Japan

[susteki]

Hey Gents,

I was just as upset as the rest of you about not having certain features day one on my Model S i.e. navagiation, homelink, individual TPMS etc... However, I took a stepped back and thought, we drive the most advance car on the planet! Most of these "features" are just OTA updates that very few other cars are capable of doing. We dont need to buy a separate navigation system. We just have to wait a little longer than we may like but, at the end of the day it is coming. If we reallly need a navigation system, we all have a workaround, Smartphones. WOW....Just as I was writting this reply I came across a great reminder on why I bought this car.... http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/40577-Firmware-6-1 and Im in love all over again!! Have a great Tesla day!!

 

[hiroshiy]

Wow, firmware 6.1! Are you on 6.0 already? I envy you - I'm still 5.12 (got only one update in four months).

 

[susteki]

Hi Hiroshi!

Genki?

Yes, i was on v6.0 from delivery and recieved another update on Thursday, mostly bug fixes it seems. Currently on 6.xxxx.81 now. Do you ever connect your car to WiFi?
Also, just noticed there is a new update for the Smart Phone app for both Android and iphone today.

 

[hiroshiy]

Hi, Sean, Yes I'm doing fine! I have no coverage of 3G/WiFi at both home and work, so no I don't connect to WiFi. My firmware is 5.12(101.6.7), up from 5.12(101.6.6). I've checked my Play Store, but all I found was November release.

 

[susteki]

Hi, Sean, Yes I'm doing fine! I have no coverage of 3G/WiFi at both home and work, so no I don't connect to WiFi. My firmware is 5.12(101.6.7), up from 5.12(101.6.6). I've checked my Play Store, but all I found was November release.

Oh i see, i've read that connecting via wifi gives you priority for firmware updates. Per the updated app, i tend to use 1mobileMarket for apps filtered on Japan Google Play.

 

[hiroshiy]

I guess so. I think I need to go to the service center to update my firmware.
Oh and today I was able to download updated app for Android. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[justinsullivan]

Hey Gents,

I was just as upset as the rest of you about not having certain features day one on my Model S i.e. navagiation, homelink, individual TPMS etc... However, I took a stepped back and thought, we drive the most advance car on the planet! Most of these "features" are just OTA updates that very few other cars are capable of doing. We dont need to buy a separate navigation system. We just have to wait a little longer than we may like but, at the end of the day it is coming. If we reallly need a navigation system, we all have a workaround, Smartphones. WOW....Just as I was writting this reply I came across a great reminder on why I bought this car.... http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/40577-Firmware-6-1 and Im in love all over again!! Have a great Tesla day!!

In general I do agree with you susteki, the Model S is amazing and it can be acceptable to have a few trade-offs or missing features.

The reason missing nav is relatively important to me is for a few reasons:

1. Safety issue of using iPhone or similar instead of higher up screen. This is because I need to look down more often to see where the road is going, etc. Maybe I could fix with some kind of mouting solution hold the phone up, but I can't see an easy way to do this with the alcantara dash, and didn't expect the problem to last this long either (but we now know it will be maybe 6 months or more still, so I will try to investigate this).

2. Probably sounds strange, but lack of proper nav with lane guidance has led to a few safety issues + extra ETC tolls for me, due to not knowing roads around Tokyo and Chiba and having trouble to read kanji signs completely or accurately. So most times I drive that way (e.g. to Narita) I have found myself on the wrong lane or road and end up paying tolls around ¥1,500 each time, or have to make sudden lane changes. Maybe this is a gaijin problem but it does make the driving more stressful and more expensive than it should be each time I go that way. And I never have these issues driving older Japanese cars like our 2007 Prius due to its good lane guidance that just works.

3. iPhone and other things I tried so far are losing GPS signal sometimes and not knowing which road I am on. This only normally happens when in areas with multiple layers of roads and highway convergence, or between some highrise areas in Tokyo... But these are exactly the moments when I really need it to work the most. (If I am driving on open highways with exits every 10 km or so that are well-signed, or just around my home area I know well, then I don't rely on nav so much.)

