LEAF Telematics Access Ending By 2017?

[ericvoll]

Hopefully I won't start too much of a fire with this post, but I read something interesting today in AT&T's second quarter 10-Q filing. It's about half way down.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/732717/000073271712000073/q2_10q.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Basically, AT&T indicate they plan on turning off their 2G cellular service by January 1, 2017 to free up bandwidth. I seem to remember reading that the 2011/2012 LEAF's use a GPRS cellular modem (2G) on AT&T service to do the telematics communication from the car to Nissan's data center. From AT&T's disclosure, it would seem that the telematics service in our LEAF's will cease operating sometime in 2016 and certainly by 2017. Maybe there will be another carrier (I think unlikely) or perhaps new technology will have to be installed to continue using Carwings.

The text is below:

Also as part of our ongoing efforts to improve our network performance and help address the need for additional spectrum capacity, we intend to redeploy spectrum currently used for basic 2G services to support more advanced mobile Internet services on our 3G and 4G networks. We will manage this process consistent with previous network upgrades and will transition customers on a market-by-market basis from our Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) networks (referred to as 2G networks) to our more advanced 3G and 4G networks. We expect to fully discontinue service on our 2G networks by approximately January 1, 2017. Throughout this multi-year upgrade process, we will work proactively with our customers to manage the process of moving to 3G and 4G devices, which will help minimize customer churn. As of June 30, 2012, approximately 12 percent of our postpaid customers were using 2G handsets. We do not expect this transition to have a material impact on our operating results, but will continue to evaluate the financial impact of transitioning customers from 2G devices to 3G or 4G devices.

 

[siai]

This same thing happened to a lot of GM customers with ON-Star. The older systems used analog transmitters and GM didn't offer a replacement unit but did offer advice to their technicians on how to disable the unit. I suppose this will be the end result for the LEAF telemetrics system. I am suprised that it isn't 2G/3G compatible. I hope AT&T puts some 3G towers up where I live before shutting down the 2G EDGE system.

 

[Stanton]

This is a good catch and quite probably true; all of the carriers will have to 'redeploy' their 2G resources/spectrum as they roll out 4G technology. I remember reading something in a thread many months ago where someone found a (Japanese) document detailing the costs of replacement telematics modules at a few hundred dollars. For all the good choices they made on new technology, it's unfortunate that Nissan chose to put a 2G comm module in the Leaf instead of 3G.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

ya, 5 years warning is probably "cutting it close" but hopefully something will have been figured out by then

 

[JPWhite]

I find it interesting that "Lorem Ipsum" text is contained within the official Nissan Website regarding the 2G service and CarWings

http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/disclaimers or
http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/disclaimers/index

No info on the 2014 CarWings technology on the website (that's what I was looking for). Wonder if the 2014 CarWings Service will go bump in the night in 2017 as well?

 

[uwskier20]

The phase-out of GPRS will definitely play a lot of havoc, as a lot of remote monitoring technologies (e.g., weather stations) rely on that technology. Of course, they can just swap out the modem, probably a lot easier than we can in our cars...

 

[JPWhite]

probably a lot easier than we can in our cars...

Hmmm....

Wonder if ingineer can come up with another 3rd party solution for older LEAF's, of which there are about 42,000 on the roads right now. Of course, Nissan have to first offer CarWings on another wireless technology platform before anyone can switch.

If the 2014's are on GPRS they will stop working before 3 years are up.

 

[uwskier20]

I think it would be nice to just do away with the modem and just 1) tether to your smartphone; and/or 2) use wi-fi (particularly when at home or work).

 

[Stanton]

The phase-out of GPRS will definitely play a lot of havoc, as a lot of remote monitoring technologies (e.g., weather stations) rely on that technology. Of course, they can just swap out the modem, probably a lot easier than we can in our cars...

We should be able to swap out the modem on our Leafs as well; the question is "how much"? Of course, Nissan will have to join the party because there may be some compatibility issues with the CW system. I seem to remember reading something about this (regarding the Japanese Leafs) a couple of years ago (they have a completely different cellular system/frequency in Japan) and thinking the TCM unit in our cars would accommodate such an eventuality.