Does the Biden Administration read The Morning Dump? Probably not, but the theme of this week has been Chinese automakers at the border and the rise of BYD. Are we wagging the dog or are we the ones being wagged? It’s hard to say, but President Biden announced he’d do… something about it.
Can I sneak one more BYD story into the week? I feel like I can squeeze one more into the week. The Chinese automaker announced the sale of its tiny, affordable EVs in Mexico and Brazil at a price of about $21k new, which I think means they could sell it here (if tariffs didn’t exist) for under $20k.
Tariffs do exist, which means that California’s EV mandate is raising a lot of questions. Do you know what would help? Hybrids. Do you know who makes a great hybrid? Ford! At least according to Consumer Reports.
Aight, let’s do this thang.
President Biden: We’re Looking Into It!
Not to get too political here, but I don’t think that President Biden’s big statement on being ready to protect us from connected Chinese vehicles actually means that much.
Here’s the full text of President Biden’s statement, which I shall quote from at length:
China is determined to dominate the future of the auto market, including by using unfair practices. China’s policies could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security. I’m not going to let that happen on my watch.
Sure. Fair.
Most cars these days are “connected” – they are like smart phones on wheels. These cars are connected to our phones, to navigation systems, to critical infrastructure, and to the companies that made them. Connected vehicles from China could collect sensitive data about our citizens and our infrastructure and send this data back to the People’s Republic of China. These vehicles could be remotely accessed or disabled.
The quotation marks around connected are a little amusing, but the general concept is correct, though at the moment we’re also letting Elon Musk, Germany, Japan, and South Korea do this already. Hell, GM wants to charge people a subscription to have this done to them.
China imposes restrictions on American autos and other foreign autos operating in China. Why should connected vehicles from China be allowed to operate in our country without safeguards?
Better question: Why should any connected cars from anywhere not have a decent amount of scrutiny, regulation, and protection?
So today, I am announcing unprecedented actions to ensure that cars on U.S. roads from countries of concern like China do not undermine our national security. I have directed my Secretary of Commerce to conduct an investigation into connected vehicles with technology from countries of concern and to take action to respond to the risks.
What is the unprecedented action? That’s a good question and one that many reporters have asked the Department of Commerce. I love this explanation given to Automotive News:
“It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to figure out how a foreign adversary like China — with access to this sort of information at scale — could pose a serious risk to our national security and the privacy of U.S. citizens,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters.
The department has not yet determined what action it would take, as it is still in the early stages of understanding the risks and how significant they might be.
“This is really the beginning of an inquiry, and we are collecting information,” an administration official said during the briefing. “We are in no way committed to a ban on the import of Chinese electric vehicles. That really remains to be seen.”
It doesn’t take a lot of imagination especially when, you know, it seems like imagination is all we have at the moment as a country. Why even imagine it? This is a major plot point in Fast and Furious 8:
There are two things I know to be true. There’s no difference between good flan and bad flan, and…
The BYD Dolphin Mini Could Sell Here For Under $20k
BYD marks a historic day with the launch of the BYD DOLPHIN MINI across Brazil and Mexico. As the most compact and vibrant member of the Ocean Series, the DOLPHIN MINI is the most anticipated 100% electric hatchback, packed with innovative technology at an attainable price. The… pic.twitter.com/BipqpTboBp
— BYD (@BYDCompany) February 29, 2024
I’m leading this story with this BYD tweet because, for all of their technological sophistication, this is a bad tweet. There are so many good photos of the BYD Dolphin Mini, why would you use a front 3/4 shot and a front 4/5 shot? This makes no sense. [Ed Note: I still dig it. -DT].
BYD may be able to make cheaper cars at a vast scale, but there’s no swagger in these tweets. America still has the swagger market cornered.
The cars are good, though. And cheap. I wrote almost a year ago about the BYD Seagull, which went on sale for the equivalent of under $15,000 in China and offered a range of about 300 km/186 miles on the NEDC range test (or about 130 miles on the EPA test).
