Privacy Article: Slate says your truck will never track you!

[dragondroptv]

Fair, I was also being deliberately silly. Not trying to offend, and apologies if I did.

I was not offended. Apologies are not needed.

 

[sodamo]

This stuff just creeps into our lives. Every morning (that I’m home) one of first things I do is hike out to the tractor shed to read all the stats of my solar electric, 3 meters, pushing at least 15 buttons to get the same info available on my ipad/iphone. Contrast that to my weather station which reports to a console on a shelf and I only check the app, as does my wife.
i look forward to the Slate not being connected, yet as I was researching wired Level 2 chargers I only want one that connects to my iphone/ipad, and my 1st choice also connects and reports info from my solar power.

 

[GaRailroader]

i look forward to the Slate not being connected, yet as I was researching wired Level 2 chargers I only want one that connects to my iphone/ipad, and my 1st choice also connects and reports info from my solar power.

I absolutely love the Tesla Mobile Connector. I have been using the same one in 2 houses for 8 years. It doesn’t have all the connectivity you are seeking though. I do have WiFi circuit monitoring in my electrical panels by Emporia so I am able to see the gross electricity sent to the charger. The EVSE brick is very small compared to other chargers and the cable diameter is smaller so it is not so unwieldy to keep neat. I used the Nissan Leaf mobile charger once and then listed it on Facebook Marketplace, it was very bad in comparison to Tesla cable.

 

[EVfun]

I think battery status and range visibility should be considered a core feature, even on a low-cost truck. It doesn’t need a full always-connected LTE subscription like modern EVs, but there should at least be local Wi-Fi or Bluetooth access so you can monitor charging and state of charge nearby.

Level 2 chargers are commonly installed near restaurants, stores, hotels, and downtown parking areas. In those situations, people are going to want notifications like:

• “Charging paused”
• “Reached 80%”
• “Ready to unplug”
• “Estimated range added”

Without some kind of status visibility, owners are basically forced to walk back out to the truck repeatedly just to check progress.

If Slate wants to avoid embedded cellular hardware costs, I think a good compromise would be:

• Local Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connection to the vehicle
• Letting a dedicated device syncs charging/range status to the owner’s account whenever internet is available

Then you could remotely view:

• Current charge %
• Estimated range
• Charging speed
• Charging complete notifications
• Battery temperature warnings

Honestly, I’d even pay for a dedicated iPad Mini with cellular and the tablet mount in the truck if it acted as the bridge between the vehicle and cloud services. That keeps the truck itself simpler and cheaper while still giving owners modern EV conveniences remotely.

Based on the comment that started this thread, and some of Slate's own statements (like the optional steering wheel Bluetooth controls) it appears that the Slate will have Bluetooth connectivity. This is almost certainly how the phone app connects to the car so you can make settings changes and check status. It could also have WiFi connectivity but I doubt it.

Bluetooth range varies from around 30 feet for older versions, to 100 feet or so for Bluetooth 4, up to 800 feet (I've never seen that) for Bluetooth 5. If they don't include a cell modem like most modern cars you will have to be fairly close to your car to connect to it. That still is a lot more connectivity than I get from my base model 2004 Tacoma.

 

[sodamo]

I absolutely love the Tesla Mobile Connector. I have been using the same one in 2 houses for 8 years. It doesn’t have all the connectivity you are seeking though. I do have WiFi circuit monitoring in my electrical panels by Emporia so I am able to see the gross electricity sent to the charger. The EVSE brick is very small compared to other chargers and the cable diameter is smaller so it is not so unwieldy to keep neat. I used the Nissan Leaf mobile charger once and then listed it on Facebook Marketplace, it was very bad in comparison to Tesla cable.

I had installed an Emporia Gen 2 monitor years ago. Apparently their Classic charger allows for some data sharing and function.

 

[Johnologue]

Well stated. Only one minor observation. While your Slate may not track you, bring your cellphone along for the ride, and your location is being tracked.

So long as they don't block Linux phones from running the Android app somehow, people who choose niche, hackable, privacy-focused technology should have some options.

 

[Adam W]

Based on the comment that started this thread, and some of Slate's own statements (like the optional steering wheel Bluetooth controls) it appears that the Slate will have Bluetooth connectivity.

The steering wheel bluetooth controller has no connection to the truck as far as we know. It's just a remote that's directly connected to your phone via BT, which in turn is connected to the BT speakers. Like these. As for the app, I think it's only connectivity option is hardwired via the USB cable. We'll know for sure (probably) in a few weeks, but I think it's been pretty well established there will be no bluetooth, wifi, gps, & cell radios in the Slate.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

The steering wheel bluetooth controller has no connection to the truck as far as we know. It's just a remote that's directly connected to your phone via BT, which in turn is connected to the BT speakers. Like these. As for the app, I think it's only connectivity option is hardwired via the USB cable. We'll know for sure (probably) in a few weeks, but I think it's been pretty well established there will be no bluetooth, wifi, gps, & cell radios in the Slate.

