- cross-posted to:
- electricvehicles@slrpnk.net
- cross-posted to:
- electricvehicles@slrpnk.net
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They’re all preparing to remove choice as we start to lose competition due to Trump Economy
Fuck Trump, but this one is a bipartisan effort that has been ongoing since the Clinton administration accelerated the deregulation train. There has also been very little action towards anti-competitive practices for a very long time.
Don’t get suckered into a red vs blue mindset here. This is a battle against corporate and billionaire abuse of power.
EDIT: If I am being honest, I was all onboard the deregulation train back in the nineties. I was young and ignorant. I never imagined the damage it would bring.
It was a lot more practical for new players to enter most of these markets back in the 90s, before the megacorps started to fully metastasize. Deregulation [of some industries] wasn’t the objectively bad choice that hind sight makes it seem like back then, just something worth trying to see if it improved outcomes. Remember, regulations are supposed to regularly change to meet the needs of the time, not be a lifetime commitment one way or the other that the political deadlock of the '00s and '10s made it seem.
Deregulation [of some industries] wasn’t the objectively bad choice that hind sight makes it seem like back then, just something worth trying to see if it improved outcomes.
Well with hindsight we definitely know that we got taken for the ride.
People who rule us are threat actors that exploit everything every chance they get.
You can’t reason with these parasites. And it will takes another generation just to roll back all of this bullshit.
There has also been very little action towards anti-competitive practices for a very long time.
Obama establishing the CFPB was a pretty big win for Americans.
The intention was good and there were some pro co sumer victories and many already got rolled back.
Calling this thing victory is like calling ACA victory.
Dad gave a me a toy so it is ok that he gets drunk and gives me the belt bulk. No wonder peasants can’t seem to see the picture lol
The ACA was a victory. Do we need better? Absolutley! However, I’m not sure if you remember healthcare before it. Remember “pre-existing conditions” or being charged for wellness checkup? Also, women paid significantly more for healthcare than men did. Balancing that back to equal was important.
Dad gave a me a toy so it is ok that he gets drunk and gives me the belt bulk. No wonder peasants can’t seem to see the picture
If you’re “all or nothing” you’ll get nothing. We could have had real change on Climate Change too if “cap and trade” was adopted, but someone just like you said it didn’t go far enough, and we got nothing instead.
It’s silly but I have no interest in buying or driving cars that don’t support CarPlay. I’m used to it. It is safer for me to drive with a gps/voice control system I am used to. When I’ve had to rent cars that don’t support it it has been awful.
I would feel the same if I was an android user with Android auto.
I do not think every car needs their own system when one’s based on the devices we already use exist. Pisses me off.
I also wish someone would make a base model style EV I don’t need all these stupid extra features. I recently test drove a VW EV and wasn’t amused with the RGB door lighting. What a waste of money. I just want a vehicle to get from A to B.
Ironically, the Chevy Bolt was a perfect car for that. Reasonably priced, no stupid gizmos like retracting door handles, Android Auto, actual buttons for controls… But of course GM killed it. A new version should come out eventually, but who knows if it’ll keep the spirit of their old Bolts. For now, the used market hit the sweet spot where it’s still a pretty modern car, but it’s gone through most of its depreciation from new so it’s pretty cheap. Especially with the tax credit.
Full disclosure: DC fast charging sucks on this car. On some pre-2022 models it’s non-existent. But it’s still excellent for commuting and medium-short trips!
I’ve been thinking of starting an ev retrofit company for very common cars/platforms. Drop out the drivetrain/fuel system. Install all the necessary replacement bits, and addons for a/c, heat, etc. Piggyback some kind of system so traction control doesn’t have an aneurism and make the gauges work right. I would need to find a reliable source for batteries and motors.
Edison Motors is doing that in Canada for light duty trucks. I don’t think there’s much of a market for it outside that considering the insane amount of labor costs you’d encounter trying to retrofit a vehicle. Best to either sell the kits to DIYers or find those few unicorn buyers who’d be willing to hand you $100k-$200k for 6-12 months worth of labor on a one-off vehicle.
yeah it would have to be a preconfigured kit for specific vehicles/drivetrain platorms which could be installed in a few days. Transit vans, ford/chevy p/u suv. A popular compact car platform with unreliable drivetrain issues.