Now the cars are coming to Brazil and to Mexico, joining other BYD vehicles, and being sold as the Dolphini Mini (the international name for the Seagull). The pricing here is what’s interesting to me. For various market reasons and tax reasons, cars in Mexico are generally more expensive than cars in the United States on a direct comparison basis.
For Mexico, the BYD Dolphin Mini will cost 358,800 pesos or about $21,000. By comparison, the cheapest Tesla Model 3 costs 881,900 pesos in Mexico, or about $52,000.
The Model 3 is a nicer, bigger, safer car with more range, but they’re in different classes. A better comparison is the Mexican market Nissan Micra, which is gas-powered and about $16k.
Ignoring any potential subsidies, if there were no extra tariffs and BYD could build the cars in Mexico and export them here (as many automakers do), my back-of-the-napkin guess is at scale the price could be about $16-18k for a completely nice city car.
That ain’t happening, of course.
Is California’s 2035 Vehicle Mandate Possible?
Would a bunch of cheap Chinese EVs make California’s plan (and thus the plans of states that follow CA guidelines) to ban the sales of non-PHEV gas-powered cars by 2035 more feasible? Probably.
But given that the Biden Administration is already looking to slow its non-mandated plans, it’s no surprise that automakers and others are looking to get California to rethink its plans.
Specifically, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which is essentially a lobbying group for automakers, sent a comment to the EPA pointing out that every state isn’t California and isn’t going to be able to make the switch to EVs as quickly.
California’s EV requirements might be feasible “at least in the early years for California” but said the feasibility for other states with significantly lower current EV sales “is far less certain,” the auto industry group said.
The onus for complying with the rules rests with automakers but it is unclear “whether customers in each jurisdiction will accept (zero-emission vehicle) technologies and purchase them in sufficient quantities.
And how did California’s Air Resource Board reply?
CARB said in response: “States that have adopted California’s program understand that clean cars improve public health and address a global challenge.”
While I see the EPA backing off of its plans, I am curious if California can be so easily persuaded.
The Ford Maverick The Only American Top Ten Consumer Reports Pick
You want to know the real truth about Consumer Reports? The writers there may carefully and thoughtfully consider the vehicles on the market and make some safe (boring) calls, but they love cars and most of them can really wheel. That’s right, they are car-loving sickos just like us.
The organization also buys its own cars, secretly, and tests them carefully. So when they say a car is good then you can assume it’s probably good.
CR is out with its list of its ten most recommended cars and its most recommended automakers and just one American vehicle made it into the top ten. And it did it for the second year.
It’s the Ford Maverick/Maverick Hybrid! Hell yeah.
Subaru is also high up there, 2nd overall as a brand only to BMW which, uh, was not my experience. While American cars mostly did mediocre, they are improving:
The remaining brands in the top 10 are little changed from last year, with the exception of Porsche, which jumped 11 spots into third place, and Hyundai (10th place, up three spots from last year). Honda, Lexus, Mini, Kia, Mazada, and Toyota round out the top 10.
In a bright spot for the domestic auto brands, Cadillac surged 11 positions to 14th place, its highest ranking in seven years, due to improvements in reliability. Ford jumped six spots to 17th place, its highest charting since 2016.
17th isn’t great, but it’s better than 23rd! CR also added that you can buy any vehicle from BMW, Porsche, Honda, Mini, Kia, Mazda, and Acura and feel confident it’ll be ok.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Often I listen to songs I think people here might like. Sometimes I just listen to whatever pops into my head. Yesterday, I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts and in this week’s episode the host, Rob Harvilla, mentions Kathleen Hanna and her punk band Bikini Kill. I enjoy Bikini Kill but, also, if you’ve never listened to Fugazi or Minutemen this one might not quite land. If you know what a ‘zine is, though, maybe this will.
The Big Question
How connected is your car?
Top image: Universal Pictures
“Boy (the) ___________sure do/does potentially threaten the security of the United States and you can bet we’re gonna do something about it. Not really sure what that threat is yet, but we can imagine it and we’re looking at it and I’m confident we’ll have a solution, you know, should we determine there is a threat, which I’m not saying there is, but, potentially, you know. So, rest assured, and sleep well knowing your government’s got you covered.”
