EV+ and tracking your C-Max with SYNC

[AgentCMAX]

I don't have the built-in nav system and seeing that my C-Max has EV+ capability, I surmise that the C-Max has its own built-in GPS sensor. If this is true, then is there a way we can get access to that GPS for tracking purposes?

 

For example I would like to know where my car is if it got stolen. That would be a nice SYNC feature! Simply log in to your on-line SYNC account and it reports your C-Max location.

Edited December 10, 2012 by AgentCMAX

[MikeB]

At least for my coming Energi, the MyFordMobile smartphone app will show the vehicle location, as will the matching myfordmobile.com website. However, Energi vehicles aren't able to complete the registration process yet, the system isn't quite ready for us. I don't know if the Hybrid will be able to use the app/website down the road, since most of the functions are centered on charging the battery, but the location service would still make sense. But the potential is there, it's just a matter of Ford providing access.

[Fits2at]

I think I read that it was coming early 2013.

[Bob999]

I don't have the built-in nav system and seeing that my C-Max has EV+ capability, I surmise that the C-Max has its own built-in GPS sensor. If this is true, then is there a way we can get access to that GPS for tracking purposes?

 

For example I would like to know where my car is if it got stolen. That would be a nice SYNC feature! Simply log in to your on-line SYNC account and it reports your C-Max location.

I think all CMAX have GPS.  However the car does not have a means for the GPS to communicate with the outside world like the ONSTAR system that GM puts in its cars (ONSTAR includes a cell phone as a part of the unit.)  In the Ford implmentation the cell phone is provided by the owner and must be linked to the car via Bluetooth in order for the car to communicate with the outside world.

 

This is discussed in the SYNC section of the manual--a particular example is the Vehicle Health Report that can be sent provided a cell phone is paired and actually connected.

[valkraider]

I think all CMAX have GPS.  However the car does not have a means for the GPS to communicate with the outside world like the ONSTAR system that GM puts in its cars (ONSTAR includes a cell phone as a part of the unit.)  In the Ford implmentation the cell phone is provided by the owner and must be linked to the car via Bluetooth in order for the car to communicate with the outside world.

 

Energi models have their own internal 3G modem.

[Bob999]

Energi models have their own internal 3G modem.

 

 

According to one source all CMAX's have the 3G modem--but what does that mean in practical terms for the ability of the driver to do anything???r  I think that maybe the imbedded modem is what the owners cell phone connects to via bluetooth in order to get an external cellular phone connection--but that the imbedded modem by itself has no functionality to actually connect without the external cellphone.

 

"According to Alan Hall, a Ford technology specialist, the C-Max has an embedded cellular modem, but no Internet access as featured in the Audi S8 I recently drove. “There are a lot of advantages to having a connection, but because we want people to use it in a safe way, there are no onboard capabilities that the driver uses,” Hall said."

 

See here:   http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/blogs/driving-fords-snazzy-new-c-max-hybrid

[valkraider]

The Energi model connects to the cloud on its own and communicates with the cloud on its own.  No driver cell phone needed.  It is sending electric usage data to Ford, and then to the MyFordTouch app if you have that for yourself.  This cannot be used for internet access, it is the car communicating for its own purposes.

 

To use internet access through the built in wi-fi you do indeed have to connect a users mobile phone or other modem to the car via bluetooth or USB.

[Bob999]

The Energi model connects to the cloud on its own and communicates with the cloud on its own.  No driver cell phone needed.  It is sending electric usage data to Ford, and then to the MyFordTouch app if you have that for yourself.  This cannot be used for internet access, it is the car communicating for its own purposes.

 

To use internet access through the built in wi-fi you do indeed have to connect a users mobile phone or other modem to the car via bluetooth or USB.

 

What is the basis for the assertions about the Energy model connecting you are making???  I have been unable to find a source.

 

Additionally I understand the "cloud" to be an internet concept while the discussion is about cell phone connections.  I understand that a cell phone can can connect to the internet IF it has the capability and IF the network it is connected to provides a link to the internet.

