How Carmakers Use Subscription Models to Make More Profits https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cu...use-subscription-models-to-make-more-profits/ Car makers actually say putting all the high end features into one build is cheaper than making a variety of models with and without features. It's kind of crazy though, but some enterprising person will figure out how to get these things to work without a subscription, or so is the hope.
Car makers going the way of video game companies. Pay full price for something and then pay extra to unlock the juicy features.....
Having features controlled by a software key/license isn't anything special. It is much cheaper to make all the hardware the same and unlock features for an additional fee. I don't have any issue with that. Its been standard in my industry for more than 20 years. What I do have an issue with is doing the unlock via subscription. If you buy and pay for a feature, it should be unlocked and stay unlocked forever. When I sell the device, the features I paid for should not be reset to not present by the manufacturer.
Yeah...I got some stupid Toyota app thing for free for the first year of my 2020 Highlander...I think it just expired. About all it did was open my car for me via my phone, and maybe start it. Other than that, I sure didn't give a shit. $8/month was the subscription fee they were trying to nickle and time me for to keep it. I'll keep the $8/month.
The Mazda has a free subscription which is location/doors/remote start also tells fuel and any service issues, low air tire. It's free for 3 years I think. Remote start is necessary...even in the summer, winter, all year. I do wonder how much it would be after, and wonder if I can use it as like a Lo-Jack for a insurance discount.
Jaguar has the same type of app. I use mine every day. I can start the car and turn on the heated or AC’ed seats, steering wheel, open/close the windows and sunroof, etc. About the only time I don’t use it is when the temps are 60-70deg. Aside from that, I like the car to already be cool or warm when I get in it. But it isn’t a subscription. I downloaded it with a (free) code from the Dealer, and been using it ever since.
I get making one car setup (rather than various models) can be cheaper. So on that, it makes sense. But… 1. There is always someone that can hack anything. They have to consider that. 2. It would be bullshit to pay 6-figures+ for a vehicle, then have to pay monthly fees just to make the luxury features work. Fuck that.
1. The people who are smart enough to figure out the work around are a much smaller group than the people who will just blindly pay whatever subscription fee necessary to keep them in luxuries every month. Probably by a few orders of magnitude. Even if people figured it out and made an easy to follow youtube video on how to bypass it, most wouldn't do it, and would continue to pay a small nominal fee. I work with a guy that has had a gym membership for 5 years, and never ONCE gone to the gym. He's just too fucking lazy to go in, in person to cancel it. It's 20/month, and he's payed that for 5 years. The general population is much dumber than you think....... 2. The people who can afford to pay 6 figures for a vehicle most likely don't care about the subscription cost. People in that category that think it's complete bullshit are again in the minority. The people who can't afford the small monthly fee probably shouldn't have a six figure vehicle in the first place..... 3. Carmakers will make major bank from this. Both from the streamlined supply line issues , and manufacturing standpoint (All cares the same, no need for expensive human labor that can think and make decisions....) and second from the subscription revenue. 4. I will not be the target audience for this bullshit. My wife however would happily pay $6/month to keep her ass and fingers toasty warm while she drives. 5. Just to end on an odd #.
Our industry has been doing this for many years. Most of it is software, so I don't think the "tracing wires" method will work.
I know they won’t do it, but in my opinion they should adjust the cost as necessary. If a vehicle was going to have that shit working as usual, but instead they want to make it via subscription, then the purchase price should be lowered. For example, if a car was going to be $150k with all that shit unlocked permanently, then it should be $130k+$200/month to access all the features. But to still charge $150k and then an extra $200/month just to use all the shit the car is supposed to have anyway, that’s bullshit. But like you said, the whole point of this (and everything) is to make money. So they will do whatever makes that happen.
The car companies are certainly smart enough to know when you've hacked their options. Then they'll just kill your car until you pay up! Theft of services is a crime not unlike the old downloading of music off of napster.
There's only 2 wires a seat heater needs to function..... Splice in 12v lighter plug, and bobs your uncle.... Or it you want to get fancy, get a couple thermistors, and an arduino running a PID sketch with a couple relays, and you've got plug and play heated cheeks. You could even buy the proper connector to keep it all warranty safe when you sell..... Yeah, it's software that controls it, but it's still hardware that warms the buns.... and in the case of heated seats, at the end of the line its simply just resistance wire. These are steps the average joe wouldn't do, and would just pay a small monthly fee for. Haas machine controls have been pay as you go for features for a long time too. There are also workarounds for that too. Or so I've heard....