Insert potential threat in blank space above:
1. Russian invasion of Ukraine
2. Israel/Palestine War
3. Chinese imperialism
4. Russian imperialism
5. US/Mexico border
6. Weak immigration laws
7. Climate Change
8. Pollution
9. Guns
10.Inflation
11. Christian nationalism
12. Election deniers
13. Corrupt politicians
14. Incompetent politicians
15. Lousy schools
16. Big pharma
17. Big Oil
18. Big insurance
19. Inadequate health care
20. Medical industrial complex
21. Military industrial complex
22. Domestic right wing terrorism
23. Domestic left wing terrorism
24. International terrorism
25. Anti Vax movement
26. Global pandemic
27. Unions
28. Minimum wage
29. Housing shortage
30. Homeless population
31. Sea. Level rise
32. LGBTQ rights
33. The internet
34. Elon Musk
35. Q Anon
36. Tik Tok
37. ICE cars
38. Chinese EVs
39. Chinese balloons
40. Chinese wet markets
41. North Korea
42. Iran
43. LIV Golf
44. NIL payments to college athletes
45. Boeing 737 Max
46. School shootings
46. Mass shootings
47. Kia/Hyundai ignitions
48. Reparations
49. DEI
50. Communism
51. Islam
52. Evangelicals
53. Atheists
54. Socialism
55. Fascism
56. Fentanyl
57. STDs
58. National debt
58. Etc. …
The “Government” sure is gonna be busy.
It’s OK, we’re currently under like 31 separate national states of emergency, the president, (or interim military executive council, depending on how the 2024 election and its immediate aftermath shakes out) can always issue orders for a few dozen more as needed
That’s nothing, just imagine if we ever got to the point where KamKam is in charge. whoowee.
uhh the sparkplug wires are connected…
My fiat spider is actually so disconnected there are more bolts plugging random hoses than hoses attached to anything.
There isn’t a single new American car I would even consider so I’m not at all surprised that American cars fared poorly on the CR recommended cars list.
Do you really think that new import cars are that much better? New American cars are unreliable junk with all kinds of problems, sure, but I think import cars are too, with all kinds of CVT issues and whatnot.
Reliability isn’t the issue, I just don’t like any of them. Truck’s and SUVs aren’t really my thing. I was disappointed to see the Focus and Fiesta go away.
So why would Consumer Reports not recommend American cars because they’re not your personal preference? I’m confused.
There are non-pickup American cars, including the Mustang, which I think is the single best value in the new car market and has been for quite a while now.
That’s fine, you don’t have to get it. I’m certainly not going to argue with you about it or present some detailed analysis of why I find American cars unappealing.
The Chinese government had a freakout about Tesla’s connectivity for the same reasons a couple years ago. I don’t recall if/how it got resolved, but people there are still buying lots of Teslas.
As for the CARB vehicle mandate: given the severity of climate dangers, much better to aim high and miss the mark then cave to lobbyists and have car makers become less motivated — and then fall even shorter of the current mandate. This will serve car companies better anyways, given their ever-more-grim odds of survival against cheap EVs from China. US car companies have already demonstrated that they’re more than happy to scale back EV plans and reap near-term profitability with their ICE cars, despite the longer-term outlook.
Tesla setup a server farm dedicated for Chinese vehicle in China https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/26/business/tesla-china-data-center-intl-hnk/index.html
But the government still bans the cars from sensitive events / locations.
I remember now — thanks. Perhaps that addresses how the US should deal with the problem.
I think we all know that “data security” is just another excuse to keep the market closed.
I think it is one part of it, but it won’t really solve anything if the data still eventually transit to China. It just make the data not “real time”. case in point TikTok. It just makes the older or non technical folks sleep better.
I have a Chinese vacuuming robot that could potentially send the Chinese government my house’s floorpan and how dirty our floor is. I hope that’s not happening — it would be embarrassing!