It’s not an entirely analog experience, though; a Slate smartphone app can manage settings, change drive mode, and provide range and charging info. But only when connected locally to the car—there’s no embedded modem, so forget about remote access. And the company says that while it may use data from the app to improve its products, it won’t sell that data.

So the general consensus is that this Slate smartphone app will only work when directly connected using wire and not bluetooth? Has this connection method been confirmed by Slate? Could a Bluetooth connection qualify as "connected locally to the car"?

I'm not convinced that the information in this article clearly answers the question of the Slate app and how it communicates with the vehicle.

 

[cadblu]

So the general consensus is that this Slate smartphone app will only work when directly connected using wire and not bluetooth? Has this connection method been confirmed by Slate?

We’ve been going back and forth on this topic for quite some time. But the general consensus is “yes,” your phone must be connected in its dock (or equivalent) to access the Slate app in real time. It’s not a remote app in the traditional sense; at this point in time it needs to be tethered for real time data, vehicle updates, and battery / charging status.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

We’ve been going back and forth on this topic for quite some time. But the general consensus is “yes,” your phone must be connected in its dock (or equivalent) to access the Slate app in real time. It’s not a remote app in the traditional sense; at this point in time it needs to be tethered for real time data, vehicle updates, and battery / charging status.

I have several reasons to doubt this; primarily having to plug in and unplug every time. I would very much prefer a Bluetooth connection for the convenience.

I also understand Slate is not building this for me.

We'll know more as we get closer to production!

 

[KevinRS]

That's by no means necessary or a core feature. There's value in simplicity, and there's negative value in tracking. You can just know that you plugged in at 12pm it's now 4:00 so you probably added about 80 miles of range, it's not hard. The one time it pings with a push notification (ugh) to say that the charger malfunctioned and paused is not worth adding an LTE/GPS tracker that reports back to the cloud.

I think that Slate caters far more to engineers than to enthusiasts.

The idea would be to give us the option. Considering the fleet applications and bits we've heard from people talking to Slate on the fleet side, it seems there will be some kind of connectivity add on. I think it would likely be a module that plugs into the truck somewhere, probably considerably less than a tablet, maybe it's a data device that you can use with the SIM of your choice. As an alternative, maybe you can leave out the SIM and only connect to it from your device with wifi, no outside connection at all.

Yes getting a notification that the charger malfunctioned can be important. You don't want to get to check out time, go out to the truck, and instead of charging being finished, find it at 20% or lower and it's time to go.

On bluetooth, yes as far as is known, the optional steering wheel buttons are independent of the truck's systems besides power. Simple remote buttons for your phone, where you would choose on the phone what each button does.

We will hopefully hear more on the 24th, but since connectivity may be seen more as a "Fleet thing" we may not hear about an optional module for it until later.

 

[cadblu]

I would very much prefer a Bluetooth connection for the convenience.

100% agree. Even with a ~35 ft. limited BT range it would be awesome if you could interact at home with your Slate in the garage or driveway. Things like battery status, preconditioning, activating the climate control, schedule charging, or even route planning with charging stops would great without actually sitting in the truck.

 

[sodamo]

Not looking for a fully connected vehicle but one of my first additions will be either a AT&T Mobley or similar for cell connectivity for my ipad.

 

[EVfun]

The steering wheel bluetooth controller has no connection to the truck as far as we know. It's just a remote that's directly connected to your phone via BT, which in turn is connected to the BT speakers. Like these. As for the app, I think it's only connectivity option is hardwired via the USB cable. We'll know for sure (probably) in a few weeks, but I think it's been pretty well established there will be no bluetooth, wifi, gps, & cell radios in the Slate.

That will be interesting as many phones are not really set up for wired connections. Apple keeps pretty tight controls on what wired devices work on their phones, to the point where I use my iCloud account to move photos off the phone because my Mac is too old to to use iTunes with my newer phone. Android exists in MANY different versions all running on different phones right now, and many don't have upgrade options. There are even portless phones out there where where a wired connection is not an option.

If they have bluetooth controls in the steering wheel (option) then the car would need Bluetooth connectivity. It has to have it for those buttons to communicate with your phone controls. Otherwise it would be a wired communication control, not Bluetooth. It is not supposed to have a cell connection and I doubt it will have WiFi connectivity. I'm guessing all will have some version of Bluetooth.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

If they have bluetooth controls in the steering wheel (option) then the car would need Bluetooth connectivity. It has to have it for those buttons to communicate with your phone controls.

I'm getting what you're saying here, but I wonder if the steering wheel controls will tie to the vehicle or only to an audio system - for example, Bluetooth speaker(s).