4. It looks bad to show others, if they are driving with me, that despite this huge screen and Tesla having such advanced tech that they can't get navigation working. I think this is especially a problem in Japan, where most cars in Japan have had nav for 10 years or more (even in much more simple and inexpensive cars). I feel something strange like I fell in love with a magical princess who is almost perfect but has no eyes... and friends and business colleagues see these "missing eyes" of the princess (the nav) and laugh or think "how stupid". It's a shame to have such an obvious deficiency in an otherwise great car.

- - - Updated - - -

Hi, Sean, Yes I'm doing fine! I have no coverage of 3G/WiFi at both home and work, so no I don't connect to WiFi. My firmware is 5.12(101.6.7), up from 5.12(101.6.6). I've checked my Play Store, but all I found was November release.

My Model S updated overnight to v6.0 quite soon after delivery so like susteki said I think it may be that Model S prefers (or maybe insists?) to do firmware update over wifi.

Hiroshiy, if you are ever passing by Odawara on your travels south, you are welcome to do the update at my place over wifi.

 

[hiroshiy]

In general I do agree with you susteki, the Model S is amazing and it can be acceptable to have a few trade-offs or missing features.

The reason missing nav is relatively important to me is for a few reasons:

1. Safety issue of using iPhone or similar instead of higher up screen. This is because I need to look down more often to see where the road is going, etc. Maybe I could fix with some kind of mouting solution hold the phone up, but I can't see an easy way to do this with the alcantara dash, and didn't expect the problem to last this long either (but we now know it will be maybe 6 months or more still, so I will try to investigate this).

2. Probably sounds strange, but lack of proper nav with lane guidance has led to a few safety issues + extra ETC tolls for me, due to not knowing roads around Tokyo and Chiba and having trouble to read kanji signs completely or accurately. So most times I drive that way (e.g. to Narita) I have found myself on the wrong lane or road and end up paying tolls around ¥1,500 each time, or have to make sudden lane changes. Maybe this is a gaijin problem but it does make the driving more stressful and more expensive than it should be each time I go that way. And I never have these issues driving older Japanese cars like our 2007 Prius due to its good lane guidance that just works.

3. iPhone and other things I tried so far are losing GPS signal sometimes and not knowing which road I am on. This only normally happens when in areas with multiple layers of roads and highway convergence, or between some highrise areas in Tokyo... But these are exactly the moments when I really need it to work the most. (If I am driving on open highways with exits every 10 km or so that are well-signed, or just around my home area I know well, then I don't rely on nav so much.)

4. It looks bad to show others, if they are driving with me, that despite this huge screen and Tesla having such advanced tech that they can't get navigation working. I think this is especially a problem in Japan, where most cars in Japan have had nav for 10 years or more (even in much more simple and inexpensive cars). I feel something strange like I fell in love with a magical princess who is almost perfect but has no eyes... and friends and business colleagues see these "missing eyes" of the princess (the nav) and laugh or think "how stupid". It's a shame to have such an obvious deficiency in an otherwise great car.

- - - Updated - - -



My Model S updated overnight to v6.0 quite soon after delivery so like susteki said I think it may be that Model S prefers (or maybe insists?) to do firmware update over wifi.

Hiroshiy, if you are ever passing by Odawara on your travels south, you are welcome to do the update at my place over wifi.

Thanks for the offer, Justin! I can make my Android phone as WiFi router and I successfully connected my Model S but, after two hours nothing happened Maybe I need to ask the SC to update.

 

[susteki]

In general I do agree with you susteki, the Model S is amazing and it can be acceptable to have a few trade-offs or missing features.

The reason missing nav is relatively important to me is for a few reasons:

1. Safety issue of using iPhone or similar instead of higher up screen. This is because I need to look down more often to see where the road is going, etc. Maybe I could fix with some kind of mouting solution hold the phone up, but I can't see an easy way to do this with the alcantara dash, and didn't expect the problem to last this long either (but we now know it will be maybe 6 months or more still, so I will try to investigate this).

