2016 Leaf still has outdated tech .....

[inphoenix]

http://dailysunknoxville.com/2016-nissan-leaf-cant-compete-with-outdated-tech/9200542

The low-res infotainment display definitely needs to go. That 10" display on bolt looks really nice.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Thankfully Nissan is making strides in the right direction by partnering with Microsoft to beef up tech via a telematics system. It is run by Microsoft’s Azure service which is a global cloud platform allowing drivers to remotely connect their smartphones to the Leaf.

So the 2016 Leaf won't "go deaf" like the earlier leafs in 2017, when Carwings 2G connection signal is gone?

 

[mihird]

2016 models have a 3G radio in them. It will certainly not go deaf in 2017. Also, I believe, Nissan is working on some plan to help out telematics on the 2011-2015 models. I doub't if they will let it just go deaf as is..

 

[Stanton]

2016 models have a 3G radio in them. It will certainly not go deaf in 2017. Also, I believe, Nissan is working on some plan to help out telematics on the 2011-2015 models. I doubt if they will let it just go deaf as is..

Do you have any evidence to support that statement (bolded by me)? I have always maintained that there would be a modem swap/upgrade to older Leafs, but we have yet to see/hear anything from Nissan.

 

[powersurge]

The folks on this thread have really barked up the wrong tree. Who cares about "telematics" when the reason for this site is the EV part!. A car is a product that will last decades, and whether it has a higher resolution radio screen, Bluetooth, or Wi Fi is irrelevant. I bought the S model to escape those "toys". Those who are complaining about "outdated tech" should just get on line and wait for the next IPhone to be released... Party on.. Dudes..

 

[Bob]

Yes, a car will last decades, but best case, any Leaf will need an expensive battery replacement after 5-8 years and some need it quite a bit sooner. I need to take 55 mile trips one way on occasions. I wonder when that will stop being practical for me. ICEs and hybrids don't degrade this rapidly.

Now add that some feature of the car stops working after a few years because it relies on obsolete infrastructure. Put those together and it isn't surprising that many here have sold or turned in their EVs well before its time.

Someone at Nissan told me that "Nissan is working on an upgrade to the 2G radio". That doesn't mean that it is a priority project, doesn't mean that they will ever finish, and doesn't mean that it will be an affordable choice. Heck, the person I spoke with could have been misinformed or otherwise, but that's what I've heard.

Bob

 

[mihird]

Do you have any evidence to support that statement (bolded by me)? I have always maintained that there would be a modem swap/upgrade to older Leafs, but we have yet to see/hear anything from Nissan.

I will have to go back and dig up the paperwork, but when I acquired the 2016 Leaf, there was some paperwork in the paper stack that read something like this - "In lieu of planned discontinuation of AT&T's 2G network in December of 2016, please await instructions from Nissan for your telematics system". I questioned the salesman about this paper, and he told me, they are handing it out to all new sales as per instructions from Nissan (because, I guess, they are still selling majority of the 2015 models)..

 

[mihird]

The folks on this thread have really barked up the wrong tree. Who cares about "telematics" when the reason for this site is the EV part!. A car is a product that will last decades, and whether it has a higher resolution radio screen, Bluetooth, or Wi Fi is irrelevant. I bought the S model to escape those "toys". Those who are complaining about "outdated tech" should just get on line and wait for the next IPhone to be released... Party on.. Dudes..

I disagree. Telematics makes a big difference for a short range EV like the Leaf. The ability to remotely query charge, turn on/off climate control from house power and turn on/off charging at public charging stations are extremely useful features.

On several occasions I return home with very little charge left from the commute and then if I decide to run an errand as an after thought, I remotely kick the charging and climate control preemptively to get the car ready for the late evening errand. It works impeccably. Car is ready for the 20 mile errand in 1 hour or less.

 

[Stanton]

I disagree. Telematics makes a big difference for a short range EV like the Leaf. The ability to remotely query charge, turn on/off climate control from house power and turn on/off charging at public charging stations are extremely useful features.

On several occasions I return home with very little charge left from the commute and then if I decide to run an errand as an after thought, I remotely kick the charging and climate control preemptively to get the car ready for the late evening errand. It works impeccably. Car is ready for the 20 mile errand in 1 hour or less.

I agree with you. Telematics will become a bigger and bigger part of all vehicles, not just EVs.

 

[jpadc]

I will have to go back and dig up the paperwork, but when I acquired the 2016 Leaf, there was some paperwork in the paper stack that read something like this - "In lieu of planned discontinuation of AT&T's 2G network in December of 2016, please await instructions from Nissan for your telematics system"

Well, I've been waiting for confirmation that the 2016s have a 3g radio in them. I've still not seen it anywhere in the published specs for the car. But you did not have to sign any statement about the AT&Ts discontinuation of the 2G network when you purchased the car?