I think CARB has a long history of not giving a shit about what the feds and automakers want as policy. Can’t imagine that they’d start caring now.
I once tried to remove my name/addy/phone # from all those sites that pop up when you google/duck duck etc. your name. I gave up after about 3 or 4 of them. It’s a lost cause at this point to hide your data.
Matt, did you know that Henry Rollins does a music show every Saturday night? It’s a fun listen. Also, my fav DJ for eclectic mixes and great nuggets of info about each artist is Liz Warner on Thursday nights. She is badass…
https://wdet.org/shows/alternate-take/
eta:I have no idea who Henry Rollings is, but I do know that Rollins chap.
I’ll check it out.
Thank you for the podcast recommendation.
Its brilliant.
(that’s what ‘Cornflake Girl’ is about? I love that song but had no idea…)
If there was a website devoted to music that did it as well as and as inclusively as The Autopian does for automotive culture I would become a lifelong paid subscriber.
I genuinely appreciate and look forward to your addition of “what I’m listening to as I write this” at the end of TMD every day.
It’s a nice pinch of sugar added to my morning news coffee.
Thank you.
This is my fav music site…
https://thehardtimes.net/
I’m extremely cautious about clicking random commenters links.
A little information first…
What is your desert island album?
(to prove you aren’t a robot)
Stranded on a desert island with a few coconuts and a working stereo for some reason…
What album do you choose?
You’re gonna be there a while.
You might die there.
One album to listen to…
Choose wisely.
What album?
Tough call, but I can tell you it wouldn’t be “Now That’s What I Call Music: TV Theme Songs From The 60s”.
It’s a tough call. I haven’t figured it out yet.
Been thinking about this question for years.
Right now my answer is somewhere between The Beastie Boys ‘License To Ill’ and The Cowboy Junkies ‘Trinity Sessions’.
I don’t know if I would pick LTI as I’ve heard it a trillion times. Maybe Check Your Head, as that was the album I listened to on its release day the first time I got stoned. Still gives me the fuzzies, lol.
Heard it a trillion times…
And it’s still so good.
That bodes in its favor as a desert island classic.
Plus it’s just a fun album.
I’m marooned on this island?
I want a fun album.
My car is severed. I do not pay extra money for unnecessary options that I won’t use. This continues to be important as my company is cutting way back and I’m lucky to be retained as a contractor. For now. No new wheels for me this year.
My car has a satalite connection for Serius XM( SP? ) but that hasn’t been used since 2009. So I am not to sure. But I do have my phone still.
I see a major distinction between data tracking by US companies (distasteful, but ultimately constrained by US laws) and by Chinese companies (direct line to the CCP).
And even Germany, Japan, and South Korea are at least friendly foreign powers and allies, which is a lot better than we can say for China.
Friendship didn’t stop us from bugging Angela Merkel’s phone though.
But where does the software come from? Do we know that ‘friendly’ companies rigorously inspect and test the code that goes into their vehicles (hi Boeing)? Do they know that all the upstream dependencies for the multimedia control doodads are reputable? Do they have meaningful security audits? What if part of the development is done at an arms-length subsidiary?
My concern about the amount of software in all vehicles is that errors are unavoidable in complex systems and modern software is a system of unimaginable complexity. No single human could understand all the code in Android in a human lifespan.
There’s also no meaningful automotive computer security framework that I know of. How sensitive is location data? Number of occupants of the car? Can sensitive information be reliably inferred from apparently no sensitive data? What applications can consume what outputs of what sensors?
Not to excuse the CCP here but they’re certainly not the only ones at it!
Maybe the better way to phrase it is that I have recourse under US law if something goes wrong like what you describe.
You can’t exactly sue the CCP in US court.
I completely take your point and I also would trust a ‘connected’ Western vehicle before a BYD whatever. After all, Canada joined the club in booting Huawei out of our national networks for much the same concerns. That being said…
If you have an app on your phone that can unlock your car, and another app on your phone which is malicious, and the malicious app somehow causes the car-unlocking app to unlock the car and it’s subsequently stolen, is it Samsung, or Stellantis, or Google/Android, who is at fault?
