Some might feel it's a dead horse, others feel there is no issue with the on board navigation. I have been frustrated with it since day one. I hoped for updates, but one year and 40k miles later, I'm still frustrated.
Here are some of the issues that make me use Waze almost all the time.
- The on board maps are outdated. On my way to work is a major, 2 year construction. Tesla's navigation always leads me in the dead end where the road is closed and has been close for over a year now. Waze knows about the construction and finds a way around it. This is just one example. But since this is a route I drive every day, it is wrong every day!
- Tesla's navigation is unaware of HOV and express lanes. In California, the Model S can use the HOV lanes even when driving alone and I have a FastTrack Transponder. Tesla's navi tries to avoid busy freeways while Waze knows the difference in the lanes and finds a much faster route. Especially in heavy traffic the difference is significant.
- Waze has reports of road hazards and police and other things. Those reports have helped me many times.
- Tesla's navi has no alternative routes I can pick from. Waze calculates 2 other alternatives. I often look at them and sometimes decide if I prefer a shorter route to save energy even when it's a few minutes longer.
- Tesla's navi doesn't allow me to tap on a point on the map and use that as a favorite or destination. This is very annoying. I see exactly where it is on the map, but I can't tell it to go there.
- Tesla's navi only has one destination, no waypoints.
There are other issues. For example on a road I use a lot there is a left turn possible where Tesla's navi doesn't think there is. It always tries to route me in a way to come from the other side of the road to make it a right turn, creating an unnecessary detour. While some issues are not a big deal, especially the HOV and toll lanes are a major problem navigating through Los Angeles traffic. I don't expect Tesla to fix it all. There really is no need to re-invent the wheel over and over. It could be solved by allowing third party apps and having Waze (or your favorite navigation app) run like it does on every phone.
And while we are at navigation: there is no excuse for the lack of a data base of public chargers. Elon sais he is not in it for just Tesla, but for a global change. Having a database of public chargers integrated into the navigation system is frankly a no-brainer for any EV. Yes the reliability and accessibility of public chargers is an issue, but there are simple ways to make it work as we can see with PlugShare. I was hoping that would be the update Elon was talking about recently, but it seems the database of chargers is Only Tesla's own chargers and those you visited. That's counter productive and misses the point. When I go on a trip I am very likely to go in an area where I don't know where chargers are.
Here are some of the issues that make me use Waze almost all the time.
- The on board maps are outdated. On my way to work is a major, 2 year construction. Tesla's navigation always leads me in the dead end where the road is closed and has been close for over a year now. Waze knows about the construction and finds a way around it. This is just one example. But since this is a route I drive every day, it is wrong every day!
- Tesla's navigation is unaware of HOV and express lanes. In California, the Model S can use the HOV lanes even when driving alone and I have a FastTrack Transponder. Tesla's navi tries to avoid busy freeways while Waze knows the difference in the lanes and finds a much faster route. Especially in heavy traffic the difference is significant.
- Waze has reports of road hazards and police and other things. Those reports have helped me many times.
- Tesla's navi has no alternative routes I can pick from. Waze calculates 2 other alternatives. I often look at them and sometimes decide if I prefer a shorter route to save energy even when it's a few minutes longer.
- Tesla's navi doesn't allow me to tap on a point on the map and use that as a favorite or destination. This is very annoying. I see exactly where it is on the map, but I can't tell it to go there.
- Tesla's navi only has one destination, no waypoints.
There are other issues. For example on a road I use a lot there is a left turn possible where Tesla's navi doesn't think there is. It always tries to route me in a way to come from the other side of the road to make it a right turn, creating an unnecessary detour. While some issues are not a big deal, especially the HOV and toll lanes are a major problem navigating through Los Angeles traffic. I don't expect Tesla to fix it all. There really is no need to re-invent the wheel over and over. It could be solved by allowing third party apps and having Waze (or your favorite navigation app) run like it does on every phone.
And while we are at navigation: there is no excuse for the lack of a data base of public chargers. Elon sais he is not in it for just Tesla, but for a global change. Having a database of public chargers integrated into the navigation system is frankly a no-brainer for any EV. Yes the reliability and accessibility of public chargers is an issue, but there are simple ways to make it work as we can see with PlugShare. I was hoping that would be the update Elon was talking about recently, but it seems the database of chargers is Only Tesla's own chargers and those you visited. That's counter productive and misses the point. When I go on a trip I am very likely to go in an area where I don't know where chargers are.