2. Probably sounds strange, but lack of proper nav with lane guidance has led to a few safety issues + extra ETC tolls for me, due to not knowing roads around Tokyo and Chiba and having trouble to read kanji signs completely or accurately. So most times I drive that way (e.g. to Narita) I have found myself on the wrong lane or road and end up paying tolls around ¥1,500 each time, or have to make sudden lane changes. Maybe this is a gaijin problem but it does make the driving more stressful and more expensive than it should be each time I go that way. And I never have these issues driving older Japanese cars like our 2007 Prius due to its good lane guidance that just works.

3. iPhone and other things I tried so far are losing GPS signal sometimes and not knowing which road I am on. This only normally happens when in areas with multiple layers of roads and highway convergence, or between some highrise areas in Tokyo... But these are exactly the moments when I really need it to work the most. (If I am driving on open highways with exits every 10 km or so that are well-signed, or just around my home area I know well, then I don't rely on nav so much.)

4. It looks bad to show others, if they are driving with me, that despite this huge screen and Tesla having such advanced tech that they can't get navigation working. I think this is especially a problem in Japan, where most cars in Japan have had nav for 10 years or more (even in much more simple and inexpensive cars). I feel something strange like I fell in love with a magical princess who is almost perfect but has no eyes... and friends and business colleagues see these "missing eyes" of the princess (the nav) and laugh or think "how stupid". It's a shame to have such an obvious deficiency in an otherwise great car.

- - - Updated - - -



My Model S updated overnight to v6.0 quite soon after delivery so like susteki said I think it may be that Model S prefers (or maybe insists?) to do firmware update over wifi.

Hiroshiy, if you are ever passing by Odawara on your travels south, you are welcome to do the update at my place over wifi.

Justin, i do agree with your points also. 9 + months to wait for an Nav update is ridiculous! However, with Google maps being the baseline I'm expecting big things (fingers crossed) with the summer release.

 

[hiroshiy]

Today's news.
http://www.itmedia.co.jp/smartjapan/articles/1504/03/news127.html
Toshiba announced public EV bus launch in Kawasaki City.
- 15 trips daily, 2.3km per one trip
- Uses SCiB Toshiba battery, 1248 cells, 57.2kWh, with CHAdeMO charging
- This 56 PAX bus weighs 12,350kg and range is 40km (1430Wh/km)

Toshiba purchased the bus itself from Isuzu, and converted it into EV. They said the battery cells are placed on the roof, side, and back,
and the bus will need charging three times a day.
# From the photo the charger seems like Hasetec 50kW quick charger, so the charging would be 30-60 minutes.

 

[hiroshiy]

https://youtu.be/opMyyZfG2N0
SUPER GT 300 Champion Mr. Taniguchi drifts Tesla Model S (probably P85) in Tokyo!

 

[Lump]

April 29 (Reuters) - U.S. electric carmaker Tesla Motors(TSLA) plans to make a big investment in charging infrastructure throughout Japan, the company's CEO
Elon Musk told the Nikkei in an interview.All the charging stations will be either directly or indirectly solar powered, Musk told the daily.

"We'll buy utility power that's coming from solar panels, or we'll have solar panels on the charge station itself. There will be no impact to the electrical grid in Japan," Musk said in the interview. (Reporting By
Manya Venkatesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

 

[hiroshiy]

While Mr. Abe, the PM of Japan visiting the States and meeting with Elon at Tesla today, there were some nice information coming out of these EM interviews. Haven't heard of any real plans though.

Especially it sounds extremely difficult to use solar panels as Tesla seems to be struggling to have the landowners to agree on Supercharger stations... (Land cost at rural places too high here)

 

[ecarfan]

"We'll buy utility power that's coming from solar panels, or we'll have solar panels on the charge station itself. There will be no impact to the electrical grid in Japan," Musk said in the interview.

Love it. A direct shot at Toyota by Elon, refuting Toyota's contention that large numbers of EVs charging will overwhelm the electric grid.