Stellantis has an obligation to deliver reasonably secure software, but it has no control over the systems its apps run on – it can only create software that, in the abstract, should be resistant to hacks.
Samsung sells you the phone and you should have reasonable confidence that they selected the software and designed the hardware wisely, but they can’t control what third-party software you load.
Google makes the operating system and has an obligation to deliver an environment that makes it difficult for applications to misbehave – but they can’t enforce best practises on everyone who develops for their platform.
Now, supposing the attack vector was a fourth app that somehow enabled improper communication between the legitimate door-unlocking-app and the malicious car-stealing app through massive security flaws – and supposing this fourth app was developed by Ivan Blowski in Moscow… it gets hard to figure out whom to sue.
I think what I am trying to get at here is that connected cars are a symptom, not a problem. The problem is SOUP – Software of Unknown Provenance/Pedigree. But this is a car site and I don’t think anyone wants to hear that rant 🙂
This is a good post, and is part of the reason why I prefer Apple phones.
Not that they are perfect, but keeping hardware and software under one roof, and seemingly tighter control over apps that can be loaded does provide a bit more confidence than the free for all of Android.
Look, a connected car is not a big truck, its wireless data operates like a series of tubes, and sometimes those tubes get clogged. A coworker sent me a data on Monday and I didn’t get it in my car until Wednesday because the tubes were clogged
I have a Tesla. It knows more about me than my wife does. It could probably troll me and move itself to a different section of the parking lot. It would blend in with all the other poorly parked cars at my work. Is it a privacy concern? Yes. Is it any worse than the cell phones we carry around all the time? No.
Are connected cars a national security issue? Maybe, but apply the responses equally and not just to cars from one country. All that data can be hacked, sold or openly shared. Just having it is potentially a risk.
Our phones are… bad. Really bad. Read this: https://www.wired.com/story/how-pentagon-learned-targeted-ads-to-find-targets-and-vladimir-putin/
Thank you
“How connected is your car?”
Depends on the car. Obviously my ’77 F250 and ’76 Beetle are not connected. My Model 3 appears connected to the point of being somewhat creepy. My Model 3 recently needed a new 12 volt battery. To replace the battery, the tech came to my house, remotely unlocked the car, did the repair, did some other calibration stuff, remotely locked the car, and left. I did not interact with the tech at any time. It is clear that Tesla has the ability to control a lot of my car’s functions remotely. I’m not too bothered by that, but it did get my attention considering I am a bit of a luddite. In their defense, Tesla seems to be upfront that they have these capabilities. I also accepted that when I bought a Tesla I bought something that has more in common with my macbook than my Beetle; I accept that it is basically a drivable computer.
The vehicle I am less sure of is my 2021 F250. It appears to share a fair amount of data with the manufacturer, at least from what I have read (it is less obvious about data sharing than Tesla). I think I agreed to data sharing at some point. I am not too bothered by it since I am not interesting enough for anyone to want to track me and I don’t commit a lot of crimes so I’m not concerned about leaving digital evidence.
It’s a battle for last place with Stellantis and JLR with Jeep taking the lead!
From the linked article. Since well more than 50 models are sold, I wonder a) how they decide what to test and b) if vehicles they don’t test in a given year can be recommended.
Some of their info seems to be a bit out of date (they claim F-150s are going for 13% over sticker??? 5 figure discounts seem more common around here) but I really do wish more places would follow their lead and buy or rent vehicles for testing.
My phone tracks me everywhere. Someone somewhere can track me already.
This. What useful info would they really get from the car? How many times a week I go to the Dunkin drive thru? Info on the roads I travel and where tolls/bridges are? All that info is already readily available on google maps.
I get the concern, but we’re already constantly being tracked and monitored, our data being used for other’s financial gain without us being compensated. Andrew Yang was talking about all this 5 years ago.
