I can’t do that with google maps. I have an iPhone. But I can accomplish that task with Apple Maps. Just search for EV chargers nearby. (Can search Tesla superchargers if you want to limit it to those.) Then scroll to your heart’s content along or near the route. Wherever you stop scrolling, you get the nearby chargers.
Easy peasy. And you might stumble across something interesting along the way instead of blindly following what your car tells you to do.
—Peter
I just tried it on my iPhone … and it worked!!! I never thought Google voice commands work on iPhone, but apparently they do. I did have to grant the Google Maps app permission to use the microphone though. Thanks @mschmit for the idea, I’ve been doing it manually for the last 2 years or so.
Of course you can plan a route and see where chargers are.
But did it plan/suggest which chargers to stop at based on your car’s battery size?
Did it tell you how many minutes you need to charge (based on your remaining charge, charge speed and distance to next charger) and how full your battery will be when you arrive?
Or tell you how many available charging spots? Or the cost per kwh?
Or whether the charger location was out of service? (you won’t see this in the car unless it is offline which I saw once)
Also, one more thing. If there are Tesla provided restrooms they have a code you must enter to unlock the doors for 24 hr availability…you get this when you tap on the SC location on the map.
Yes, you have to be in a Tesla to see all this.
I understand that Tesla’s aren’t for everybody. But I predict that we’ll see all the car companies using the Tesla NACS copying some or all of this by the time they roll out their new charging ports
EDIT: maybe we got off track. This was all in response as to why someone would want an in-car navigation vs just a phone app.
I should have also said that the larger screen is easier to read and has more detail than a small phone screen which may need lots of scrolling, so I think it is safer. Also MUCH easier to read while driving with sunglasses on
Mike
True! But that is why CarPlay exists. :). It still uses my iPhone, but displays on a larger screen. Honestly, in-car nav systems only exists to make more $$$ for the car company but do zero for most people who already have smart phones. Which is nearly all of us now. The Tesla app could be done as an app on a smart phone after all.
There are Tesla provided restrooms? Are they selling the rights to the name “Tesla” or are do they actually own restrooms?
JimA
Absolutely. I think it is essential that any future car system been Carplay/Android compatible.
And I want knobs.
No. But why do I need that? I know my cars. I know how far they will go. Heck, I’ve got a decent idea how far a base Model 3 will go, and I don’t even own one. I can plan for myself.
So I’m sitting in Orange County CA and want to take a Model 3 to Sacramento. Without even looking, I’ll guarantee you that plugging that into a Tesla nav, it will take me up I 5. Depending on my charge when I leave, it will suggest a stop somewhere between Kettleman City and Los Banos. (I’m willing to assume that I’m not dumb enough to start this trip with less than 50% charge.)
Now if you want to be a sheeple and do what you’re told by your car, that’s fine. You’ll certainly arrive safe and sound with no charging problems.
But I’ve been up and down I5 way too many times in my life (which is why I know where Kettleman City and Los Banos are). I want to take CA 99 this time. It will take me 15-30 minutes longer, but I’m fine with that. I need to see (and smell) something different.
Apple Maps tells me it’s a little over 400 miles to Sacramento. A Model 3 should easily get 250 miles without a recharge, even running at at 70-75 with the AC fending off the 100+ temps along the way. Fresno is about half way (in the neighborhood of 200 miles), and almost certainly has several superchargers from which to choose. So I’ll stop there. I can do all that thinking in my head faster than I can do a google search to find out how to start up the Tesla’s voice recognition.
Now I get up in the morning and find that my wife forgot to plug in the car last night. So I can quickly adjust my plans. I’ve got a 50% charge, so I’ll stop in Bakersfield - on the north side if there’s a charger there. Then maybe i’ll keep my speed down to 65 and see if I can get all the way there without another stop. I should know by the time I’m down to about half a charge. If not, Stockton would be the place to stop for a quick 10 minute charge.
You’ll have to trust me that i only consulted Apple maps once to manage this planning. And I am lucky that I live in CA where one can plan on finding a Supercharger easily along all the major (and most of the minor) highways.
As long as i can convince the car to tell me the charge level, I can do my own planning, TYVM.
—Peter
As has been pointed out before, none of this applies to most people. And certainly none of it applies when anybody gets into a rental car.
You’re busy arguing something equivalent to how you know what a properly aspirated engine sounds like, and you know perfectly well how to use a manual choke, so why do these new-fangled have cars have automatic chokes? They’re suboptimal!
And while, certainly, as has been mentioned, a Tesla will route your whole 1000-mile trip, nobody follows exactly what it says. When I’m on a road trip, I route at most a couple of superchargers down the road. And things change every time I change my mind about what roadside attractions to visit and whether to eat lunch at a particular place, or if I prefer an alternate route, or whatever. Things change, but at all times the car knows where you say you want to go and how much juice is left, and how fast you’ve been using what you’ve got. So it can tell you well in advance if you’re attempting something stupid.
