There is absolutely a reason to have the external temperature reading in a car. In an traditional ICE powered car, the car's engine computer uses the outside temperature reading to adjust fuel mixture for the engine. It also uses the outside temperature to adjust the A/C or heater output. In an EV, that outside temperature reading will effect the battery thermal management settings.Just curious, but is there a practical purpose for an external temperature reading in a car? It's just hard to imagine how cold/hot can be an uncertainty by the time one gets into the car, looks out the windows, etc.
Next thing you know, there will be a digital display to inform our eyes how loud the speakers are playing
This. And most modern vehicles also use the thermistor to warn the vehicle operator of potential icy conditions. At about 37F (3 C), you'll often hear a "ding" and see a frost warning light to let you know that some places on the road may be iced (for example, shadowed road surfaces, bridges, etc).
Wow chuck, you can tell things are slow here on the Mach E forum when the topic of the day is why does my phone not have the proper temperature for my location?Here's a pet peeve of mine. Look at the two temperatures in the screenshot. This is Android Auto. The tiny temperature in the upper right is the correct temperature. The LARGE one on the bottom left is incorrect. While it's not dramatic in the photo, sometimes it's a big difference. Yesterday I was in the San Fernando Valley and the small one said 89 degrees and the bottom left one said 67. I was outside and I can tell you for sure that it was 89. Whats more the bottom left showed that the day's high would be 72 and the low 51. Clearly just wrong.
Look at the AC setting. I had it turned down to 68 because it was friggin' hot out!
Even more confusing is that if I ask Google for the weather it comes up with a third temp not matching either of the ones on the display. This implies that the bottom left temp isn't coming from Google.
The car is now being ridiculed by my passengers for its blatant inaccuracies. I wish there was a way to turn the bottom temp screen completely off. I'd rather have no information instead of wrong information.
And, I'm really curious why you say the car display is wrong but your phone is correct, this is totally illogical given that you said it was hot outside? Surely you wouldn't set your HVAC to 68 degrees when it's 65 outside, hence your phone is wrong, just saying. 
2.6 kwh per 10F according to my back of the napkinFor a modern ICE vehicle, I don’t think an Outside Air Temperature reading is necessary. For an EV, an OAT gauge can give the driver a little more information on how the HV battery performance will be (less capacity/range if cold or really hot).
Points taken, all.
Bingo, why in the world does he think the car is wrong, he said it was hot outside so we know it wasn't 65 degrees.
Actually, the ECM for an ICE does not read the Outside Air Temperature. It reads the Intake Air Temperature, which can absolutely be different from the outside reading. It's less important than the Mass Air Flow sensor (on MAF type systems), but it is used for mapping purposes.
For me, the temp indication in any car is just for fun. I've never owned a car where it was accurate in relation to local air temperature. Nor does it matter, really, except to look and think, "Wow that's hot" or "Wow that's cold." It's sometimes fun to snap a shot of ridiculously high indications and send it to a friend. I once saw 145-F in the MME while driving to Tuscon in the summer.For a modern ICE vehicle, I don’t think an Outside Air Temperature reading is necessary. For an EV, an OAT gauge can give the driver a little more information on how the HV battery performance will be (less capacity/range if cold or really hot).
Honestly, for me it's more of what you describe too. More for fun information. My MME is my only car with a temperature indicator. My Fusion Energi was my first car with one. It never gets all that hot or cold here anyhow.For me, the temp indication in any car is just for fun. I've never owned a car where it was accurate in relation to local air temperature. Nor does it matter, really, except to look and think, "Wow that's hot" or "Wow that's cold." It's sometimes fun to snap a shot of ridiculously high indications and send it to a friend. I once saw 145-F in the MME while driving to Tuscon in the summer.
