"Active Drive Assist" = Monthly Service Fee (eventually)
12-21-2020, 01:17 PM
#1
Lariat Powerboost Ordered
Thread Starter
"Active Drive Assist" = Monthly Service Fee (eventually)
I opted for the Active Drive Assist 'prep' (or hardware) package on my order for several reasons: We tend to buy new and then retain a vehicle for 8-10 years, so higher trim level & options costs are usually spread over a long period of time. Plus, if the option promises pleasure when driving, the benefit of that option lasts the entire lengthy ownership period. And I'll be honest: It also sounds like a bit of fun, and more relaxing while on long trips.
What I didn't know when ordering is that the system's total pricing plan includes the cost of a monthly service plan, supposedly after an initial ownership period. So I thought I'd post this October press explanation in case others are unaware of it (altho' I don't know its accuracy). And of course Ford can change its plans on this service at any point going forward.
"Already announced for the electric Mustang Mach-E, the Active Drive Assist feature will allow drivers to take their hands completely off the steering wheel when they're traveling on the roughly 100,000 miles of American highways that Ford has mapped. It relies on camera- and radar-based technologies to keep the truck centered in its lane and traveling at a pre-determined speed; think of it as adaptive cruise control meets lane-keeping assist. It does not turn the F-150 into a fully autonomous car, and motorists will be required to keep both eyes on the road at all times. They will be monitored by a driver-facing camera that tracks their head and eye movements.
Ford told Autoblog that early F-150 buyers will either get the hardware that powers Active Drive Assist standard by ordering a top-of-the-line Limited model, or they'll be able to add it to a Lariat, a King Ranch, or a Platinum trim for $895 once the company deducts a $100 early adopter incentive. They'll then need to spend $600 to purchase the software, which they'll receive via an over-the-air software update when it's ready in the third quarter of 2021. At that point, the hardware and the software will be packaged together, and the bundle will cost $1,595.
Regardless, the Active Drive Assist feature will come with a three-year service period. Ford told Autoblog that, after that, "customers can choose to continue with it and get map updates with more hands-free driving zones by paying a competitively-priced monthly service cost." Those that don't opt in will presumably no longer be able to enable the hands-free driving feature. Full details will be announced in the coming months."
The full article can be found here: https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/30/...e0KZds2mIyIL3u
Jack
What I didn't know when ordering is that the system's total pricing plan includes the cost of a monthly service plan, supposedly after an initial ownership period. So I thought I'd post this October press explanation in case others are unaware of it (altho' I don't know its accuracy). And of course Ford can change its plans on this service at any point going forward.
"Already announced for the electric Mustang Mach-E, the Active Drive Assist feature will allow drivers to take their hands completely off the steering wheel when they're traveling on the roughly 100,000 miles of American highways that Ford has mapped. It relies on camera- and radar-based technologies to keep the truck centered in its lane and traveling at a pre-determined speed; think of it as adaptive cruise control meets lane-keeping assist. It does not turn the F-150 into a fully autonomous car, and motorists will be required to keep both eyes on the road at all times. They will be monitored by a driver-facing camera that tracks their head and eye movements.
Ford told Autoblog that early F-150 buyers will either get the hardware that powers Active Drive Assist standard by ordering a top-of-the-line Limited model, or they'll be able to add it to a Lariat, a King Ranch, or a Platinum trim for $895 once the company deducts a $100 early adopter incentive. They'll then need to spend $600 to purchase the software, which they'll receive via an over-the-air software update when it's ready in the third quarter of 2021. At that point, the hardware and the software will be packaged together, and the bundle will cost $1,595.
Regardless, the Active Drive Assist feature will come with a three-year service period. Ford told Autoblog that, after that, "customers can choose to continue with it and get map updates with more hands-free driving zones by paying a competitively-priced monthly service cost." Those that don't opt in will presumably no longer be able to enable the hands-free driving feature. Full details will be announced in the coming months."
The full article can be found here: https://www.autoblog.com/2020/10/30/...e0KZds2mIyIL3u
Jack
12-26-2020, 11:20 PM
#2
phoenixpilot dev
Hoping to get support for the 2021+ without Active Drive on my openpilot fork called phoenixpilot (whole legal hullabaloo i had to go through with comma). Should negate the subscription cost for the Active Drive, but I honestly believe that Ford's implementation will be much better.
12-27-2020, 09:12 AM
#3
They're trying to condition you into leasing functionality. Don't fall for it. If we do, it won't be the last feature you have to lease. OTA updates are cool but they also allow OEM's to turn off parts of your truck if your lease expires.
They want a consistent revenue stream. I want a paid off vehicle.
They want a consistent revenue stream. I want a paid off vehicle.
