[nfitz]

In Tesla, heated steering wheel and seats can be set to auto and controlled thermostatically. Works pretty well. You can also precondition the climate using the app so it's comfortable when you get in.

Is the button for cooking marshmallows physical, or on a display screen?

 

[picard102]

I may change the temp several times over the course of a drive.

Most cars have the defrost button available easily.

I may manipulate the GPS to assess route conditions and congestion ahead, even when I know where I am.

This is illegal.

And select radio stations especially to obtain "traffic reports on the ones" while listening on and off to whatever sports commentator that may or may not annoy me.

Those controls still exist as physical buttons.

Wipers go from off to single sweep to variiable (frequently juggling their speed) to low and high. Back wiper ditto. And trigger the washer, front or back or both.

Those controls still exist as physical buttons.

 

[afransen]

Is the button for cooking marshmallows physical, or on a display screen?

View attachment 737248

Gas cars do this much better. I have a picture of my neighbor's Hyundai Elantra that went up in their driveway, engine bay melted and the front of their house covered in soot. Good thing they didn't park it in the garage.

 

[lenaitch]

Have you been in a car made in the last 10 years?
A cars climate control can adequately handle control of the temperature of your car without fiddling as you drive. If your heated seats are burning you, and not shutting off on their own, then you need to take it in for service.

Well, one is 2018 and the other is 2025. The presence/absence of physical controls is very much dependent on the manufacturer; although their maybe some federal vehicle standard regulations. - that I'm not sure of. I wasn't aware that features like seat and steering wheel heaters were thermostatically controlled; although is seems from above the ones on Tesla are.

The key takeaway is I usually don't touch our home thermostat, but I am regularly adjust the HVAC controls on the vehicle, particularly in the winter.

Gas cars do this much better. I have a picture of my neighbor's Hyundai Elantra that went up in their driveway, engine bay melted and the front of their house covered in soot. Good thing they didn't park it in the garage.

I have to believe that, statistically, ICE vehicle fires are more numerous simply out of market presence. What concerns responders and others is the difficulty in extinguishing EV fires.

 

[afransen]

I have to believe that, statistically, ICE vehicle fires are more numerous simply out of market presence

The rate is much higher not just because there are more gas cars, but gas cars catch fire about 10x the rate of EVs accounting for fleet size.

 

[gabe]

My car is also 13 years old now. I'm not sure I will ever buy another car if this one dies (just use Uber or rentals for those rare occasions where a car is useful) but if I do, I'd probably be grumpy too.

Now that auto makers are pushing subscription fees for basic dashboard and vehicle features, I can't see myself buying a new car anytime soon. Maybe a used one. The way it's going, you will have to pay a monthly subscription fee to use heat and AC in the near future.

 

[PL1]

Now that auto makers are pushing subscription fees for basic dashboard and vehicle features, I can't see myself buying a new car anytime soon. Maybe a used one. The way it's going, you will have to pay a monthly subscription fee to use heat and AC in the near future.

This is something that needs to be regulated

 

[kEiThZ]

Now that auto makers are pushing subscription fees for basic dashboard and vehicle features

Which automakers are doing this? I have heard of BMW and their paywalling of seat heating. Not much beyond that. Is that a "basic dashboard and vehicle feature"?

 

[afransen]

Which automakers are doing this? I have heard of BMW and their paywalling of seat heating. Not much beyond that. Is that a "basic dashboard and vehicle feature"?

I also haven't heard of this. I know some have subscription services for cellular network connectivity, but that seems reasonable, depending on the pricing.

 

[evandyk]

Which automakers are doing this? I have heard of BMW and their paywalling of seat heating. Not much beyond that. Is that a "basic dashboard and vehicle feature"?

I think if you paid for a car with heated seats, operating the heating does count as a basic vehicle feature. BMW backed down on that one because of the backlash. But I think the car-makers are generally in the future going to limit subscription services to things that require the ongoing transmission of data, as well as self-driving features. Those make sense because there are ongoing costs being incurred to service them.

 

[crs1026]

Subscription revenue schemes exist in a lot of places - eg software products. As auto marketing veers more and more to "entertainment" and "technology" marketing, I can see this becoming more prevalent. And as software designers become a bigger voice in car design, it's not surprising that some may suggest this as a crossover from those other markets. The software itself may become obsolete and newer choices may appear over the life of the vehicle.

Arguably, if you want internet or satellite radio, it's cheaper to buy for the time you own the car than for all time, especially since any buyer or trade-in assessor may not value that feature. Somehow that all-time choice needs to be apparent in pricing, of course.

Any feature that is tied to safety or operability should not be subscription friendly.... these features should be treated as "built in" and should remain for the life of the vehicle. (And updated for free, if the manufacturer produces a new version of the underlying software)

BMW probably thought they could get away with the scheme as they are a higher end "prestige" brand, they probably figured people would shell out the money rather than switch brands. I can see that approach being far less popular with the "average driver" brands where buyers may have less brand loyalty and be more willing to shop around. Certainly, if one brand chose to go this route, I can see another brand offering an "all lifetime features" guarantee as a competitive feature, and likely getting more favour in the court of public opinion.

FWIW my dealer wants $400 for a memory chip with the latest version of the GPS maps - for a 10 year old vehicle. I'm willing to stick with the old maps.

- Paul

 

[afransen]

FWIW my dealer wants $400 for a memory chip with the latest version of the GPS maps - for a 10 year old vehicle. I'm willing to stick with the old maps.

Static maps are basically immediately out of date. I would use my phone unless I didn't have cellular signal. I remember an old Garmin freaking out while I was driving on the 410 because I was driving through what it thought was a field.

 

[lenaitch]

Which automakers are doing this? I have heard of BMW and their paywalling of seat heating. Not much beyond that. Is that a "basic dashboard and vehicle feature"?

Here's one website's summary:

https://www.cars.com/articles/what-automakers-offer-app-subscriptions-and-how-much-do-they-cost-520637/

Most of it now seems to be upgraded or enhanced features and services, but it could well be a testing of the market's waters to determine a level of tolerance. So many features are bundled into packages these days that it is not inconceivable that a basic, 'built-in' feature gets bundled into a package of data-transfer/nav/infotainment features. If it gets prevalent enough, it may take regulatory intervention to prohibit charging for the use of installed features that do not cost the manufacturer post-sale.