would probably leave it set to the quickest.

I wonder how many people use waypoints that were much requested, I know I have never had cause to use them.

Probably use waypoints roughly a third of all journeys, e.g. drop at school on the way to work. Can't believe the sat-nav hasn't always had them, consider them a fundamental function in a sat-nav to be honest.

Does anyone know how to add a waypoint/stop via voice control ? Not worked that one out yet.

hadn't thought to do that, thanks. But ... how hard would a "Roundtrip?" button be ... <rhetorical>

That's a great idea, that would be really useful.

Also the Sat-Nav female voice gives very poor pronunciation of road names at times, sometimes unintelligible and sometimes quite amusing e.g. “King George vee one Avenue”. Maybe one day there will be improvements! Can only hope.

Apparently loads of 80s pop stars do voice-overs for sat-navs now. I set the Bonnie Tyler version but it just kept going "turn around", it wasn't very reliable, in fact every now and then it fell apart.

Bonnie Tyler mode was a complete contrast to the Aswad one, and U2 mode removed all identification from the roads. Tried the Whitesnake mode, it didn't know where it was going but it's route history was fantastic.