And, of course, nothing stops you from doing your own planning. And pretty much everybody does to some degree, but the car provides back-up confirmation that it will work, and provides safe and sane alternatives if you don’t want to or can’t plan.
Arguing against a software feature that provides safety and convenience seems really strange.
-IGU-
Sorry for suggesting this was a valuable feature.
But it seems to me 90% of the posts for years about EVs have been concerns about battery range, range anxiety and how to charge, charging speed, etc. Tesla provides lots of (optional) tools for managing this. My opinion is that these are good ideas and might be quite useful when someone drives in unknown territory. Isn’t this like arguing against a low gas warning light or a distance to empty display? Sure you can drive without it.
And by using the navigate to supercharger feature the car pre-conditions the battery in advance of arriving to reduce the charging time. Of course you can choose to not use it but why is this a bad idea?
You also get in-car notification of the number of empty stalls. You really don’t want to get this info? maybe you’ll decide to skip this charger and go to the next one, if you can and want to.
You also get notified if a charging site is offline. Again…you don’t want to know this?
Maybe when there are as many chargers as gas stations no one will care about all this.
And didn’t GM just announce a couple of months ago they were getting rid of Car Play and Android Auto? One reason was these don’t have battery management capabilities. Not sure if this is a valid reason (seems like you could do both). But then they switched
I guess you didn’t get the part where all these things are suggestions?
Are people sheeple if they are following the GPS navigation too?
The first of the two sites in Kettleman City (about halfway between LA and SF) has two buildings. One with just restrooms (available 24/7) and another with a lounge that has a coffee shop, vending machines and restrooms. I don’t know who actually owns/operates this.
This site started with 24 150kw chargers, then they added 16 250kw chargers.
This wasn’t enough so they added 55 250kw chargers a few blocks away
Mike
I hate the low gas warning in my car. It comes on way too soon - about 1/3 of a tank left. It’s distance to empty calculation is likewise a joke. It’s impossibly long shortly after a fill, and then becomes way too short as the tank empties.
They’re both useless.
—Peter
Owned and operated by Tesla. I’ve been there many times.
-IGU-
Mine isn’t bad - It comes on when I’m down to about 40 miles range and is pretty accurate as I push it to the extreme. Changes to a flashing “Low Fuel” once I’m under 30.
JimA
Quick detour here. In 1992 I bought a used 1980 Corvette. A year or two later I took it on a trip from Dallas to Indy. This required 3 gas stops along the way and a fourth once I arrived. I tried to push the second fill almost a bit too far. As I’m driving and not noticing gas stations for an absurdly long time I notice something light up on the dash – a low gas warning. On a 1980 Chevrolet! Heck, I was surprised it worked! I did find a station, and I was very low on fuel based on how many gallons went in and how many gallons the tank held dry.
Motorcycles have this now. When I’m low on gas the GPS screen pops up and asks if I want to find a gas station. It is a useless feature though. If I’m riding around home, I know where the gas stations are. If I’m riding in another state, I never let the tank get that low. Pushing a bike out of gas is not fun.
And this topic would not be complete without mentioning my very first car. A 1959 VW red convertible bug. It had no gas gauge and you knew you were low when you ran out of gas. There was a lever on the firewall that you would turn and this would give you about a half gallon of gas to get somewhere. Only used once.
JimA
Same VW that I learned to drive in, only our family VW was dark blue. Two days ago, walking down a street in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, I saw one exactly like it except for the front lid was red, and from the sound of the engine it was in perfect running condition.
david fb
More dealers are saying they have to turn away electric vehicles as demand cools. Without early adopters, EVs are a tougher sell…
“We have turned away EV inventory,” said Scott Kunes, the chief operating officer of Kunes Auto and RV Group, which sells Detroit brands as well as Nissan and Mitsubishi in the Midwest. “We need to ensure that we have a good turn on it.”…
Automakers are shoring up their factories to churn more of these cars out. But demand isn’t growing at the same pace.
According to Axios, despite a significant increase in consumer consideration of EVs, as revealed by a recent Cox survey, this heightened interest has not yet translated into actual sales…
According to Cox, dealers have a nearly three-month supply of EVs compared to 54 days’ worth of gasoline-powered vehicles in their inventory.
DB2
The key part of those articles is: “except Tesla”.
Rob
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
Dealer in town has like 90+ Mach E’s on the lot, but only 3 Lightnings. I think Ford’s problem is not enough people want a 4 door sedan. They need an EV Explorer.
