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

[SightUp]

And Ford has lost my business.

I bought the technology. It's like they are renting space for free in my vehicle for their tech that I bought at this point. I internally cannot even internally comprehend this ideology. It's insulting they want me to pay for a half baked improvement. If it drove 100% for me, MAYBE.... and that's still a big MAYBE... but as it stands right now, if I cannot browse Reddit while I am driving and I have to be staring at cornfields all the same, I might as well drive myself. I see 0 value. It's a gimmick to me at this stage of development.

If there is a way to pirate a subscription, I will do it, too. I didn't learn about this until after purchasing my car and coming to these forums way past the return date. Surely someone will take a stand and create a home brew that changes a 0 to a 1 enabling the subscription.

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[Kamuelaflyer]

And Ford has lost my business.

I bought the technology. It's like they are renting space for free in my vehicle for their tech that I bought at this point. I internally cannot even internally comprehend this ideology. It's insulting they want me to pay for a half baked improvement. If it drove 100% for me, MAYBE.... and that's still a big MAYBE... but as it stands right now, if I cannot browse Reddit while I am driving and I have to be staring at cornfields all the same, I might as well drive myself. I see 0 value. It's a gimmick to me at this stage of development.

If there is a way to pirate a subscription, I will do it, too. I didn't learn about this until after purchasing my car and coming to these forums way past the return date. Surely someone will take a stand and create a home brew that changes a 0 to a 1 enabling the subscription.

You bought the hardware. The hardware purchase was a prerequisite for the actual feature. BlueCruise itself has always been a subscription service after the trial period. The argument is whether it’s worth the $2100/$800/$75* in its present form and whether it’s worth those amounts in the 1.2 incremental upgrade. For most people on this forum the answer appears to be no. Ford missed the optimal price point by a big margin in most people’s mind it seems.

I was personally never planning a BC subscription at any price, even $1 per year, as there are exactly 0 BC roads here. But the feature has always been subscription based.

* or $600 for a three year one-time renewal on 2021 Job 1 cars.

 

[dhcruz]

I think this deserves it's own new topic. Ford has decided to apply the 2023.5 BlueCruise pricing scheme to everyone (2021-2023's) seeking a renewal after their initial 3-year subscription expires. Source is this post in another topic:

As stated, things work a little differently for Job 1 2021 Mach-E's, which weren't delivered with functional BlueCruise. I believe they got a free 1-year trial starting when the feature was installed, and will have an opportunity to buy an additional 3 years for $600 to provide parity before the price goes up to $800/yr for subsequent renewals.

Obviously this is a huge increase from the previously stated $200/yr subscription rate. Everyone I've talked to is angry about this and no one wants to renew at that price (I agree). Ford likely feels the positive reviews of BlueCruise 1.2 in Consumer Reports and other media outlets (such as @OutofSpecKyle Hogback challenge) warrants a huge price increase to rival Tesla Enhanced Autopilot. I don't think it's worth anywhere close to $800/yr, BlueCruise 1.2 still has issues, constant dropouts on curves, very limited coverage, and uses outdated hardware (EyeQ4) designed in 2015. It is much less sophisticated than Tesla Enhanced Autopilot, which has many times more processing power and can automatically change lanes with no user input, take interchanges, and merge onto freeways.

I think an increase from $200/yr to $250/yr for BlueCruise 1.2 would be fair and reasonable, $800/yr is way too much for a Level 2 ADAS. Most people do not want to pay more than $20/month for it.

Lmao Good luck with that Ford!

 

[randomvoice]

Can someone explain if the screen going blue is the only part of this 800/year thing or does it also include the white screen but you get a blue bubble around the car (basically car steers itself on non-highway and non-BC handsfree mapped zones but you gotta keep your hands on the wheel). Their whole convention of 360 auto pilot vs BC is confusing.

 

[Mirak]

Can someone explain if the screen going blue is the only part of this 800/year thing or does it also include the white screen but you get a blue bubble around the car (basically car steers itself on non-highway and non-BC handsfree mapped zones but you gotta keep your hands on the wheel). Their whole convention of 360 auto pilot vs BC is confusing.

The subscription is only for BC Hands Free - meaning the blue screen. The regular “bubble mode” - Lane Centering with Adaptive Cruise Control - will still work without the subscription.

 

[randomvoice]

The subscription is only for BC Hands Free - meaning the blue screen. The regular “bubble mode” - Lane Centering with Adaptive Cruise Control - will still work without the subscription.

