Would you pay for a BlueCruise Subscription?

[AZBill]

I use and like it. I will pay $600 for three years, which is supposed to be my renewal rate at the end of this year. Not willing to pay $800/year.

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[Pioneer74]

I have BlueCruise on both our Mach-E and Lightning. Love it. I use it for 80 miles every day I commute to work.

I will not pay $800 a year for it. Not even if it was for both vehicles.

 

[mburtsvt]

I am not sure why there are so many people saying that blue cruise is only for 3 years. My car came with blue cruise on the window sticker without any mention of 3 years. I believe that after 3 year that you will not get any updates, but the software already in the car should still work. This is no different as the navigation which you get 3 years update, but will still work after 3 years without subscription.

All kinds of no on this one.

 

[bbachrac]

Your poll has no option for Ford's single month plan, which I might use if I were going on a long trip.

I was not aware of that plan. Thanks for mentioning it. My 2022 still has two years on the free use and I hadn't look at the plan details

 

[bbachrac]

I am not sure why there are so many people saying that blue cruise is only for 3 years. My car came with blue cruise on the window sticker without any mention of 3 years. I believe that after 3 year that you will not get any updates, but the software already in the car should still work. This is no different as the navigation which you get 3 years update, but will still work after 3 years without subscription.

I have lifetime and updates maps on my Garmin GPS which I bought refurbished for $100. I can always go back to using it.

If you logon to your Ford.com account and look under connected services, it will tell you trial end date. All the sticker was telling you was the vehicle had the hardware.
Here is what is on the page.

Additional Information about Blue Cruise
Once activated, data related to the feature and maps, including location, vehicle data and driving data is sent to Ford. Ford uses this data for research and development and to improve and develop new products and services, including the Hands-Free Blue Zones and BlueCruise. Please see the FordPass Terms and Privacy Policy for information related to your Ford Account and FordPass services, including the handling of personal information.

You agree Ford Motor Company and its affiliates reserve the right to change, update, improve, correct, modify, suspend, discontinue, or cancel all or part of the Connected Service at any time without notice or obligation to you.

*Driver-assist features are supplemental and do not replace the driver’s attention, judgment and need to control the vehicle. BlueCruise is a hands-free highway driving feature. Only remove hands from the steering wheel when in a Hands-Free Blue Zone. Always watch the road and be prepared to resume control of the vehicle. It does not replace safe driving. See Owner's Manual for detail and limitations.

Three-year Connected Service term with regular map updates begins on warranty start date. To continue service, a new connected service plan must be purchased. Plans are subject to change. See your Ford Account for terms and details. Service and features depend on compatible AT&T network availability. Evolving technology/cellular networks/vehicle capability may limit functionality and prevent operation of connected features. Failure to regularly update could result in BlueCruise being unavailable.

Please see the FordPass Terms and Privacy Policy for information related to your Ford Account and FordPass services, including the handling of personal information.
To disable Ford BlueCruise, go to your in-vehicle Connectivity Settings.

 

[summerlinLV]

I have lifetime and updates maps on my Garmin GPS which I bought refurbished for $100. I can always go back to using it.

If you logon to your Ford.com account and look under connected services, it will tell you trial end date. All the sticker was telling you was the vehicle had the hardware.
Here is what is on the page.

Additional Information about Blue Cruise
Once activated, data related to the feature and maps, including location, vehicle data and driving data is sent to Ford. Ford uses this data for research and development and to improve and develop new products and services, including the Hands-Free Blue Zones and BlueCruise. Please see the FordPass Terms and Privacy Policy for information related to your Ford Account and FordPass services, including the handling of personal information.

You agree Ford Motor Company and its affiliates reserve the right to change, update, improve, correct, modify, suspend, discontinue, or cancel all or part of the Connected Service at any time without notice or obligation to you.

*Driver-assist features are supplemental and do not replace the driver’s attention, judgment and need to control the vehicle. BlueCruise is a hands-free highway driving feature. Only remove hands from the steering wheel when in a Hands-Free Blue Zone. Always watch the road and be prepared to resume control of the vehicle. It does not replace safe driving. See Owner's Manual for detail and limitations.

Three-year Connected Service term with regular map updates begins on warranty start date. To continue service, a new connected service plan must be purchased. Plans are subject to change. See your Ford Account for terms and details. Service and features depend on compatible AT&T network availability. Evolving technology/cellular networks/vehicle capability may limit functionality and prevent operation of connected features. Failure to regularly update could result in BlueCruise being unavailable.

