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Entune - Piece of App

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by bilofsky, Jul 5, 2012.

  1. bilofsky

    bilofsky Privolting Member

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    No, the title's not a judgment on the Android Entune app (but feel free to take it that way ;)).

    It's just that the app isn't complete - it's only a piece of what should be there. In a full app, Charge Management would:
    • Permit stopping a charge, turning on and setting the charge timer, not just starting a charge.
    • Update in less than a minute.
    • Allow the user to change or omit the PIN.
    And I wish the car could connect to my home network on Wi-Fi, so the apps could continue to work after the subscription runs out, at least when the car's parked at home. They're nice to have but not worth paying for ongoing service, since I only ever use Charge Management.
     
    #1 bilofsky, Jul 5, 2012
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  2. ryogajyc

    ryogajyc Active Member

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    I agree that stopping a charge from the app would be useful, but I would extend that there should be a way to stop a charge from the car itself as well.

    Also, setting the charge from the app could be more flexible, such as charge times more than 24 hours later and recurring charge times. The programmability could all be kept on the server which would simply send a start charging command to the car at the appropriate times. The only problem with doing it this way would be that if there were no cellular service, the server-side charge timer would not work, but this case should be relatively rare.

    The long refresh is sort of understandable. When you refresh button, it has to go and request the current status from your car which is slow because of the cellular network and/or the Entune head unit.

    Actually, when you turn the car off and when it finishes charging, the car pushes the status to the Entune server, which caches it. Getting the cached status only takes a few seconds. I think the solution for faster updates is to have the car push updates when the EV miles change during charging.
     
    #2 ryogajyc, Jul 5, 2012
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  3. bilofsky

    bilofsky Privolting Member

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    Unplug the cord? :rolleyes:
     
    #3 bilofsky, Jul 5, 2012
  4. ryogajyc

    ryogajyc Active Member

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    I guess I should be more specific and say stopping the charge while leaving it plugged in. It would be useful for when you want to leave the car uncharged for an extended period of time, but want it charged when you return to use it.
     
    #4 ryogajyc, Jul 6, 2012
  5. bilofsky

    bilofsky Privolting Member

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    Right, that would be useful. It could be implemented with remote control of a 110 volt outlet. There is X10 equipment that can do this over the internet but I think it needs your PC to be running.

    Edit: More generally (and I've said this before), the PIP user's charge options are ill-conceived. Most of the time a user plugging in wants to use the timer. So that should be the default (or it should be user-configurable), and there should be a button at the charge port to allow charging to start immediately, with a status indicator.

    And as you point out, there should be an option to plug in without charging at all.

    All this could be added to the current PIP with a software update, using the existing button and lamp at the charge port. But that's unlikely, unless someone hacks the code.
     
    #5 bilofsky, Jul 6, 2012
  6. Fluker

    Fluker Junior Member

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    The Volt has similar update lag issues in my experience. The Ford Focus Electric is much quicker, updates happen in 30 to 45 seconds typically.
     
    #6 Fluker, Jul 6, 2012
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