Comment on When EV startups shut down, will their cars still work?
tal@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
I think that that can be generalized to:
“When <cloud-connected device company> shuts down, will their <product> still work?”
Yep, and precisely why I refuse to buy anything that requires an internet connection to work. I’m even wary of services that lock me in for longer than maybe 6 months. The only annual subscription I have is for my VPN.
An actual device/machine that I plan to use for years? Hell no. Offline only is a must have.
A car is also difficult to ignore, compared to something smaller.
A small expensive device that stopped working because the company shut it down is annoying, but you can at least put it to the side and ignore it.
You can’t really do that to a car that has functionally become a paperweight because the parent company has gone under.
This was really thrown into sharp focus for me a couple of years back, when I read an article about how people with ocular implants are being left to go blind again because the company who made their implant has been bought by another company who doesn’t want to continue support.
I just can’t think about how callous that is, and if a company doesn’t give a shit about that, why would they give a shit about a car?
Yep, that’s the one. Utter shithouses.
Never heard about it but it sounds crazy.
I really hope some massive EV startup goes under and bricks thousands of cars. It might be the last straw that forces lawmakers to regulate services shutting down (keep providing the service or open source all your code so that some else can keep providing that service)
One thing is the risk that your device might become a paperweight with $300 smartwatches or home automation systems, another is to have them with $30,000 cars.
The problem is not that there is a risk, the problem is how much more money is at stake from that kind of risk when such risks apply to cars.
Rationally there should be a lot more consumer protection rules on thing were people have to work years to earn enough to buy them than in things that cost the income of a few days or weeks of work, at the very least the kind of information forcing the full disclosure upfront to customers of such risks and their consequences (if a brand’s electric car will literaly become a paper-weight once support from the manufacturer end, that should be shown in every advert for that product using a really large font).
because they have a long life
Not as long as it could be and that’s intentional. My '97 piece of crap will outlive most EVs anv even most new ICEs.
Evs will outlast ice cars as there are less moving parts. All we need now is 3rd party car battery replacement as a standard.
The VW Beetle, among many others, would like a word.
EV batteries aren’t as easy to make as most ICE parts.
The first telas batteries were 18650s, the same ones that the diy vapes used. As more EVs are bought the more of a market there will be to support them. People are already refurbishing EV battery packs.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Yup, that’s why I don’t buy that crap. I would love an EV, but they all seem to spy on their drivers and I’m concerned that all that spyware isn’t properly protected anyway.
An EV really shouldn’t be all that complicated, and there’s zero reason for it to connect to the outside world. All it needs to do is:
None of that requires power, and that whole process is much simpler than my ICE car, which doesn’t have any external communication either. Give me an EV without all the smart crap and I’ll probably buy it.
perviouslyiner@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That’s not an EV issue that’s a modern car issue. One of the worst privacy risks was Buick which didn’t even make EVs.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
I feel like it largely started with EVs though, since they came with all of the smart crap out of the gate.
femtech@midwest.social 3 weeks ago
That’s just when you noticed. High end models of cars had that since OnStar.
Maggoty@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I got bad news about ICE cars made in the past decade.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Yeah, we’re looking to upgrade our car, and unfortunately one of my requirement now needs to be “has a YouTube video detailing how to disable internet features.” I just want a simple, easy to maintain car that doesn’t spy on me, why is that so big of an ask?
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yeah, this is why I’m not new car shopping. Like, ever. I’m done. I’ll drive my Crosstrek until the engine falls out, and then I’ll replace said engine with an EV powertrain and drive it some more.
Maggoty@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Because of capitalism. Good luck.