[Huey52]

A thread to collate desired improvements [to potentially be noticed by VW]

Kiernangs

Hey Mods! - I would love to see this thread or a dedicated feedback thread for Car-net pinned - similar to the feature requests for the car itself or the bug report thread.
I mentioned that I was hoping car-net would see updates soon to VWCustomercare when I was emailing them and they asked me for more feedback (unfortunately after words that made it sound like they dont think theres any issues?)

I sent them this email (sent to: [email protected]). I encourage others to post easy to read lists of feature requests and/or email Emobility or customer care.
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My Car-Net request list:

It feels very limited, especially compared to what I understand car-net has been able to do on other vehicles, and more so compared to similar apps from companies like tesla.

1. Phone Key: Unlock the car both manually and automatically. - The ability to use your phone as a car fob via bluetooth is really valuable. Even if it is just to lock and unlock and not drive (although the ability to use it to drive would be great)
   
   
2. More charging detail/info. Currently it shows the status of the battery (percentage of charge). It really needs the ability to see the current rate of charge (mph + kw rate). People dont want to sit in the car while it charges every time, and so the ability to monitor it with Details is really important.
   
   
3. Window/Door Status: Remote locking, window open/close, sunshade open/close etc are killer abilities from an app because it lets people roll up their windows from their house when a storm hits, or check if they remembered to lock their car after they sit down to dinner in a restaurant. The status of these aspects of the car are all things the car computer Knows, so it should be things that car net can at least Monitor and report, preferably control.
   
   
4. Tire pressure? - The car monitors it. Car-net should show it. Basically car-net really could benefit from reading a lot of the OB2 style data.
   
   
5. Trunk Open/Close? I know I can pop it with my foot, but the ability to have it already open, or to close it from afar would be an easy add-on to car net I feel.
   
   
6. Car location/find car - Help you find where you parked, and possibly trigger lights/sound to help you locate it.
   
   
7. Updates/Upgrades/OTA - The ability to check for and run OTA updates from the car-net app is going to be critical to driver experience. People will be unhappy if they have to go sit in the car to let it update. The app should alert you of new updates, and offer to let you schedule their install.
   
   
8. More granular climate control: Turn on heated seats and/or steering wheel in advance. (currently it only has defrost, and temperature. Theres so many good smart controls in the car - please add them to car-net, including air filter, etc).
   
   
9. Better charging station locator! - We need the ability to filter by type(s) of chargers (plug type, L3 vs L2 speed, Electrify America, etc) Searching for a DC charger is Very different than searching for a slow charger.
   
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   In general? VW should probably look at the tesla mobile app and honestly copy as many of its features as they can. This car is a driving computer, and a good phone interface app can be a positive part of that experience. Currently? Car-net is a mostly unhelpful negative part of my car experience.
   
   A run down of the tesla app features: Reminder: Tesla's mobile app has an incredible list of features, years ahead of the competition - techAU

 

[BlueDH]

I would add a display ability/interface on the infotainment screen. Some of the features might not be needed from inside the ID4.
Also a feature to remotely activate the interior and exterior lights from your mobile phone. Maybe automatically with the door lock/unlock from your phone.

I agree with all of your recommended/requested features. A rich suite of commands and monitoring functions is a good selling point.
I would be tempted to subscribe to Car-Net if it included all of features described above.

 

[Kiernangs]

Thanks!

Weird thing popped up in carnet today... I menu option called VSC pilot pops up when I try to go into settings/account. But if I try to click it it disappears. It also disappears if I wait.

Any idea what this is?

 

[Pxpxpunk]

Definitely a real route planning tool that highlights fast charging

 

[Kiernangs]

I would add a display ability/interface on the infotainment screen. Some of the features might not be needed from inside the ID4.
Also a feature to remotely activate the interior and exterior lights from your mobile phone. Maybe automatically with the door lock/unlock from your phone.

I agree with all of your recommended/requested features. A rich suite of commands and monitoring functions is a good selling point.
I would be tempted to subscribe to Car-Net if it included all of features described above.

I mean, all of the current "features" are included for free. it's just the features are...painfully minimal.

 

[BlueDH]

I mean, all of the current "features" are included for free. its just the features are...painfully minimal.

Oh I agree they all should be free. But if Car-Net had all the above features I "might" be tempted to do pay a "reasonable" amount for them.
What they supply now is totally inadequate. I'd be embarrassed to call it a feature as it currently is.

 

[Spin]

Great suggestions! I hope at least some of them can be included.