[zhackwyatt]

I don't have the built-in nav system and seeing that my C-Max has EV+ capability, I surmise that the C-Max has its own built-in GPS sensor. If this is true, then is there a way we can get access to that GPS for tracking purposes?

 

For example I would like to know where my car is if it got stolen. That would be a nice SYNC feature! Simply log in to your on-line SYNC account and it reports your C-Max location.

FYI you can use it for navigation.  You use sync services to find the destination it will then download the turn-by-turn directions to the car.

[valkraider]

What is the basis for the assertions about the Energy model connecting you are making???  I have been unable to find a source.

 

Additionally I understand the "cloud" to be an internet concept while the discussion is about cell phone connections.  I understand that a cell phone can can connect to the internet IF it has the capability and IF the network it is connected to provides a link to the internet.

 

I have seen the cars do it, this was presented in the Energi demos we attended in the "Ford Driven" events, and it is on the Energi flyer we have.  It's only on the Energi model, not the regular hybrid version.  The system is the same one as the Focus Electric which is described here:

 

http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=33763

 

There is a problem currently with the C-Max VIN numbers not working in MyFordMobile, but Ford says it should be fixed by January.

 

The Energi comes with a 5 year subscription, and you can monitor charging status, get notified when it is done charging or disconnected from the charger, remote lock/unlock doors, remote start climate control, and some other things.  The Energi also will download the locations of electric charging stations and show them on the navigation screen if you have a Nav equipped model.

 

The "cloud" really has nothing to do with cell phones.  The "cloud" means systems that run remotely, on the internet.  (Cloud is just a buzz-word really, anything that runs on the internet could sort of be considered in the cloud, but generally cloud means servers and systems which run on those servers - instead of running locally on a local device such as computer, tablet or smartphone).

 

Cell phones all have the capability to connect to the internet, the only difference is how useful their interface is and the speed at which they can connect.  Yes, the cell phone network has to provide network connectivity (but not in all cases).  However within a couple years, even the voice part of cell phones will be running as data over the internet and there will be no more distinction between data and voice, they will all be data on the net.

[Bob999]

 

Cell phones all have the capability to connect to the internet,

 

 

Simply not true.

 

Most new cell phones do have internet capability but there are still a lot of older ones that don't.

[valkraider]

Simply not true.

 

Most new cell phones do have internet capability but there are still a lot of older ones that don't.

 

Just because you don't use it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

 

There hasn't been a cellphone sold in this country since the 90s which doesn't have internet capability.   2G cell phone networks have built in data capabilities.  The first phones with internet capabilities hit in 1999, and were standard across the systems by 2000.

 

It was clunky early on but by 2002 there was even an internet access standard which allowed sites to be developed to handle cell phones more gracefully (called WAP).  But even before that if you were a techie it was not overly complicated to use the internet on a cell phone.  Google started in the mid 2000s offering a service called "mobilizer" which would format any existing site to fit on a regular old cell phone.  I had hundreds of sites bookmarked through Google mobilizer for use on my phone.

 

Any phone which can text message can use the internet.

 

It's just not all that fun or convenient.   ;)

 

Edit:  While researching to get my dates and facts correct, I found that depending on your network provider and your phone, you could access the internet in crude ways or for oddball functions as early as  the mid 90s (Finland and Japan led the charge).  That amazes me, I didn't start using the internet on my phone until late 2000.

 

I did however for a short while have a Motorola cell phone with a proprietary serial cable that hooked to my laptop and worked as an old fashioned dial-up modem, for a ridiculously slow connection...  That was around 1999...  It was almost to painful to bear.  It is hard to believe now that I can get 43Mbps down on my LTE iPhone. !!!

Edited December 10, 2012 by valkraider

[Bob999]

Valkraider

 

Thanks for the information and correcting the information I posted.

 

I should not have posted my experience in a far away place with a cheap prepaid internet plan as the state of the industry.  Additionally I realize I was commenting on my experience of the combination of the phone and network on cheap prepaid plans in "Timbuktu".  For all I know the phone may have had internet capability if the network and prepay plain supported it.