+1 on the yang reference. seems far to smart to be a politician tho
Yang Gang in the house! #MATH
Yeah, I don’t know why anyone in their right mind would subject themselves to that. He had a lot of great ideas, I still listen to his podcast.
Smartphones don’t control how fast and in what direction you can move though. (Not yet anyway)
Not monetarily, maybe, but the money they make selling our data is how all of these online services are provided for free. If they couldn’t sell data, free Google stuff goes away, free social media sites go away, free email goes away. Whether that’s good or bad is not a hill I’m willing do die on, but there is an exchange happening here. It’s not a one way street.
I think a distinction not well covered here is the data it can gather on you (access) v. the potential for remote direction of your device (control). The movie scene where bad guys have remote control of the car is obviously scarier than the CCP knowing how often I go to the car wash (like, a lot).
I checked the top 10 list from CR. The Model Y is also on there so that means 2 American cars, not one, made the list. Still not great.
Interestingly, the one American vehicle he said was on the list isn’t even made in the US, while the American vehicle he didn’t acknowledge is.
My car can be mega connected but I don’t have any of it set up. I don’t use the BlueLink app because I don’t want or need to. I personally think it’s a gimmick. I do have remote start/keyless entry and I usually use my Bluetooth for calls since there’s always someone who wants to get a hold of me to consult about something (this isn’t a brag, it fucking sucks lol). I have all the data collection bullshit the car can do turned off and I never use CarPlay.
I think it’s the single most overrated feature in the entire industry. I don’t want to have my goddamn phone broadcast on my infotainment screen when I’m driving. It’s distracting, I want to enjoy my car, and when I have free time I don’t even have my phone in the same room as me a lot because I don’t give a shit about my phone. I’ve never updated my navigation but I rarely need it. I can get you just about anywhere within 2 hours of DC for the most part.
Get off my lawn. I don’t want to drive a rolling smart phone. I want LESS screens not more. I get paid to stare at screens all week, why would I want to do that with my very limited free time? There’s a good chance that whenever I get my next car in several years it’ll actually be older than my current one. I enjoy driving and I don’t want to be distracted.
I also never use location services, I have a VPN I’m on at all times, I have ad and pop up blockers on at all times, I decline cookies obsessively, I could keep going. I’m sure I sound tinfoil hat-ey and I understand that there are limits to how much I can do to keep dystopian tech corporations and governments from mining my sweet sweet data…but damn it, I’m going to try!
You hit on something that I’ve been saying for years: I too stare at computer screens all day for work. The last thing I want to do is get in my car and be presented with more damn screens. For me, my cars are an escape from all that. The Sportwagen has Bluetooth and my 1972 Super Beetle has a Bluetooth adapter on the aftermarket stereo I installed. As long as I have my tunes, I don’t want or need anything else in the form of infotainment technology.
This. So This.
That’s all I care about as well. Music. One of the only options in cars that I’ll willingly spring for is the stereo upgrade. But as long as I’ve got Bluetooth or SiriusXM (which is great! Ok Boomer me all you want) I’m good to go.
SiriusXM can be nice too, I’ve had cars with it in the past but now I use Apple Music (on my Android phone, lol) I haven’t activated it on my Jetta. I can’t really “okay boomer” you because I feel the same way and I’m only 30.
I get your point, but I prefer CarPlay just because I prefer Google maps and Spotify over whatever crap my craptastic infotainment is offering. Like, I can actually search for destinations via voice command with my phone. Every car I’ve ever tried that with is comically bad.
Also I’m an in-house lawyer and my job is basically to answer random questions 12 hours a day, so I feel you.
Do a deep dive on vehicle telematics. Unless you are driving something 20 or more yrs old, it’s likely sending some info back to the mothercorp. Newer vehicles are collectiing and mining more of that sweet marketable data you generate. Unless you find and disable the system modem(s), without disabling the vehicle it is going to keep on collecting and forwarding. Dystopia is here, you will be assimilated.
