GSM Line/SIM card in the infotainment system from factory, what's for?

[Andrea]

As, I guess, all of you I found at the Emira has a GSM line in the infotainment system, probably via aSIM card or an eSIM, it doesn't really matter, the thing is....what it is for?

I'm sure there is as you can see the strength of the gsm line via the centre screen just below the clock, it shows the line informations even if there is no phone connected and it changes according to the signal strenght, sometimes if full 4G, other times it 3G, others not full strenght....I'm attaching a couple of pictures as an example (took them from the internet, please don't pay attention to the bluetooth logo)

The thing is it does exactly nothing, when, instead, I attach a hotspot (for example done with my phone) via Wi-Fi the sat nav shows me informations I could not have otherwise, like traffic information (the roads with traffic become yellow for instance) or I can find way more places when searching that were not showing earlier such as parkings, restaurants, etc...

With all that said.....do you know if I can use that inner gsm line for the internet connection instead of doing a wi-fi hotspot with my phone? Is there something I should activate or whatever? Do you have the traffic informations, etc straight away or do you need an hotspot just like me?

Thank you!

 

[Nick Sticks]

Surely is must be for the SOS system?

 

[Andrea]

Surely is must be for the SOS system?
View attachment 34490

perhaps...... but only? Sounds weird

 

[Nova]

It's probably for basic car info back to the home base somewhere. It allows for things like remote car location, lock/unlock, telemetry, etc. There is probably a quip about data privacy somewhere in the sales contract.

 

[Andrea]

It's probably for basic car info back to the home base somewhere. It allows for things like remote car location, lock/unlock, telemetry, etc. There is probably a quip about data privacy somewhere in the sales contract.

Mmmmmm why showing it then? In other brands that sim does what the wi-fi hotspot does

 

[Nova]

Mmmmmm why showing it then? In other brands that sim does what the wi-fi hotspot does

Mercedes also sows the SIM signal even if it is not used for Wifi Hotspot. I believe Tesla also, but I'm not sure... It's just informational that the car has a cell connection.

 

[Andrea]

Mercedes also sows the SIM signal even if it is not used for Wifi Hotspot. I believe Tesla also, but I'm not sure... It's just informational that the car has a cell connection.

But, I’d assume, it is used for car servics to the driver, as traffic etc…or not?

 

[Nova]

But, I’d assume, it is used for car servics to the driver, as traffic etc…or not?

Not necessarily. One would hope that it is, but there is no guarantee. 4G radios are very cheap to integrate these days and car companies get a lot of benefit from having access to certain vehicle data that helps them improve vehicle features/performance/reliability. It also allows OTA software updates, which can be especially helpful if it is to resolve some safety-related issues. However, anything beyond that, such as traffic-aware navigation, points of interest, etc, all consume bandwidth that they have to pay for, and they'd rather that you purchase that feature instead of giving it to you for free.

 

[Andrea]

Not necessarily. One would hope that it is, but there is no guarantee. 4G radios are very cheap to integrate these days and car companies get a lot of benefit from having access to certain vehicle data that helps them improve vehicle features/performance/reliability. It also allows OTA software updates, which can be especially helpful if it is to resolve some safety-related issues. However, anything beyond that, such as traffic-aware navigation, points of interest, etc, all consume bandwidth that they have to pay for, and they'd rather that you purchase that feature instead of giving it to you for free.

I see and it makes sense, but I don’t get the point of showing the sim signal to the occupants, I see it as an information for the purpose of saying to the driver something like “if certain service is not working is because there is no line” therefore a service the occupants can use, not ”internal”.

Speaking of bandwidth I know Jaguar, for instance, provided (at least here in Italy) A sim with open carrier with the delivery of the car with three years of service’s subscriptions included, I was hoping it was something similar with our Elmiras as well.

From my understanding, but I’m not sure, Emira infotainment system is shared with lynk&co being both part of Geely family and Lynk take advantage of the internal sim for the services you mentioned (traffic for nav, poi, oat updates, etc all as far as I know as I never had a chance to have a lynk car in my hands) that is the reason why I was thinking, and hoping, they’d offer the same with the emiras, perhaps a feature that will be unlocked/available in the future With software updates?

 

[JimH]

My car also has a Wi-Fi connection option that happily connects to my home router (as long as CarPlay isn't in use at the time or it can't be enabled in the menu) but doesn't do anything else at present. I asked the technician what it was for when my fan resistor pack was changed last week and, apparently, it's there ready for a future implementation of Over The Air updates for firmware and SatNav maps....

 

[Andrea]

Quick update, I know what it does so far!!!!

It updates the clock!!!!!!! Seriously, it does.

On another note I've found out that my Emira (I'd assume, all Emiras) has wifi built in, at the moment I guess it is used for wireless CarPlay. I've noticed it by chance looking at my phone's Wi-Fi connections as per the picture

 

[alxcrlsn]

I had a check engine light come on yesterday, and the dealer service advisor told me that Lotus was able to remote into the car and pull diagnostics for me.

He wasn’t sure how, but I imagine it has to be the onboard cellular connection as I haven’t connected my car to WiFi.