Please see the FordPass Terms and Privacy Policy for information related to your Ford Account and FordPass services, including the handling of personal information.
To disable Ford BlueCruise, go to your in-vehicle Connectivity Settings.

I agree with what you showed. My question is does blue cruise requires connected service or is it self sufficient within the car hardware and software. If later, then it will continue to function without connected service. Just like navigation, it will continue to function without map updates. The map may become obsolete as times go on like my old Garmin stand alone GPS unit. I still use my 2004 Garmin unit when I am driving a car without built-in navigation.

 

[Mike G]

It's all gonna be academic anyway. If the company continues to position this as a pay-as-you go subscription thing it's gonna end up sending more people over to Comma.ai to for a one-time purchase of a complete system (currently around $1500) that works on all roads (now) and plugs straight into the car/truck existent systems as an overlay. I'm not in any danger of my BC subscription running out until '25 at the earliest (on my truck) so I'm watching the development and progress of Comma.ai's system closely. Looks like a no-brainer to me. Works all the time on any roads and you pay only once from what I can tell.

 

[RickMachE]

I agree with what you showed. My question is does blue cruise requires connected service or is it self sufficient within the car hardware and software. If later, then it will continue to function without connected service. Just like navigation, it will continue to function without map updates. The map may become obsolete as times go on like my old Garmin stand alone GPS unit. I still use my 2004 Garmin unit when I am driving a car without built-in navigation.

BlueCruise handsfree will not function without a subscription. BlueCruise Map have an expiration date. Those expiring will end it. Proven last year. Map expiration then moved out, they will simply move it back in.

 

[Stang68]

I understand having to pay for it since it's likely a service that will improve over time. But $800 a year is insane.

I would consider $300 a year, given that I use it frequently and it works well for me.

 

[Mike G]

I just realized that this move to Comma.ai may happen even sooner for those who are buying a 2023.5 Mach-E (not sure about Lightnings) and opt to not pay for the yearly subscription when their 90 day trial is up.

For what Ford is asking for one year you could instead pay once and have a system that is even better and doesn't hit your wallet repeatedly through the years. Sell the car? Take the system with you to your next car.

You can follow along here.

 

[Pmullin7]

I use it daily, as my commute, while short, is almost all mapped highway. There are a couple spots where it disengages, but I'm interested to see if 1.3 fixes that. I absolutely love it, and would really like to continue using it.

That said, no way would I pay $800/yr for it. I'd probably max out at around $15/month, even better with an annual plan at around $150.

This is one case where I definitely prefer to pay by the sip rather than by the bottle. I would use this feature probably four times a year? I'm sure it would be a pain for the IT folks at Ford, but I'd love to see them offer different payment options, including a per day option.

That would be very appealing to those of us who only road trip rarely, and then at least Ford has a chance of getting some revenue out of this feature. Otherwise it'll be a hard pass from me.

 

[Larry Paul]

I use hands free BC nearly every time I drive. Where it can work, I use it and I trust it. I know where and when it will turn off. It is annoying, but I have an understanding of how it operates and it works for most of my freeway commute. It works well. With that said, I am looking forward to BC1.3…

I think a reasonable and fair pricing for an L2 autonomy capable system is:

One month at a time $60 per 30 days (Like for a road trip)
$240 per year for an annual subscription, 1 year at a time.
A 3 year subscription is $600 ($200, year x3 years)
$800 for a lifetime subscription, I would purchase it.
$800 per year is a hard no for an L2 system.

If BC was L4 autonomy, sure…but it is not and never will be. I don’t understand why Ford is trying to kill BC use by charging $800/yr.

 

[Maquis]

.

I don’t understand why Ford is trying to kill BC use by charging $800/yr.

I suspect they’re testing the waters to see what the market will bear. Probable downward adjustment in the future.

 

[SFC]

I think Ford completely missed the mark. Tesla lets you pay a subscription *OR* buy the feature outright. Ford already sold people the feature (maybe for less than they should have) and now *ALSO* wants a subscription - you can't have it both ways.

Or rather, you can't have it both ways without severely pissing off your customers. You should have factored in what you assume the serviceable life of the car will be, and then made the up-front cost equal to whatever you need from the customer to keep the service going for that amount of time. If you want a subscription option, you're just going to have to deal with the fact that the included hardware is a sunk cost. If you don't want to do that, charge an up-front fee and move on with life.

 

[Alan]

I think $200/year is too much for the value received. However, I expect I will pay that for 3 years when my free trial ends. If it is still more than $200/year after that, no way. Might even encourage me to a non-Ford EV replacement. My MME-FE will be around 6 years old by then, and 6-10 years is my usual time with a vehicle.

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