My Tesla Rep said it was free
My Tesla Rep said it would cost me after 90 days
My Tesla Rep said it's free until we go to 4G
My Tesla Rep has no clue as to what they are saying
so, no one ever told us who's picking up the tab and the cost for this. We also don't seem to have any way to tether out? What's the real story?
You might ask one of the Tesla reps and see what they say.
Sorry. I couldn't resist
The real story is they are working on it and have not announced anything specific yet.
Basically it's free until they say otherwise, but you need to accept that could be at any time because they never promised you anything (except the sig customers, of course).
I hope it'll stay free with tech package. It was expensive....
It's at least 90 days of free use even if they reach a deal, or until this isn't true anymore.
Once it isn't free, presumably I can get off the crappy AT&T network that has lousy connectivity everywhere I go.
I remember somewhere that it is free for the Signature holders for 1 year.
Indeed, that's why the vocals sometimes sound like the artist is singing while driving at 60mph over a dozen or more evenly spaced speed bumps.
@jat, I wouldn't count on that. At best it could be switched to T-Mobile (the only other major GSM provider in the US). The only good hope for getting off of AT&T is tethering, which will require that they enable wi-fi.
@riceuguy - my other phones are on T-Mobile, and I can add a data-only SIM to my family plan for $10/mo (2G cap before dropping back to edge, might not be enough streaming audio). I would be very surprised if the SIM wasn't accessible.
Anyway, it will probably be a few months before anything changes.
@portia - I think that was the Slacker Radio subscription - Signature gets 1 year, everyone else gets 3 months. I haven't heard any official answer on wireless connectivity yet.
on a sort of related topic, anyone know which carrier they are using now?
I was driving to Gilroy with my Verizon phone, and my husband's AT&T, and the bars on the car looked more like Verizon than AT&T.
I'm pretty sure it is AT&T. If they were using Verizon, they would have to have different hardware for international cars.
GSM has been confirmed which means ATT or T-mobile. Board sentiment strongly favors AT&T as the likely carrier.
AT&T has been confirmed I believe. I'm not so sure the SIM will be accessible, but the 1 year/3 mos. free for sig/non-sig is indeed data. Those have both been officially announced.
Take a look at this thread on TeslaMotorsClub.com:
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/9997-Model-S-connectivity-(service-plan-upgradability-speed)/page7#63
It shows exactly which wireless chips are being used (Sierra Wireless AR8550) by preproduction cars. The information is available on the diagnostic screen.
It's AT&T
There is a lengthy Telematics Services Subscription Agreement in the final MVPA. Basically, it says the service is free until Tesla gives us 30 day notice otherwise, and the service providers will be chosen by Tesla. The rest is left to the lawyers :)
Hm, seems choosing AT&T was about as clever as using Alpine for the Roadster audio.
Well AT&T has good 4G and LTE coverage in the Seattle, LA, and Bay Area.
Tesla confirmed AT&T when I asked about this a few months ago.
@olanmills, don't get your heart set on 4G. As I recall, the Sierra Wireless chip is 3G only, and does not support HSPA+ or the frequency bands AT&T uses for 4G. And Verizon is not an option either, unfortunately, as the chip does not support CDMA of any kind.
Theoretically, you could put in a T-Mobile SIM, but not sure you are going to get any better coverage, as bad as AT&T is.
The likely reason Tesla picked GSM as it works almost world-wide, and they are selling cars world-wide. I think only Japan and Korea use home-grown solutions (not GSM and not CDMA). One reason the newest phones and features appear on GSM first is the ability to sell them world-wide. GSM market is about 5 times larger than CDMA.
This is not a statement that GSM is better than CDMA or the reverse, but it's more like the old Beta vs VHS battle. The one that sells the most usually wins and/or has a huge advantage. Some of the top CDMA phones now include all the GSM hardware so they can be used outside the USA, but that just adds cost and complexity to the design.
I also thought that Tesla some time back stated it will support 4G in a software update, but has never stated it would support LTE. That update might also need a carrier agreement, which could be why it's taking a while to hammer it all down and get a perfect answer. It will come.
Please Login to Comment
Sunday 19th May. Palm Desert to Corning, CA. Encountered significant headwinds (20 to 40 mph) which decreased range by about 10-15% (e.g. from Harris Ranch...