this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
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[–] [email protected] 90 points 2 years ago (6 children)

If all electric cars are just going to be subscription bullshit, I'm sorry, I won't be driving electric.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Even ICE manufacturers have been including hardware that software disabled for a while

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago

Subscribe to enable your BMW seat heater! They definitely require periodic software updates and is absolutely NOT a blatant money grab

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Audi had been doing this for years and they even disable stuff if you sell your car to another private person. One of my friends bought a used Audi and everything was disabled so he installed a cracked version of the infotainment software and now the only thing that doesn't work is the fingerprint unlock.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago (3 children)

A fingerprint unlock on a car? I've never heard of that, is it to unlock the doors?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Probably used for user profiles for the seats and stuff and Aircon. Mercedes does it too

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

I recently read about 2 or 3 cars doing the whole user your fingerprint to unlock doors and start the car thing. This is one of the reviews I read

https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/41690/how-the-2022-genesis-gv70-removes-all-need-for-a-car-key

It uses your fingerprint to start.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Don't know: there is a fingerprint reader on the handle of the car but it doesn't work

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I got an OBDeleven for my 2015 GTI so I could unlock stuff and customize. Enabled rolling down the windows with the key fob, being able to display the engine oil temp in the dash and also setting the accelerator pedal curve to linear.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What I didn't even know that was stuff you could even do

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Kinda depends on the car. Volkswagen cars are pretty "hackable" with OBDeleven which is a wireless interface for the hilariously named "VAGCOM" protocol.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

OBDeleven

Hang on, have I being saying this wrong for years? I thought it was OBDII or OBD2 ?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It is OBD2, OBDeleven is a Bluetooth dongle you plug into it

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

There are some manufacturers that do not do this garbage, or at least not often. I've heard good things about Hyundai specifically.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago

For now they have customer goodwill to win back after nearly a decade of building cars that practically fell apart in a year or 2 in the late 00s and early 10s.

They'll catch up to the others in anti-consumer practices soon, but for now they're a good choice if you don't particularly care for performance or ride quality.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Tesla got rid of the heater subscription bullshit in 2021. Now, the only thing locked behind a paywall is internet related stuff (sentry over mobile, streaming media access, etc.), the performance boost, and FSD.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

But if the car is completely capable of habe that performance, why should people pay for it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Oh I'm just correcting the article. Facts are better than fiction for conversations about reality.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Have you seen the automotive industry as of late? This isn't a EV issue nor is it really new. We've had things like OnStar for years and the entire industry has started to chase the gaming industry's microtransaction BS for a while now.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/12/23204950/bmw-subscriptions-microtransactions-heated-seats-feature

https://www.thedrive.com/news/43329/toyota-made-its-key-fob-remote-start-into-a-subscription-service

The future looks like a potential live service hell scape for the auto industry EV or otherwise.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

Everything is being ruined. It feels like hyperbole but I'm not sure it is.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Yes, I know it's industry wide. What I'm saying is that with EV being the future of cars I don't want them all to be subscription based.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 years ago (2 children)

It won’t just be electric cars, it’ll be all new model cars from manufacturing companies. At least until ICE is phased out.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago

Cory Doctorow has written a great article about this phenomenon a few days ago: https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

Basically we move back to a feudalism world where you don't own anything anymore and you have to pay recurring rents. And as you don't own it they can fuck you over by increasing rents or disable features when you can't pay.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

More like, until the Chinese weasel their way into the US market with cheaper-than-used cars to undercut the legacy auto makers. 10 years or so, it'll happen. And the big 3 will be begging for bailouts again. That is unless they smarten up and remember what made Ford what it is today.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

You know what Ford stands for, don't ya? It stands for 'Fix it again, Tony' hehehe.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago (2 children)

At some point, there will be practically nothing else to drive...

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago (1 children)

All the more reason to support public transportation.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Sure there will, always. Fix it yourself jalopies aren't going away. Get yourself a cheap-o used junker and mod it to be electric, if you can't or won't use ICE. DIY isn't just 3d printers and FOSS. Or get a bicycle and mod it into an e-bike.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

All these upgrades are one time payments for an upgrade, much like sales point dealer add-ons for conventional cars. However recently they did allow you to buy a monthly subscription to FSD. But the option to buy it outright was always there, and still remains.