Lol that makes this even more worthless. Who cares if I can't drive handsfree on a few mapped highways. They really need to pass what they're smoking if they think people will pay 800/year for that shit.

 

[1969Mach1Mike]

So, is someone saying that my built in navigation will stop working after 3 years? No maps etc?
That feature is specifically listed under: "Standard Equipment Included At No Extra Charge" on my window sticker. No where on my sales contract or sticker does it indicate blu-cruise is pay to drive.

 

[Mirak]

So, is someone saying that my built in navigation will stop working after 3 years? No maps etc?
That feature is specifically listed under: "Standard Equipment Included At No Extra Charge" on my window sticker. No where on my sales contract or sticker does it indicate blu-cruise is pay to drive.

No. Regular maps are not the same thing as the geofence mapping required for BC. Don’t worry about that.

 

[Mirak]

Lol that makes this even more worthless. Who cares if I can't drive handsfree on a few mapped highways. They really need to pass what they're smoking if they think people will pay 800/year for that shit.

And you can bypass the torque sensor to continue driving HF, just as good as BCHF, with a cheap ankle weight strapped slightly off center on the steering wheel. Just remember that no system is perfect and you always have to keep your eyes on the road and your hands at the ready, just like with BCHF. BCHF 1.0 is exactly the same as hands-on in terms of lane centering reliability - it just swaps the eye nanny for hand nanny. Ford asking $800/yr for that is a joke. BCHF 1.2 adds lane change assist, but so what? That’s not worth the money, either.

 

[BillPitman]

I think this deserves it's own new topic. Ford has decided to apply the 2023.5 BlueCruise pricing scheme to everyone (2021-2023's) seeking a renewal after their initial 3-year subscription expires. Source is this post in another topic:

As stated, things work a little differently for Job 1 2021 Mach-E's, which weren't delivered with functional BlueCruise. I believe they got a free 1-year trial starting when the feature was installed, and will have an opportunity to buy an additional 3 years for $600 to provide parity before the price goes up to $800/yr for subsequent renewals.

Obviously this is a huge increase from the previously stated $200/yr subscription rate. Everyone I've talked to is angry about this and no one wants to renew at that price (I agree). Ford likely feels the positive reviews of BlueCruise 1.2 in Consumer Reports and other media outlets (such as @OutofSpecKyle Hogback challenge) warrants a huge price increase to rival Tesla Enhanced Autopilot. I don't think it's worth anywhere close to $800/yr, BlueCruise 1.2 still has issues, constant dropouts on curves, very limited coverage, and uses outdated hardware (EyeQ4) designed in 2015. It is much less sophisticated than Tesla Enhanced Autopilot, which has many times more processing power and can automatically change lanes with no user input, take interchanges, and merge onto freeways.

I think an increase from $200/yr to $250/yr for BlueCruise 1.2 would be fair and reasonable, $800/yr is way too much for a Level 2 ADAS. Most people do not want to pay more than $20/month for it.

Ya gotta love those bean-counters, no! Too much money for the use I would have…… Bill P

 

[pimperial]

And you can bypass the torque sensor to continue driving HF, just as good as BCHF, with a cheap ankle weight strapped slightly off center on the steering wheel. Just remember that no system is perfect and you always have to keep your eyes on the road and your hands at the ready, just like with BCHF. BCHF 1.0 is exactly the same as hands-on in terms of lane centering reliability - it just swaps the eye nanny for hand nanny. Ford asking $800/yr for that is a joke. BCHF 1.2 adds lane change assist, but so what? That’s not worth the money, either.

I’d like to add I have a MY23 with BCHF 1.2 and in the times that hands free deactivates for whatever reason the lane change assist still works.

 

[billy_at]

I am assuming this price is not going to survive. Even among a forum full of MME enthusiasts, I have not seen one person say they’d pay $800 a year for this. My bet is they will revise this soon.

 

[Mirak]

I am assuming this price is not going to survive. Even among a forum full of MME enthusiasts, I have not seen one person say they’d pay $800 a year for this. My bet is they will revise this soon.

Yes. This trial balloon is going to be a lead balloon.

 

[Sagacity]

Already looking at replacing my Mach E GT/PE with a REV. No way in hell am I paying that kind of money for blue cruise. Pisses me off that they did a bait and switch. If you bought your car when it was $300 a year it needs to stay that way.

 

[A-A-Ron]

Yes. This trial balloon is going to be a lead balloon.

GM's all "Hey, we're ditching CarPlay and Android Auto" and Ford's like "crap, someone hold ma beer"

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