I'd like to see what paperwork you did see on that point. I'm another one here that says Nissan will do nothing if/when AT&T does in fact shut off 2G in December (I think they will just not continue it as towers get upgraded equipment so it will die slowly) as announced. There is no up to Nissan to do so. They sell new cars, not keep old ones working 5-10 years out.

 

[EVDRIVER]

The folks on this thread have really barked up the wrong tree. Who cares about "telematics" when the reason for this site is the EV part!. A car is a product that will last decades, and whether it has a higher resolution radio screen, Bluetooth, or Wi Fi is irrelevant. I bought the S model to escape those "toys". Those who are complaining about "outdated tech" should just get on line and wait for the next IPhone to be released... Party on.. Dudes..

Except the tech in the LEAF is more than 10 years outdated compared to other ICE cars. I hope you are being sarcastic because if you are being serious your statements sound strange at so many levels and have noting to do with Iphone comparisons. The technology on an EV is very relevant to the platform, in fact more so. In VERY old ice cars you could ask for the nearest Chinese restaurant but in a LEAF you could not ask for the nearest charging station because it had a five word vocabulary, amazingly stupid but a result of a product rush. Nissan bragged about Car Wings as if it were something advanced when it was laughable tech with a press release attached. To clarify, all other Nissan cars offered much more advanced technology because the LEAF was cobbled together with things like a Clarion stereo and bad software. Not having to be distracted to find a charge station is not a "toy" feature but a safety feature, just a start to a long list of items. Bluetooth is a "toy" feature? Certainly you would not use these features because the string from your can would not reach the other callers can while driving. We all know how useless a touch screen is when setting a charge timer on a LEAF S.

So if you were offered the car with and without these "toys" at the same price I assume you would refuse them and take the base model? Or perhaps simply not use them?

 

[mihird]

Well, I've been waiting for confirmation that the 2016s have a 3g radio in them. I've still not seen it anywhere in the published specs for the car. But you did not have to sign any statement about the AT&Ts discontinuation of the 2G network when you purchased the car?

I'd like to see what paperwork you did see on that point. I'm another one here that says Nissan will do nothing if/when AT&T does in fact shut off 2G in December (I think they will just not continue it as towers get upgraded equipment so it will die slowly) as announced. There is no up to Nissan to do so. They sell new cars, not keep old ones working 5-10 years out.

I think, by now there are enough articles on the 2016 Leaf online that mention that it has a 3G radio. Nissan retired Carwings altogether for 2016, and it now uses NissanConnect for the Leaf, albeit a special version called NissanConnect EV. No, I did not have to sign anything regarding planned AT&T 2G obsolescence.

I think, if you step into any dealership, they can show you that letter..I will try and hunt it down in my paper stack. I have a 50-50 feeling on whether Nissan will do anything about the 2G obsolescence. It would be very unfair for 2014-2015 model year owners to see their telematics die in just 1-2 years. That is what makes me think, Nissan will most certainly work out an alternate plan.

2G it seems, is not just dying on AT&T network, it is to be phased out completely in the US and the frequencies re-allocated for other uses.

 

[dhanson865]

Well, I've been waiting for confirmation that the 2016s have a 3g radio in them. I've still not seen it anywhere in the published specs for the car. But you did not have to sign any statement about the AT&Ts discontinuation of the 2G network when you purchased the car?

I'd like to see what paperwork you did see on that point. I'm another one here that says Nissan will do nothing if/when AT&T does in fact shut off 2G in December (I think they will just not continue it as towers get upgraded equipment so it will die slowly) as announced. There is no up to Nissan to do so. They sell new cars, not keep old ones working 5-10 years out.

I think, by now there are enough articles on the 2016 Leaf online that mention that it has a 3G radio. Nissan retired Carwings altogether for 2016, and it now uses NissanConnect for the Leaf, albeit a special version called NissanConnect EV. No, I did not have to sign anything regarding planned AT&T 2G obsolescence.

I think, if you step into any dealership, they can show you that letter..I will try and hunt it down in my paper stack. I have a 50-50 feeling on whether Nissan will do anything about the 2G obsolescence. It would be very unfair for 2014-2015 model year owners to see their telematics die in just 1-2 years. That is what makes me think, Nissan will most certainly work out an alternate plan.

2G it seems, is not just dying on AT&T network, it is to be phased out completely in the US and the frequencies re-allocated for other uses.

Carwings was renamed to NissanConnectEV for the 2011 to 2015 cars as well. It isn't anything new, they just renamed it.

 

[jpadc]

It would be very unfair for 2014-2015 model year owners to see their telematics die in just 1-2 years. That is what makes me think, Nissan will most certainly work out an alternate plan.

