Map Scale Indicator

Description

Show an indicator of the current map scale in miles or km.

Competitive/Pricing/Notes

Yesterday I was doing a nice “Sunday drive”, just roaming the area around Berlin. I did not start with a full battery, but returned completely empty (within 10 km)… 😉 The 17″ map view with live traffic did a marvelous job replacing a traditional map, but one omission stuck out like a sore thumb: It was surprisingly difficult to estimate distances, and only after a while did I understand what was missing: A graphical scale representation.

Zooming in and out is so easy, that it’s equally easy to lose track of the scale you’re looking at. Every paper map on the planet has a black and white line that represents the length of some base unit (like 10 km). This element is missing in Tesla’s map view. It would be a minor addition that would greatly enhance the usefulness of the map view. Web-based Google Maps has it in the small status bar in the lower right corner of the view; for in-car use, I would prefer a more salient representation of this same element.

Status

Unknown.