 

[ErickF]

Single sign-on. Once I'm in my garage, why do I need to authenticate again to see my vehicle?

 

[xcaliburinhand]

Single sign-on. Once I'm in my garage, why do I need to authenticate again to see my vehicle?

It is due to how the app handles communication, once you get to the vehicle it authenticates to make changes to the vehicle. It would be nice if it started in a read-only mode and didn't trigger the vehicle authentication until a change was issued. (an improvement to add to the list)

Although not applicable to the ID.4 the pin authentication for the vehicle is a nice extra security measure to stop someone from being able to unlock a vehicle.

 

[sprylo]

Tire pressure? - The car monitors it. Car-net should show it. Basically car-net really could benefit from reading a lot of the OB2 style data.

Lots of great suggestions, but the ID.4 does not monitor tire pressure directly (so no direct PSI monitoring is possible), and it can only really do its monitoring when the vehicle is in motion, so this one is less helpful than it might seem. You're never going to be able to get a notification that a tire went flat overnight, for example.

 

[ExCivilian]

I mean, all of the current "features" are included for free. its just the features are...painfully minimal.

Those all used to be part of CarNet for the eGolf except for 1, 5, 7, and 9.

I don't think the eGolf had OTA capability; we never got any updates that I'm aware of.

There wasn't a charger location function in the car at all.

The 2015s got the shortest end of the stick--they couldn't perform any charging settings without CarNet.

All of those functions became paid after the complimentary 3 years. The 2015 owners had to disable all of their charge settings and control it via EVSE because they got locked out from altering anything once their subscriptions ran out.

Most of the time the features worked about as well as they do now, which is to say not often. They would time out unless the car was awake and walking out to wake it up defeats the purpose of many of those functions.

It would be nice if it started in a read-only mode and didn't trigger the vehicle authentication until a change was issued. (an improvement to add to the list)

I do believe that's how it "worked" years ago. The problem was it would often time out so you'd do a bunch of settings and then authenticate to save them and have to do it all over again after a long wait.

 

[BlueDH]

My 2013 Jetta hybrid sel-p didn't have Car-Net.

 

[ExCivilian]

My 2013 Jetta hybrid sel-p didn't have Car-Net.

I believe it was introduced with the eGolf.

EU gets WeConnect, Audi gets Audi Connect/myAudi, and we get Car-Net :/

 

[igniztion]

WeConnect ID is about on par with Car Net from what I understand. Maybe a few extra features. The WeConnect app for our e-Up has way more features.

 

[Huey52]

VSC Pilot aka "Park Pilot" (Benz calls their's Parking Pilot) It's a remote App-engaged parking.
So James Bond's phone App-controlled vehicle is near future? 🤷‍♂️
Apparently something VW is looking to port to the ID platform at some point?

Thanks!

Weird thing popped up in carnet today... I menu option called VSC pilot pops up when I try to go into settings/account. But if I try to click it it disappears. It also disappears if I wait.

Any idea what this is?
View attachment 2932 View attachment 2932 View attachment 2932

 

[orey5]

Absolutely need a lock / unlock feature in the car-net app! I have had a 2014 Leaf, 2018 Leaf and 2019 Ford Fusion. All of which had a lock / unlock feature in their apps!

 

[BlueDH]

VW should be leading the pack with Car-Net and then promote it as a real feature.
Probably won't get to the level of Tesla (I don't know their features) but that's something to strive for.

 

[DanM]

VW should be leading the pack with Car-Net and then promote it as a real feature.
Probably won't get to the level of Tesla (I don't know their features) but that's something to strive for.

Given the prominence on the Monroney Label - a dedicated, outlined box with a logo - you'd think they had put a lot of effort into making it a selling point of the car. IQ.DRIVE is the only other feature that gets the same treatment. However, it sure seems like the reality of Car-Net doesn't live up to the hype.

 

[xcaliburinhand]

Given the prominence on the Monroney Label - a dedicated, outlined box with a logo - you'd think they had put a lot of effort into making it a selling point of the car.

One of the ID.4 commercials has a parent receiving a notification when the kid sneaks out the car. Again highlighting the app as a selling point. I don't have faith that a notification would actually make it through.

 

[BlueDH]

One of the ID.4 commercials has a parent receiving a notification when the kid sneaks out the car. Again highlighting the app as a selling point. I don't have faith that a notification would actually make it through.

The Car-Net app should allow filtering of chargers and kW capacity.