Except they made all new owners (from 2013 on, even Model S owners) sign statements saying we understood that on Jan 1, 2017) it would/could be gone. There is a reason they made us sign such statements

 

[minispeed]

The telemetric system goes 2 ways, not only does it supply us with a way to interact with the car but it supplies Nissan a way to get data that is valuable to them about how your car is driven.

 

[DoobeeDude]

It would be very unfair for 2014-2015 model year owners to see their telematics die in just 1-2 years. That is what makes me think, Nissan will most certainly work out an alternate plan.

Except they made all new owners (from 2013 on, even Model S owners) sign statements saying we understood that on Jan 1, 2017) it would/could be gone. There is a reason they made us sign such statements

True. Purchased my 2015 SV in early August this year. The only representations I saw in my stack of papers said I could (would?) very well be out of luck at the end of this year.

I will miss it if it goes away!

 

[Jefe]

It would be very unfair for 2014-2015 model year owners to see their telematics die in just 1-2 years. That is what makes me think, Nissan will most certainly work out an alternate plan.

Except they made all new owners (from 2013 on, even Model S owners) sign statements saying we understood that on Jan 1, 2017) it would/could be gone. There is a reason they made us sign such statements

I posted this on another topic, but this is the note that was added to 2014+ Window stickers:

It is pretty blunt about the drop dead date, and that "CARWINGS will not function". But the fact that it goes on to say "Nissan is not responsible for associated costs that may be required for continued operation..." makes me think that they do plan to have options for continuing service.

 

[Jefe]

http://dailysunknoxville.com/2016-nissan-leaf-cant-compete-with-outdated-tech/9200542

The low-res infotainment display definitely needs to go. That 10" display on bolt looks really nice.

This is the dumbest article. They start out complaining about the infotainment technology and then move on to say "thankfully Nissan is making strides in the right direction by partnering with Microsoft to beef up tech via a telematics system."

Those two things have nothing to do with each other. Then they tout the benefits of the new system, which are identical to the Carwings system. These aren't new features. Is the story that they are partnering with MS and somehow that's going to make them magically better? This is describing the exact same system from 2010, but somehow "Microsoft Azure" makes it hot new tech??

I wonder if the writer even has a clue what Nissan Leaf Carwings is(was).

I don't deny that the Leaf has outdated tech, but this article is pointless. You want to talk about outdated tech, sit in a Toyota. They still have clocks with an H and an M button to set them.

With the Leaf, the car is the tech. Most ICE cars are built on legacy powertrains and compliment that with tech.

 

[powersurge]

The folks on this thread have really barked up the wrong tree. Who cares about "telematics" when the reason for this site is the EV part!. A car is a product that will last decades, and whether it has a higher resolution radio screen, Bluetooth, or Wi Fi is irrelevant. I bought the S model to escape those "toys". Those who are complaining about "outdated tech" should just get on line and wait for the next IPhone to be released... Party on.. Dudes..

Except the tech in the LEAF is more than 10 years outdated compared to other ICE cars. I hope you are being sarcastic because if you are being serious your statements sound strange at so many levels and have noting to do with Iphone comparisons. The technology on an EV is very relevant to the platform, in fact more so. In VERY old ice cars you could ask for the nearest Chinese restaurant but in a LEAF you could not ask for the nearest charging station because it had a five word vocabulary, amazingly stupid but a result of a product rush. Nissan bragged about Car Wings as if it were something advanced when it was laughable tech with a press release attached. To clarify, all other Nissan cars offered much more advanced technology because the LEAF was cobbled together with things like a Clarion stereo and bad software. Not having to be distracted to find a charge station is not a "toy" feature but a safety feature, just a start to a long list of items. Bluetooth is a "toy" feature? Certainly you would not use these features because the string from your can would not reach the other callers can while driving. We all know how useless a touch screen is when setting a charge timer on a LEAF S.

So if you were offered the car with and without these "toys" at the same price I assume you would refuse them and take the base model? Or perhaps simply not use them?

I see by the response I have gotten by my post that I have reached the age of having a conflict with the progress of society. Although I am not an old geezer by any means, I lived through the time when an FM radio was an option on a car, and the waist seat belt was considered new technology. If you wanted to see a TV show, you had to get back home in time to see it.

Although I am quite technically savvy, I have no interest in my car having internet connectivity, Bluetooth, USB, or any "telematics" where anyone knows what I do, how often I do it, etc. For me, a car is to drive, I put on the FREE FM radio, and I am happy. If I am lost, I can always pull out my GPS or my cell phone. Yes, for me, and hopefully some others, this "tech" issue is totally unimportant.

 

[LeftieBiker]

On the Minus side of that, it's folks like you who buy just enough of the "Base" model SVs and SLs to allow Nissan to keep producing them, to disappoint car shoppers for years to come. ;-) It's the equivalent of shopping for a used car in 1990 and finding otherwise great cars with no A/C, radio or Cruise Control.