Ford Quadruples BlueCruise Price to $800/yr for All Renewals

[Jimrpa]

What knowledgeable people said that?

Thank you. I was going to ask the same thing. I’d love to know what substantive (not engineering rev level) changes were made in any of the ADAS systems in MY23 (particularly to enable/enhance BlueCruise 1.2 functionality).

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[J&S K]

No way will pay this price. No wonder I received these vague responses from the sales folks when I purchased my 2021. I agree Ford can shove it. Drive a TESLA lately? To be fair, they should have set firm pricing on this software upgrade. Then I could have been better informed when purchasing the Ford EV. Probably should have purchased the TESLA. No more Fords if going to play these games on trying to create an income stream on selling software, and it doesn't even work all that well. I found it too spotty to be able to relay on it. IMHO

 

[generaltso]

Has anyone confirmed whether the subscription is tied to the 360° camera functionality?

It's not.

 

[Jimrpa]

I am a former Navy pilot and, after that, a corporate pilot and the planes I flew some 40 to 50 years ago all had some form of autopilot in them. I cannot imagine what would have happed if the manufacturer tried to make the system that cost a lot of money to be installed, subscription based or, for that matter, what the FAA would have said about that. When I use BC I do so like I did flying: keeping my hand on the controls to make sure my machine was doing what I want it to do not what some bug-infested program thinks it should be doing. $800 a year for that is ridiculous. I bought the MME because I wanted an EV to cut down on our carbon footprint not because I wanted the latest tech on the road. In fact, I would have liked the car a lot more if it didn’t have all the tech crap they stuffed into it. So, no I will not pay Ford for a subscription for a sometimes functioning BC and when that day comes I will be looking at what other companies have to offer.

You sure that Boeing and Airbus don’t charge (via maintenance agreements or something) for software updates to keep aircraft current?

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

So, is hands-on BlueCruise still free?

You just have to pay if you want to be hands-free?

We shall find out in 6 months and change. There will be much anger though if that goes away too.

 

[Blue highway]

What knowledgeable people said that?

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...lable-on-blue-cruise.26271/page-2#post-604632

 

[dtonn]

Well we knew it was coming after that survey I did the other day looks like they are trying to find a price point. None of the ones they presented to me felt right to me. Some of them were insane in my opinion. I think they are also trying to come up with a one time all in price. They were asking about adding it in to your monthly payment all kinds of things...

If they did an All in and you could transfer it to a new Vehicle then they would have people kind of stuck with Ford... That didn't seem like an option though.

Please forgive inaccuracies in exactly how BlueCruise and Tesla Autopilot work, I am just aiming for the basics of cost here.

I think the way BlueCruise works is the problem and the benefit of BlueCruise at the same time. It requires high resolution road data, which Ford must keep updated and which Ford must continually extend to get better coverage. As a result, there will be ongoing costs to Ford to maintain the accuracy of the data and the BlueCruise system has to keep fetching updates from the servers over time. Vehicles with scanners have to scan new roads to extend coverage but also repeatedly scan roads already in the system, looking for changes like new lane markings or dividers etc and ensuring the data stays accurate.

This will make it difficult for Ford to provide an "all in" price unless it is very high (see current pricing) since they have to provide this high resolution data for the life of the cars and they will have their own ongoing cloud costs over time, likely being dependent on some platform like Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure (or their own servers which they have to maintain then.)

As someone who works on cloud based SaaS software, I am always pushing our Product Managers to consider usage based pricing instead of flat fee as they always did in the past, because that's how we have to pay for cloud services. Users generate load, which consumers server, database, and bandwidth, all of which we have to pay for. So the more the users consume, the more it costs us. Some users generate a LOT of load and others generate very little. So shouldn't you pay for software usage like a utility? When you use a lot of electricity you pay a lot, or you use a little and pay a little?

Don't get me wrong, I am not justifying what Ford is doing here. If you bought a car with a feature requiring a bunch of hardware, which you paid for up front, but then have to continually pay to use that hardware, that's not OK.

Tesla's approach, for all its warts and limitations, seems to be less reliant on constant cloud based updates. i.e. my understanding is that Tesla's system makes real-time decisions based on camera data, not on high resolution road data from servers. Of course BlueCruise does this for traffic and obstacles, but data from servers tell it where the road is supposed to be. Tesla only has camera data telling it where the road is. So in theory, Tesla can offer a subscription-free AutoPilot type service. In theory.

 

[Blackpony]

You sure that Boeing and Airbus don’t charge (via maintenance agreements or something) for software updates to keep aircraft current?

Well it has been a few years but since I stopped flying I was a trial attorney doing plaintiff's personal injury work and I would sure as help have taken a case where the accident was due to the failure of the manufacturer, say Boeing or Airbus, failing to keep its equipment current with software updates: Think of the 737 Max, lol

 

[MacherAWD]

Absolutely insane. I don't know who would bite at that price, especially compared to what you get. If anything, this is just another reason for me to switch vehicles/manufacturers in a few years... Just bought this thing in February and I'll probably be locked in for 3-4 years, but after that (and maybe even before) I'll be closely watching what else is available.

Has anyone confirmed whether the subscription is tied to the 360° camera functionality?

Sadly I think this trend will increase, and eventually cars will be disposable like phones. We all keep them 3 years and move on, the companies make more money. Our 2015 Highlander will likely be chugging away just fine in 2035, software still running, never taking an update, the car just working. This car like all the other tech heavy EVs (or ICE) will generally be at the end of usable life when they stop getting software updates. Wait until the cars are being constantly hacked like phones, Google gives 3 years of security updates, what if Ford does the same, then we all have to upgrade in 3 years or your car gets taken over by hackers. Its all being led by Teslas push to slash production costs any way possible. Cheaper cars that we toss after the free trials end or there is the slightest bit of damage.

 

[milepost1]

That's is a crazy price especially as it turns off everytime I cross a bridge, go around a curve, a one or 2 mile break in map, or just because.

 

[Kmp14]

Just piling on here. I use BCHF every time it is available to me, most drives. I really enjoy it, and will continue until it is time to pay, then it will be bye bye HF. No way I am paying $800 a year for it. And if they cripple adaptive cruise control and expect me to pay for that too it will be my last Ford.

 

[HuntingPudel]

<SNIP>
I believe "Co-Pilot360 2.0" is just the addition of the eye sensors.
<SNIP>

Co-pilot 360/Active 2.0 includes the 360 cameras and the eye nanny camera. For the 2021 GT-PE this option package was tied to the glass roof. ??

Co-pilot 360/Assist 2.0 does not (and therefore is incompatible with BCHF). This is what came standard on my 2021 GT-PE. ??

 

[CarDreams]

Yeah, no way im paying that. Good luck, it was nice while it lasted.

 

[SigSauer]

Checking the window sticker on our 2022, I find BC listed in the cost of the car. Why should we pay twice for the same item? We will not pay for any subscription. Next, Ford will want us to subscribe to having an AM/FM radio?

 

[HuntingPudel]

<SNIP>
This car like all the other tech heavy EVs (or ICE) will generally be at the end of usable life when they stop getting software updates.
<SNIP>

Another reason for the car manufacturers to decontent the cars so that they can sell more budget-friendly cars that have fewer maintenance issues for owners who cannot afford outrageous repair costs. Not that any of them see the reason in this. ??

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