12-27-2020, 01:04 PM
#5
Lariat Powerboost Ordered
Thread Starter
I have the same preference Doofas expressed...but I'm not convinced manufacturers will remain in as much control of "leasing" vehicle performance as it might now seem. Here's a business case example why I say that: We spent 11 years cruising in our sailboat, ending up living in 53 countries & island nations. When we began (2000) electronic charting was in its infancy but software start-ups got busy building platforms, expanding portfolios of charts, etc. This was a godsend as a single sailing season (e.g. Scandanivia to the English Channel) required (literally) hundreds of charts. (Where do you even put them all?!) Unfortunately, these digital chart publishers had short ROI business plans (IMO Ford's $200/year fee may be an example of this as it will depress participation rate) and the chart portfolios were more expensive than what a sizable portion of the intended audience could afford. (If you spent each sailing season in a single area like the Chesapeake, buying that chart portfolio was affordable. If you've left your job, sunk a bunch of money into outfitting a boat for offshore sailing, you sail in a different region of world each year AND you experience the ongoing costs of sailing plus life, it's not like you have a lot of extra money to buy digital charts, as essential as they might seem). So clever people with programming experience began illegally copying chart portfolio CDs and selling them for ten cents on the dollar. However, soon legal digital chart sales & distribution became virtual, eliminating CDs. One legally purchased a portfolio by paying for it on-line and getting a code that would unlock - exclusively - your one charting platform package. But the crackers were right behind by offering universal unlocking capability to access the charts which had been made illegally available on-line. We sold our boat in Australia in 2011 and I've lost track of where things now stand but, back then, an equilibrium of sorts had been established where prices of legal copies were reduced with the goal of expanding the installed base. And the lower pricing appealed because it offset the hassle and potential risk of pirated software imploding on you while you were in the middle of the South Pacific. I'll bet there are plenty of IT and business development types here who have similar stories. Basically, if a business develops a monopoly on something and charges what's considered a reasonable fee, consumers accept the monopoly and participate in relatively large numbers...at least until the next entrepreneur offers a new approach for the same thing but charges less, at which point the original fee begins to look unreasonable. Ford will have made some initial business assumptions about who will accept this sub fee to have 'active drive assist', they'll collect user data over time while spending further development dollars, and adjust the fee and the feature set as the market directs them over time. I notice I accept sub fees to get past newspaper fire walls, pay for streaming services, support Youtube channel publishers and, somewhat the same thing, now donate to charities through monthly giving programs. It's easy to lose track of all those ways I'm spending money (I try not to fall into that trap), but I'm doing this despite not preferring it because it's how those businesses have set themselves up. So it may work well for Ford, if not for some of us.
Jack
Jack
12-27-2020, 05:43 PM
#6
I have the same preference Doofas expressed...but I'm not convinced manufacturers will remain in as much control of "leasing" vehicle performance as it might now seem. Here's a business case example why I say that: We spent 11 years cruising in our sailboat, ending up living in 53 countries & island nations. When we began (2000) electronic charting was in its infancy but software start-ups got busy building platforms, expanding portfolios of charts, etc. This was a godsend as a single sailing season (e.g. Scandanivia to the English Channel) required (literally) hundreds of charts. (Where do you even put them all?!) Unfortunately, these digital chart publishers had short ROI business plans (IMO Ford's $200/year fee may be an example of this as it will depress participation rate) and the chart portfolios were more expensive than what a sizable portion of the intended audience could afford. (If you spent each sailing season in a single area like the Chesapeake, buying that chart portfolio was affordable. If you've left your job, sunk a bunch of money into outfitting a boat for offshore sailing, you sail in a different region of world each year AND you experience the ongoing costs of sailing plus life, it's not like you have a lot of extra money to buy digital charts, as essential as they might seem). So clever people with programming experience began illegally copying chart portfolio CDs and selling them for ten cents on the dollar. However, soon legal digital chart sales & distribution became virtual, eliminating CDs. One legally purchased a portfolio by paying for it on-line and getting a code that would unlock - exclusively - your one charting platform package. But the crackers were right behind by offering universal unlocking capability to access the charts which had been made illegally available on-line. We sold our boat in Australia in 2011 and I've lost track of where things now stand but, back then, an equilibrium of sorts had been established where prices of legal copies were reduced with the goal of expanding the installed base. And the lower pricing appealed because it offset the hassle and potential risk of pirated software imploding on you while you were in the middle of the South Pacific. I'll bet there are plenty of IT and business development types here who have similar stories. Basically, if a business develops a monopoly on something and charges what's considered a reasonable fee, consumers accept the monopoly and participate in relatively large numbers...at least until the next entrepreneur offers a new approach for the same thing but charges less, at which point the original fee begins to look unreasonable. Ford will have made some initial business assumptions about who will accept this sub fee to have 'active drive assist', they'll collect user data over time while spending further development dollars, and adjust the fee and the feature set as the market directs them over time. I notice I accept sub fees to get past newspaper fire walls, pay for streaming services, support Youtube channel publishers and, somewhat the same thing, now donate to charities through monthly giving programs. It's easy to lose track of all those ways I'm spending money (I try not to fall into that trap), but I'm doing this despite not preferring it because it's how those businesses have set themselves up. So it may work well for Ford, if not for some of us.
Jack
Jack
Though back on the topic. We are talking about software, though I don't know how much of the analytics would take place on the cloud.
I do recall when you got limited free space with hotmail, then they wanted to start charging. Then gmail came out and that business model went bye bye.
Who knows, in the end it might be a free service, though our trucks will moonlight for Ford as automated uber vehicles, act as a celltower relay for Verizon, and will provide data to the CIA
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Jack in Prescott (12-27-2020)