I have a very old diesel that I maintain religiously to make it last as long as possible, and whenever possible, I ride the bus. It’s not that I wouldn’t like a new car - and particularly an EV, those cars are attractive for a lot of reasons - but they all spy on their users nowadays and that’s a big no-no for me. For that reason and that reason alone, I’ve refrained from buying a new car for years.
But now I have a good reason to buy an EV: my employer has installed solar panels on the company’s roof, is in the process of installing charge points on the parking lot, and is offering all the employees free charging.
So I’m on the market for a small electric econobox to commute roughly 30 miles per day. I don’t want anything fancy: just an honest-to-goodness little car with a steering wheel, an accelerator, a brake pedal and doors that lock. That’s it. I don’t care about creature comfort, I don’t care about radio, GPS or anything else. I just want a car. And of course, of upmost importance to me, I want a car without telemetry, that doesn’t spy on me and doesn’t report to the mothership.
So far I think the best option is to buy one of the first gen EVs with a 2G or 3G connection that plain doesn’t work anymore, and have it overhauled. The problem is, I might want to buy a more recent, possibly more efficient vehicle. Also, good luck finding someone competent to service a battery pack in my area.
If I went for a newer vehicle, what would be the best make/model to disable the internet immediately after purchase without any side effect? I’ve read that some models report a fault until the internet connectivity is restored, so those would be out of the question. And of course, if the antennae / SIM / 4G PCB or whatever needs to be disabled are super-hard to find, it wouldn’t be ideal either.
Any way to convert a modern car into an honest vehicle, or should I keep riding the bus and give the opportunity offered by my employer a pass?
At the moment basically every EV for sale in the US is an iPhone on wheels. Their entire UX is designed around the car being connected to the internet. Any car with a “tablet sticking out of the dash” is going to be a pain to get to the antennas. I tried looking for a guide on the ID.4 but I couldn’t find anyone removing the radio. If you procure the service manual I’m sure it will show you how to do it though. And assuming you want to go even further than just disconnecting the telemetry box (assuming it’s a discrete unit) be prepared to have to make your own custom harness. I had to get one custom made for my Outback when I removed the starlink box.
That’s a far better option for the environment. I can’t speak on the privacy aspect since who knows what your bus system does.
Yes that’s true, especially since half of our city’s fleet is now electric.
The bus is great and I usually like it, especially since I don’t like driving so much. But here’s the thing: I’m getting older, and it’s getting more and more tiring to change buses and wait outside in the dead of winter when it’s zero degrees out, and doing a 50-minute commute that only takes 20 minutes by car. I’m all for the environment, but my creaky gen-X frame is starting to complain about my lifestyle. I’m not lazy and I try my best, but I just don’t have the stamina anymore.
In the winter, I find myself using my old diesel more and more out of sheer tiredness, and I’d rather not: that thing is all shades of terrible environmentally in the cold and it’s not good for the engine anyway. And now with my employer essentially offering free electricity, it’s really tempting to buy an EV, at least for the winter months.