Satellite imagery is great; but unsure why (FTR, I have never used it in any car, during driving.)
It never occurred to me how useful satellite imagery could be in a car until I got my first Tesla. I was instantly hooked.
One of my favorite pastimes is roaming the countryside in search of interesting architecture and other sights. I cannot overstate how useful the satellite images are for seeing behind tree lines and other visual barriers, over hills, and down side roads to find interesting paths to explore.
In fact, I now live where I do as the result of having a satellite map in a Tesla. A couple of months after I got the car, I was taking my disabled partner for a ride out into unfamiliar countryside. On the satellite image I saw a large lake with two islands and surrounded by undisturbed woodlands down a road to which I would not otherwise have paid any attention. I turned down that road and, as we topped a bridge over a canal, a beautiful prospect opened up before us. There was a "for sale" sign on a 5-acre plot of land between the lake and a large swamp bird rookery. I bought the land, went to work designing a house to capture the views, and two and a half years later moved in. (I also now have a large photo collection of alligators floating under our windows and crossing our driveway, bears sauntering along our pool cage, turkeys peering in windows and doors, bobcats standing in the yard, ospreys dive fishing in the lake, and flocks of ibises returning to the rookery at dusk to roost for the night.)
I also find that overlaying a navigation route on a satellite image is a great help as you near an unfamiliar destination. Seeing rooftop views of the nearby buildings and other features as you close in on a target address can be very helpful, especially in finding driveway and parking lot entrances in congested areas.
The
only thing I miss when driving our Lucid instead of our Tesla is that satellite image. I can't wait to get the Air back from the Service Center to check out this new feature.