I figure cost could come in below $20k depending.
Frankly CarPlay and Android Auto suck in my opinion compared to iDrive 7 on my BMW.
But… that being said, I do support choice. I wouldn’t even consider a car that doesn’t allow CP/AA as I think it should be up to the consumer to pick which one they want to use.
The Nav system on my Audi Q7 BLOWS compared to Android Auto. It can’t seem to understand a damn thing I say.
Yeah I’ve used the Audi one and it sucks. Especially traffic, so many missing streets and odd routing.
That’s what I love about my ‘23 Yaris. The entertainment system is basically a radio and hybrid telemetry. Everything else is CarPlay/Android Auto. No shitty outdated maps, no 90’-style MP3 player…
IMO cars that have their own infotainment system should also allow Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Give the user a choice. Collect metrics about how many people use Android Auto / CarPlay vs the native infotainment system. Maybe survey people who use Android Auto or CarPlay often to see what they think is missing from the native infotainment system. Iterate. Get people to use the native infotainment because it’s better, not because you force them to.
I’ve got a BMW iX and the in-built map is very good, but I like knowing that I can switch to Android Auto if I encounter issues with it.
Yeah but if you allow people to choose, you can’t force them to use your apps and buy within your walled garden.
You’re missing out on all that revenue.
Don’t buy cars like this, that’s the only thing that will help.
And considering it’s GM, it’s not really hard to avoid buying them when there are better options.
Don’t you dare give consumers what they want.
I ran into this with my 2013 Kia Sorento ICE (which was subsequently totalled. :( )
When you replace the on-board infotainment system, there’s an interoperability package that has to be installed to make sure the existing functions of the vehicle continue to work.
Think of it like a translation layer, everything on the dashboard that went through the old system, has to be hooked up to the new system. Also complicated by steering wheel controls.
When it was all said and done, I had the full array of cameras that I wanted (turn signal cameras are amazing!) and everything worked…
Except the one little button that changed the interior lighting. It was forever stuck on red.
Now, for an EV, it’s essential everything work properly. I can totally see GM shutting that down.
This is kind of like the complaint about EVs not having AM radios… yeah, there’s a reason for that!
https://www.autosinnovate.org/posts/blog/not-cheap-a-3.8-billion-fix-for-am-radio-in-evs
I got the head unit changed in my Subaru . In the Subaru, the systems that the Head Unit controls (entertainment system, backup cam, Sat NAV) are totally separate from critical systems. So everything the head unit controls can fail and the car will still work.
And you’re right, there’s an interface/translation layer . In my case the guy used an iDataLink Maestro. It seems the only thing the iDataLink company does provide interfaces that allow head units to talk to car computers, so that the Head unit manufacturers don’t have to bother.
I’m not sure such separation is common in EVs.
Frankly I would like to not use Apple CarPlay / Android Auto — however, the built in software needs to actually usable and continuously updated.
I particularly want to see better non-touch input. Rotary dial + buttons à la Mazda, and much better voice input. I live in a multilingual region, and it consequently renders most in-built navigation voice commands useless, as it won’t understand language switching. Even Google assitant has issues with this despite supporting multiple input languages, usually resulting in me saying the entire command in the same language as the address. (Or just giving up if the name and street are in two languages).
But with built in systems that only support one language at a time, I just can’t say some of the addresses since I don’t know how it wants me to mispronounce them in English.
I also have found media playback frustrating in any modern vehicle. This is likely a lot harder to solve, but the inability to switch playlists or change playback settings without my phone connected to Android Auto is frustrating when in vehicles without it.
I know this is very ranty and not that big of a deal, it’s just frustrating seeing so little progress in the past decade on this front — and in some aspects like human interface design of vehicles, they have frankly regressed. If I look at the voice input systems on cars from 15-20 years ago there has been huge improvement, but even 10 years ago to now it doesn’t feel that different. Maybe a few new commands, but the quality of recognition / utility of the system is lacking.
continuously updated
Hahaha… hahahahahahahaha
Some of the newer auto manufacturers do that. Telsa, Rivian, etc. Those companies all have good in-house software developers. Almost everyone else farms this stuff out, which is why it’s never updated.
Media playback is easy: find the line in jack hidden away somewhere. Plug phone into it. Ignore infotainment console.
