Subscription Value - BlueCruise vs. Tesla FSD

[Misterrobot]

With the latest news over the $99/month Tesla FSD subscription, a thought popped in my head. Sorry @Ford Motor Company - as a loyal Ford owner for many many years I have to get this out of my head. Internet comments be damned.

I posted this in the YouTube comment section at TFLEV @TFLtommy - well not Tommy but his Dad's latest Tesla love/hate video...

"I always wanted to ask a Tesla owner this: Consider Ford Blue Cruise subscription is half the cost (monthly) of Tesla FSD - based on costs, is the Blue Cruise functionality or value actually half that of Tesla FSD? As a Mach e owner I think not. Blue Cruise lets me be hands free on 97% selected "controlled access" highways - that's 3% of roads according to Google. Tesla is all public roads. I imagine less, but for the sake of argument let's use 100%. So $99/mo X 3% = $2.97 value of Blue Cruise per month? Take off half because Blue Cruise only works when you’re going down the highway and doesn't exit. Hmmm? So the value is $1.50 a month?"

OK thanks for letting me get that out to help me process. Remember most online posts are about the poster, guess I am the poster child today...

Anyways, I'd pay $1.50 a month for BlueCruise. I always thought it was a gimmick, something for Ford to brag about. Not worth $49 a month. Heck I'd pay as much as an online streaming service, say $8-10 a month?

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[ReverendPete]

The option that I chose was hands-free on any road with no subscription fee, using a Comma 4 device in my 2023 Premium (~$1000 device, but no subscription fees). Unfortunately for you, starting with the 2025 model year, Ford encrypts the CAN bus, and you can't use a Comma device on your car.

The Comma device isn't quite FSD equivalent, but I think it's great, and have it enabled nearly 100% of the time when I'm driving, usually in MADS mode around town, where I control the stop/go and it controls the steering...

I don't miss BlueCruise, but I do agree that lower monthly/annual fees would make it more attractive. The question is whether lowering the fees would make it attractive enough to draw in enough new business that they would actually raise their overall income...

 

[MrTowed]

Depends on how you use it.

Day to day, Blue Cruise has no value to me. When/if I do a road trip I'll consider turning it on for the month to do the highway driving for me. Otherwise when I'm around and about town making short/moderate trips I don't see the value in it.

On the other hand, FSD might be worth the $1200/yr to prevent a $25,000+ DUI or mandatory minimum sentencing vehicle homicide conviction. Even though I may only ever use it for short trips from the local bar.

However if I had a job that required daily highway driving for half-hour or more, I'd probably be willing to pay forBlue Cruise.

I'm kind of interested in the Comma 4 as well. Hell at $1k it pays for itself over BC in under two years and looks to be a more capable system than blue cruise is.

Honestly, I wish the big automakers would cooperate and make an open standard that could speed up adoption nationwide. For instance if they partnered with Comma to make an implementation that can easily be dropped into any new vehicle from any make to give it FSD capabilities. Then suddenly vehicle collisions and deaths are cut in half.

 

[RickMachE]

Ah, another BlueCruise complaint thread...

You don't have to do the math, if you would never consider owning an Elmo-mobile.

 

[MrTowed]

Unfortunately for you, starting with the 2025 model year, Ford encrypts the CAN bus, and you can't use a Comma device on your car.

Have you got a write-up anywhere about your experience with Comma in the Mach-e. How hard was it to install? How's it sit in your vehicle, and also do you have a dashcam also that sits next to it?

Sounds like I lucked out with getting a '24 instead of the '25.

 

[GarciaFan]

Almost all of my driving is on state highways or city streets so Bluecruise has little value. If they added more coverage I’d be willing to pay. So in my case I would not pay either as the Tesla cost is too high and Ford lacks a solution for my driving habits.

 

[ReverendPete]

Have you got a write-up anywhere about your experience with Comma in the Mach-e. How hard was it to install? How's it sit in your vehicle, and also do you have a dashcam also that sits next to it?

I didn't do a write up about it, but there are a few around, including some installation videos on YouTube, showing installation on a Mach-E. Installation isn't too bad. The device, itself, is mounted on your windshield, just below the rearview mirror, and the Comma 4 is fairly unobtrusive. Installation is a bit harder in the Mach-E than some other vehicles, because you need to run a USB cable from your windshield, around the edge of the headliner, and down the B pillar, and into the trunk, where the IPMA lives. (The system has an included harness that plugs into the IPMA, and becomes a man-in-the-middle that hijacks the ADAS system). When you buy the Comma, you specify the vehicle, and in the case of the Mach-E, it comes with the Ford harness, and a USB cable that is just long enough to run from the trunk to the device.

It took me and a buddy about 45 minutes to install it, and the hardest part is around the A pillar. You can install a cable running to the OBDII port for power, as well, but it's not required, and most Mach-E owners don't do that because it can negatively affect our fragile 12v system.

The Comma 4 acts as a dash cam as well, and if you're running the BluePilot fork of the software, which is specific to Ford cars, it can act as a server, so you can connect to it and download videos, similarly to how the FitCam works (I still have a FitCam X installed as well). Or if you run the OBDII cable, it can stay powered after the car is off, and you can set it up to auto upload the videos when you get home (again, at the expense of your LVB, so beware).

There's a big thread on the forum here, which has a ton of information, including a lot from user AjzRide, who is the primary developer behind the BluePilot fork of the SunnyPilot software. https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/installing-comma-ai-openpilot-bluecruise-alternative.29591/ But there are a few other threads, and lots of information to be found elsewhere on the web.

 

[zelkito]

The option that I chose was hands-free on any road with no subscription fee, using a Comma 4 device in my 2023 Premium (~$1000 device, but no subscription fees). Unfortunately for you, starting with the 2025 model year, Ford encrypts the CAN bus, and you can't use a Comma device on your car.

The Comma device isn't quite FSD equivalent, but I think it's great, and have it enabled nearly 100% of the time when I'm driving, usually in MADS mode around town, where I control the stop/go and it controls the steering...

I don't miss BlueCruise, but I do agree that lower monthly/annual fees would make it more attractive. The question is whether lowering the fees would make it attractive enough to draw in enough new business that they would actually raise their overall income...

100% this! I am on the Comma 4 boat and it's AWESOME!!

 

[Billyk24]

FSD? 13.3.2 update arrived and caused many issues for many drivers as seen on Tesla forums (Fscebook-Teslamotorclub-etc.). 13.3.3 was released in an attempt to correct those issues. Tesla vehicles with HW3 don not have the same experience as those with HW4. FSD. is not always what it is perceived to be

 

[Willmed]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; nowhere, anywhere, anyplace in the purchase of my GTPE was it stated, written or implied that the optional Blue Cruise, included on the window sticker and for which I paid the additional price, was a subscription service at the time of purchase or in the future.

When Ford informed me that it would continue only if I paid and that I misunderstood about blue cruise (I didn’t misunderstand anything, it was never written or discussed) it made me re-think my opinion on ever doing business with Ford again (and I own 4 Fords). The car is fine but they’ve proved to me that they can’t be trusted.

And Dick mache you’re blocked so don’t bother replying

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