Bluecruise Update: Ford OTA team promises 1.3 for all Lightnings by end of the year

[jhawkbear]

I was just on the connected services web page, and if I read it correctly. for those with the 90-day trial, the annual cost is supposed to be $80 per year. The cost has not yet been announced for those of us with the 3-year subscription. Not sure where the $800 annual cost came from.

I will say this, GM and other manufacturers have long charged for subscriptions for connected telematics services such as On Star. If Ford charges $80 per year for its connected services suite, then that is a bargain compared to what GM was charging for On Star back in the day. Food for thought.

It looks like it's $75 per month or $800 per year for the 2024 and 2025 models. There isn't anything about pre-2024 though.

https://www.ford.com/technology/bluecruise/
(towards the bottom of this page)

Sponsored

 

[RickLightning]

I was just on the connected services web page, and if I read it correctly. for those with the 90-day trial, the annual cost is supposed to be $80 per year. The cost has not yet been announced for those of us with the 3-year subscription. Not sure where the $800 annual cost came from.

I will say this, GM and other manufacturers have long charged for subscriptions for connected telematics services such as On Star. If Ford charges $80 per year for its connected services suite, then that is a bargain compared to what GM was charging for On Star back in the day. Food for thought.

They don't.

$80 is for Connected Navigation only.

It looks like it's $75 per month or $800 per year for the 2024 and 2025 models. There isn't anything about pre-2024 though.

https://www.ford.com/technology/bluecruise/
(towards the bottom of this page)

BlueCruise for 2021 owners, after 3 years, was $600 for 3 years.

For everyone else the renewal, if done now, is $75 a month or $800 a year or $2,100 for 3 years. Nobody knows what Ford will charge a year or three from now.

I believe the take (renewal rate) on BlueCruise will be way below their projections. I might pay $75 for a big travel month maybe twice a year for that vehicle. At $600 for 3 years, I would have renewed both.

 

[Refactoringdr]

I believe the take (renewal rate) on BlueCruise will be way below their projections. I might pay $75 for a big travel month maybe twice a year for that vehicle. At $600 for 3 years, I would have renewed both.

THIS! Ford needs to understand the economics of this. I love BC 1.3. I think it works great compared to what BC used to be. Still not worth $800/yr. I think it's worth about $200/yr if they keep updating it and expanding the available roads. Otherwise, I'll probably do exactly what @RickLightning proposes.

 

[RocketGhost]

I think for Bluecruise to function effectively on an ongoing basis it needs updates. Part of its operation relies on its map database. You'll run into a lot more disengagements when highways change and what the sensors detect doesn't match what the system expects to see. Bluecruise anticipates road features further ahead from what its sensors can detect. And of course if there's a new highway or expansion BC won't work on it without an update.

I'm ok with paying for BC for a month at a time when I go on road trips a couple times a year. I don't need it year round. But their fee is too expensive. $50 a month, which would be one road trip for me, might be ok if I'm going on a longer trip. But not if it's just an hour or two.

 

[Newton]

I noticed that in the Ford Pass app, when I ask for it to turn on the climate control it will only do it for 10 minutes - but there is a button to “extend” the time for another 10 minutes. If you try to extend further it says that there have been “too many climate control requests, please drive your car to resest.”

This is completely unnecessary on a car with a 98kWh battery and feels an awful lot like a place to put in some “revenue enhancement”. Want to keep your pets alive in your car for another 10 minutes? Click this button for the low, low price of only $5.50 (tax and data charges may apply.)

 

[Newton]

The suits don’t care if the renewal rate is less than expected - all that matters is the revenue projections and this quarter’s share price. It doesn’t matter whether those projections are realistic, it is just a line item that can be used to please some analyst.

It took me a long time to figure out why landlords would raise the lease on successful restaurants in a declining downtown area where I lived. The restaurant would go out of business, and the building would sit vacant and for sale - but the sales brochure would claim the monthly revenue from the higher lease price that eventually drove the tenant out of business.

 

[RickLightning]

I noticed that in the Ford Pass app, when I ask for it to turn on the climate control it will only do it for 10 minutes - but there is a button to “extend” the time for another 10 minutes. If you try to extend further it says that there have been “too many climate control requests, please drive your car to resest.”

This is completely unnecessary on a car with a 98kWh battery and feels an awful lot like a place to put in some “revenue enhancement”. Want to keep your pets alive in your car for another 10 minutes? Click this button for the low, low price of only $5.50 (tax and data charges may apply.)

Posted often.

1) Go into your truck settings and change the remote start to 15 minutes instead of 10.

2) If you want to leave your pet in the vehicle, leave it running. Turn off the shutdown timer. Lock the doors with the bottom 2 keypad buttons.

 

[tls]

Yeah, well wait to you get a load of Blew-Cruise disengaging at 75MPH on a highway curve for no reason. However dangerous you think FSD Beta is, Ford's solution is 10x more dangerous on the 1% of roads it works on.

I have owned Teslas since 2015 and have a 2022 Lightning and a brand-new Mach-E. This is the direct opposite of my experience.

 

[Runaway Tractor]

Tesla's basic autopilot is safer than Blue Cruise IMO. Mainly because of all the circumstances where Blue Cruise just disables itself in turns or other challenging places. You know, places where a system shutting down suddenly would be logically poor. It shuts down, then dings at you so you can catch it before it goes flying out of the lane. Like most Ford software, it leaves a lot to be desired. I accept it for what it is and use it 120 miles per day 5 days per week. But I hardly consider it a *safe or safety* system. It's a convenience system right now.

My old 2018 Model 3 had Advanced Autopilot. I trusted that way more than I would ever trust Blue Cruise in a safety critical situation. The Tesla autopilot does not go haha just kidding all yours now and turn off when approaching a curve.

When I was going through my first round of chemotherapy, I dozed off driving home from work in my Model 3. I woke up about 10 minutes later like nothing happened. My arm was resting on the wheel so it never knew I wasn't conscious. Had I been on Blue Cruise, this would have been a massive highway pileup. The area where the Tesla drove through without any problem is an area where Blue Cruise just mindlessly and stupidly shuts down.

Sorry, just reality of the software and hardware. I'm not a fanboy of anything. I'm just a reasonable person with a brain that drives a lot. Also, this is has nothing to do with the current FSD Beta, which is nothing at all like Blue Cruise or the old Tesla autopilot.

 

[Shawnson]

I was just on the connected services web page, and if I read it correctly. for those with the 90-day trial, the annual cost is supposed to be $80 per year. The cost has not yet been announced for those of us with the 3-year subscription. Not sure where the $800 annual cost came from.

I will say this, GM and other manufacturers have long charged for subscriptions for connected telematics services such as On Star. If Ford charges $80 per year for its connected services suite, then that is a bargain compared to what GM was charging for On Star back in the day. Food for thought.

I think you read something wrong. The 800 was for BC. Not connected services.

 

[tnugentfl]

Got tired of the broken promises and turned it on myself in my Job 1 2022 .. the worst part is that it keeps the blinker on after the lane change, which makes its feel like a parlor trick because if I have to touch the stalk twice, I might as well just turn the wheel myself too.

Just click the blinker for the 3 blinks, it works great that way.