New BlueCruise e-mail from Ford

[The Weatherman]

Oh I dont know what BC I am on. How can you tell?

I reached out to Ford to find out if they had any info on upcoming updates and of course they knew S***!!! Agreed I am unsure if they will ever update. But when my trial ends, I will think long and hard about paying for BC in its current form.

I’m not sure you can without FDRS to read the level of software the truck is on. Forscan maybe, but I’m not sure.

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[PrimeRisk]

I’m not sure you can without FDRS to read the level of software the truck is on. Forscan maybe, but I’m not sure.

Why is that @Ford Motor Company ? Why do you hide what version of the software we have?

 

[struckbylightning]

I like BC, I can afford the $500, but not going to renew. A) it’s no where near that value and b) there’s no lifetime pricing.

I’m tired of subscriptions. If anything, I’ll use a Privacy.com card to purchase a month for long trips.

 

[zinkscott]

Perhaps they need more subscribers to hire developers to finish and push out BC 1.4 (or 1.3)

 

[TaxmanHog]

Perhaps they need more subscribers to hire developers to finish and push out BC 1.4 (or 1.3)

If it's ALREADY built, they just need to open the flood gates on the distribution server!!

 

[jerock]

If it's ALREADY built, they just need to open the flood gates on the distribution server!!

There’s really no excuse other than they are technically having trouble pushing it out. That would be a bad omen for our Lightnings.

 

[zinkscott]

If it's ALREADY built, they just need to open the flood gates on the distribution server!!

On one hand it bugs me how these updates are handled. On the other, as an IT gremlin, I wouldn’t wanna do vehicle OTAs or the infra behind it

 

[TaxmanHog]

Ok, then provide an in person tech with proper training and support equipment to do these updates as a part of the fee structure, if they want to sell me the service at a competitive rate provide full functional value to me.

 

[PrimeRisk]

Perhaps they need more subscribers to hire developers to finish and push out BC 1.4 (or 1.3)

They probably do.

Subscription revenue streams are becoming the lifeblood of companies. HP figured this out for printers. You can buy a nice HP inkJet printer for <$90 and HP will tell you it costs them >$200 to make it. They make money because you have to subscribe to an ongoing service that they call Instant Ink.

"HP Instant Ink printers order their own ink, so you don’t have to!"

Yeah, well you better read the fine print. You can't use 3rd party ink cartridges and they charge you by the page printed. Stop paying for the subscription and guess what, the printer turns into a doorstop.

Ford is doing this with the '24+ Lightnings with Connected Navigation. You think you bought a truck with Navigation. No, you did not. You bought a truck where you can subscribe to Navigation Services. If you don't pay after the trial runs out, you no longer have Navigation at all.

Period.

I don't think anyone is shocked that if you don't get BlueCruise for free as Tesla set the standard long ago that they have a lot of work to do to make it a reality, so pay a large amount up front to fund continued development and improvement or pay every month as a subscription. You can debate whether Tesla has delivered on their promises, but you can't deny that they continually deliver updates.

Ford followed this plan. They rolled it out, gave you a trial, made it better so people demanded it, and then raised the prices over time to make it a new cash cow for a perpetual revenue stream. Oops, they skipped a step. They forgot the "made it better so people demanded it" step and are now dropping the price instead of raising it.

So, they won't get my subscription, at least for now. If they make improvements and offer a new trial, they'll have another shot at getting me on the hook.

If not, well I'm perfectly glad to use what I have for as long as I own the truck.

 

[PrimeRisk]

On one hand it bugs me how these updates are handled. On the other, as an IT gremlin, I wouldn’t wanna do vehicle OTAs or the infra behind it

I don't want the job either, but Tesla sure makes it look like a walk in the park.

 

[PJnc284]

Ford is doing this with the '24+ Lightnings with Connected Navigation. You think you bought a truck with Navigation. No, you did not. You bought a truck where you can subscribe to Navigation Services. If you don't pay after the trial runs out, you no longer have Navigation at all.

My understanding is that it should still function as dumb navigation. Granted it would basically be useless in an EV without traffic, updated maps, charging stops, etc. With CarPlay already offering some integration and Android Auto integration in Google Maps even including on-route preconditiong with the latest update, I'm not sure there's much benefit in the connected navigation especially with how clunky Ford software is in general.

 

[PrimeRisk]

My understanding is that it should still function as dumb navigation. Granted it would basically be useless in an EV without traffic, updated maps, charging stops, etc. With CarPlay already offering some integration and Android Auto integration in Google Maps even including on-route preconditiong with the latest update, I'm not sure there's much benefit in the connected navigation especially with how clunky Ford software is in general.

It does not. In the 2023s and prior, it is true that it becomes dumb navigation. In the 2024s if you do not subscribe to Connected Navigation, you get nothing but a basic map of your location and absolutely no navigation capability.

I stumbled across this nugget of information when I was taking delivery of my 2024 Lariat ER and the dealer could not get navigation to do anything but appear as a map and a FORD CSR confirmed that it was the functionality of a non-subscribed vehicle. I posted in the following thread to dig into the details of what I was told. The combined brain trust of the forum engaged and verified that this was a change for 2024 models.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...ed-sync-4-navigation-monthly-cost-2024.20778/

 

[PJnc284]

Interesting. Maybe this won't come as "feature update" to 22/23MY....

 

[PrimeRisk]

Interesting. Maybe this won't come as "feature update" to 22/23MY....

I doubt it is something they would take away from you considering the language in the features descriptions. In your case you should just get stuck in time with the map and of course no live traffic, etc.

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