My 2014 Sportwagen has Bluetooth and has imported my phone contacts to the infotainment system…but it isn’t capable of connecting to any system outside the car. It doesn’t have GPS, and there’s no ability to connect to any kind of network. Perfect setup for me, as I don’t want or need anything more than Bluetooth.
I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.
Clearly our cars need a CRM114.
In order to prevent the enemy from issuing fake or confusing orders, CRM114 is designed not to receive at all, unless the message is preceded by the correct three letter code group prefix.
I’m a thinking a lot of people did not get the reference. They probably think Slim Pickens is a diet chicken restaurant.
It had Onstar back before unboosted cell service in the boonies was consistent. Then the 2G/3G networks went kaput. Now it has whatever my phone has plus built in Bluetooth for calls. The phone has kept on getting better and trackier.
I’m not super paranoid about the Chinese government getting to much info on me. I’m super paranoid about ANY OF THEM doing so. No one has any validation for collecting all the data that gets gathered on us. I do have a smart phone though, so maybe this is all tin hat stuff on top of what that is telling people about me.
I don’t need or want a connected car.
My car can be remotely started, stopped, and tracked via an app (or, I assume, via nefarious means). The car is not directly connected to any accounts beyond my Kia account, and does not share a password with other accounts, but a (virtual Google Wallet) credit card is associated to pay for the privilege of remote start (I’m paying for that, but not the full package with tracking and the ability to send commands to navigation via Alexa). I use Android Auto, so it does connect to my phone, but most of that runs through the phone and I just use it for nav and audio.
This is already too connected, but I do use the remote start and Android Auto enough that I’ll live with it.
If I get a car that has built-in Google or something, I’m probably going to create a car-specific account to avoid any more connection. If I need to attach a credit card to the account, I’ll continue to do so carefully (lower-limit card, maybe run through another Google account’s wallet).
That said, I do shop online and Google sees my movements via Google Maps, so I’m clearly not as concerned about my privacy as I could/should be.
My most-connected car has an AM radio which I assume still works. I haven’t checked recently.
We badly need a Member Rides feature on your fleet, it is severely interesting from what I can tell.
Writing more than a couple of sentences at a time is starting to sound like work but I suppose I should look into it. Meanwhile, taking into account the non-car portion of my fleet, I’ll add that my HMV Freeway does have a Johnson Messenger 130A CB radio, making it the clear winner in the overall greatest level of connectedness:
https://live.staticflickr.com/5061/5660075814_76eb0d28bc_c.jpg
Okay now I want a CB with a handset.
And of course you have an HMV Freeway. I’m not surprised. Do you consider that part of the non-car portion of the fleet? It was certainly meant to be used as a replacement for a car, and it’s legally an autocycle, right?
Under Washington law it’s a motorcycle but the operator doesn’t need a motorcycle endorsement or a helmet. This designation is several decades older than the autocycle class championed by Elio Motors and it applies to any three-wheeled motorcycle that is fully or partially enclosed (whatever “partially enclosed” may mean in practice…), has a steering wheel instead of handlebars, a seat instead of a saddle, and a seat belt (if it’s new enough that a car of the same age would be required to have seat belts). I think this is pretty close to how autocycles are defined in the states that use that term but my impression is that there is some variability.
Yeah that’s identical to our autocycle definition here in Idaho.
How connected?
Um… it’s got a bluetooth FM transmitter in lieu of the cigarette lighter.
That’s connected enough for me.
Not super connected but just as connected as I would want a car to be. It’s a 19 Fiesta with SYNC 3 so I have Bluetooth and Carplay. There’s an option to connect it to my home Wi-Fi but I never set that up because I don’t see any reason to do so and Wi-Fi is borderline non-functional outside of my physical house anyway. It doesn’t have any Fordpass capabilities so there’s nothing I can do to it from my phone and that’s perfectly fine for me.
I have a Ford Cmax PHEV of similar vintage, bought used. The phone app was kinda cool (“How’s the battery charging going?.”) for the few months it worked, but not super useful. To the point that when the 3G towers went dark & thus the app stopped working, I didn’t feel the need to pay a few hundred dollars to get a 4G modem installed.