Posting this in the model 3 forum, because this effects adventurous model 3 drivers. But will be a bigger issue once Tesla has a more off-road capable vehicle.
Tried taking your car out of cell service? It's not fun. The car doesn't have a POI database. You have to know the exact address to navigate to (PSA: Not every location has an address you can enter offline. Lakes do not have a mailing address - nobody sends them letters anymore "Dear lake, how are you today? Tell the fish I said hi". Forest service campgrounds don't have addresses, just GPS coordinates and mile markers), OR If you plug all your destinations into navigation before you lose network access you can still navigate to them. IF the road is still open. But, the car's on screen map does not fully show forest roads. It will use forest roads to navigate to a destination, but while navigating, you can only see the road you're on. So when the road branches, it's very tough to tell which road to take because navigation says nothing, and the screen only show the current road. If the car would at least cache the satellite maps, that would help (And it would save Tesla money on cellular costs. My Model 3 loads the same satellite images over cellular every day that I drive). Yes, the car does have a base satellite map in the nav system, but the resolution is not good enough for navigation.
PS: Out on forest roads you can't expect to see signs. Often, locals will remove signs so that others can't find their favorite lake or dispersed camping spot. Last week I found one forest road where locals had posted a "Road closed in 8 miles sign". I called the rangers and it was definitely not closed. But it goes to show that you need good navigation and can't rely on signs.
There's also no way to re-route, or mark a road as closed. I was staying at the grassy flat forest service campground in Gasquet, CA and I wanted to go to Buck Lake on Thursday. Navigation would only give me a route that included a forest road that has been closed for like 2 years. Without being able to use navigation, how am I going to know if I have enough power to get there and get back? I tried using ABetterRoutePlanner and it didn't even know the lake existed.
I realize most Model 3 owners are not going on dirt forest roads. But I bet a much higher percentage of Cybertruck buyers will.
Tesla should allow owners to side load maps, or provide a "map download center". GeoPDF is an open standard for viewing geo-referenced maps. I should be able to load topographic and MVUM (Motor Vehicle Use Maps - forest maps that show forest road quality) maps and be able to reference them from my car. Heck, doesn't the car already have topo maps in it? How else it is taking into effect elevation changes for route planning?
Also, does any else else have issues with the car's cell connection not re-establishing for 30 minutes after being out of cell range overnight? I swear my car had much better cell coverage prior to my HW3 upgrade. Prior to HW3 my car would have cell service long after my phone lost it. Now it's reversed - I'll have two bars of LTE on my phone or iPad and the car will have nothing. I scheduled a service center visit, but my vehicle logs don't show anything wrong with the cellular modem.
The car also needs to have an alternative way to control it when it doesn't have cell coverage. Why can't the bluetooth implementation be expanded to allow the app to fully function? Having to crawl up to the front of the cabin to change the temperature at night is annoying. Why can't I use bluetooth and summon to move my car a few feet in my campground? If the bluetooth connection is secure enough to unlock the car, open the frunk, and authorize the car to drive, surely it's good enough for other controls? Or have the car broadcast a wifi network that your phone can connect to in order to control the car.
Maybe they'll just include a Starlink antenna in the CyberTruck and allow the truck to act as a hotspot. Or maybe they'll start using a cell modem that use AT&T & Verizon to ensure the widest coverage. Most likely, they'll ignore the problem until Elon decides to go camping in a CyberTruck and realizes how deficient the system is once it loses cellular service.
Tried taking your car out of cell service? It's not fun. The car doesn't have a POI database. You have to know the exact address to navigate to (PSA: Not every location has an address you can enter offline. Lakes do not have a mailing address - nobody sends them letters anymore "Dear lake, how are you today? Tell the fish I said hi". Forest service campgrounds don't have addresses, just GPS coordinates and mile markers), OR If you plug all your destinations into navigation before you lose network access you can still navigate to them. IF the road is still open. But, the car's on screen map does not fully show forest roads. It will use forest roads to navigate to a destination, but while navigating, you can only see the road you're on. So when the road branches, it's very tough to tell which road to take because navigation says nothing, and the screen only show the current road. If the car would at least cache the satellite maps, that would help (And it would save Tesla money on cellular costs. My Model 3 loads the same satellite images over cellular every day that I drive). Yes, the car does have a base satellite map in the nav system, but the resolution is not good enough for navigation.
PS: Out on forest roads you can't expect to see signs. Often, locals will remove signs so that others can't find their favorite lake or dispersed camping spot. Last week I found one forest road where locals had posted a "Road closed in 8 miles sign". I called the rangers and it was definitely not closed. But it goes to show that you need good navigation and can't rely on signs.
There's also no way to re-route, or mark a road as closed. I was staying at the grassy flat forest service campground in Gasquet, CA and I wanted to go to Buck Lake on Thursday. Navigation would only give me a route that included a forest road that has been closed for like 2 years. Without being able to use navigation, how am I going to know if I have enough power to get there and get back? I tried using ABetterRoutePlanner and it didn't even know the lake existed.
I realize most Model 3 owners are not going on dirt forest roads. But I bet a much higher percentage of Cybertruck buyers will.
Tesla should allow owners to side load maps, or provide a "map download center". GeoPDF is an open standard for viewing geo-referenced maps. I should be able to load topographic and MVUM (Motor Vehicle Use Maps - forest maps that show forest road quality) maps and be able to reference them from my car. Heck, doesn't the car already have topo maps in it? How else it is taking into effect elevation changes for route planning?
Also, does any else else have issues with the car's cell connection not re-establishing for 30 minutes after being out of cell range overnight? I swear my car had much better cell coverage prior to my HW3 upgrade. Prior to HW3 my car would have cell service long after my phone lost it. Now it's reversed - I'll have two bars of LTE on my phone or iPad and the car will have nothing. I scheduled a service center visit, but my vehicle logs don't show anything wrong with the cellular modem.
The car also needs to have an alternative way to control it when it doesn't have cell coverage. Why can't the bluetooth implementation be expanded to allow the app to fully function? Having to crawl up to the front of the cabin to change the temperature at night is annoying. Why can't I use bluetooth and summon to move my car a few feet in my campground? If the bluetooth connection is secure enough to unlock the car, open the frunk, and authorize the car to drive, surely it's good enough for other controls? Or have the car broadcast a wifi network that your phone can connect to in order to control the car.
Maybe they'll just include a Starlink antenna in the CyberTruck and allow the truck to act as a hotspot. Or maybe they'll start using a cell modem that use AT&T & Verizon to ensure the widest coverage. Most likely, they'll ignore the problem until Elon decides to go camping in a CyberTruck and realizes how deficient the system is once it loses cellular service.
