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Why not just clone your phone screen?

Since everyone's phone already has all the functionality one might ever want (4G, wifi, browser, maps, navigation, music player, angry birds, whatever), I'm wondering why Tesla doesn't just let you dock/plug in your phone and clone the screen onto the 17" touch screen. Then they wouldn't need to come up with an API or their own version of an app store. Really, they wouldn't even need to include GPS, wifi or 4G hardware in the car itself. People upgrade their phone every 2 years or so and get all the newest functionality and fastest connection speeds anyway.

Not sure if they could set that up with a firmware update (if the USB port is 3.0 it should be possible) or if this would be on the list for Model S 2.0, but I think it would be a huge improvement.


There's a thread that talks about a desired feature list and this is one of the items. At a minimum, I'd like to see Apple AirPlay support, but I don't think that's bi-directional back to the phone (for touch input) but I could be wrong.

this is a GREAT idea but isnt supported at the moment even by airplay, you can display the phone screen to another monitor but the challenge is to send touch actions from the touch monitor back to the phone, havent been invented yet as far as i know...

Be careful what you wish for. If the low-resolution phone icons were expanded to fill a 17" display, you might not like how they look (too pixelated). OTOH, if the phone's screen resolution were maintained, the phone icons would probably be way too small and unsafe to aim for while driving, creating an unsafe distraction.

Some apps like Pandora on the phone or tablet interface (without subscription) are way too distracting to view while driving, with constant pop-up ads and interactive demands to "Click here to close ad", or "Are you still there?" etc.

YouTube or flash video from the phone if displayed on the 17" screen would be illegal in most states (no video allowed within eyesight of the driver).

In sum, there are a lot of good reasons not to replicate your phone's screen on the Tesla's display, as attractive as that idea might seem at first thought. Most so-called "mobile apps" are really unsafe to use while mobile and driving a vehicle.

^ resolution wise latest phone would fill that 17" nicely without pixels, heck you can buy 24" LCD with 1080p resolution and the latest android phone support 1080p, real issue like you said is safety

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