Posted on 01/17/2022 8:07:13 AM PST by DoodleBob
Remember when BMW wanted to charge drivers to use Apple CarPlay? How about the subscription required for the Mercedes EQS's rear-wheel steering functionality in Europe? It turns out that luxury marques aren't the only ones looking to cash in on that sweet, sweet software as a service cash: Toyota has been testing the waters by making the remote start functionality on your proximity key fob part of a larger connected services subscription.
Yes, it appears the pay-to-play ethos that's spreading around the industry has reached the world's largest automaker. A Toyota spokesperson confirmed to The Drive that if a 2018 or later Toyota is equipped with Toyota's Remote Connect functions, the vehicle must be enrolled in a valid subscription in order for the key fob to start the car remotely. To be clear, what we're talking about is the proximity-based RF remote start system, where you press a button on the fob to start the car while outside of it within a certain distance—say, from your front door to warm up your vehicle in the driveway on a cold morning before you get in. Your fob uses radio waves to communicate with the car, and no connection back to Toyota's servers is needed. But the function will not work without a larger Remote Connect subscription.
It's become more common in recent years for automakers to charge for apps that allow drivers to monitor, lock, or start their cars with their smartphones. As far as we can tell, though, Toyota's the first company to charge for full use of your physical key fob—either $8 a month or $80 a year at the Remote Connect plan's current price.
When buying a new Toyota, buyers have the option to trial Toyota's Connected Services. These can include features like emergency assistance, hotspot connectivity, and app-based services like remote vehicle unlocking and starting. The length of Toyota's trial depends on the vehicle in question, as well the audio package included in the vehicle. For example, vehicles equipped with Audio Plus get a trial of up to three years whereas Premium Audio may have a trial for up to 10 years. Beyond that, drivers will need to pay for a subscription to continue using the key fob's remote start.
It also might not be obvious when buying a new Toyota that the remote start function is tied to a subscription. For example, the dealer video below shows a brief overview from a salesperson who states that the key should work on certain Toyotas "as long as [they have] Audio Plus"—no mention of the trial period or required subscription once that ends.
News of Toyota's decision surfaced on Reddit last month after an eagle-eyed user spotted some wording in Toyota's Remote Connect marketing materials that suggested an ongoing subscription would be required for drivers to start their car remotely with their key fob. The phrasing was confusing, and some wondered whether Toyota would actually take this step. A peek at various Toyota forums shows some owners have been reckoning with this possibility for a couple years now, though with many 2018 or newer Toyotas still within their subscription trial periods, it's entirely possible that most drivers are unaware of the arrangement.
Though the thread on Reddit was eventually labeled "Potentially Misleading" by moderators after garnering hundreds of comments, Toyota's response to The Drive was unequivocal: A paid subscription is required for the key fob's remote start function to work for every single model.
Ten years might seem like a long time. According to a study by iSeeCars, the average vehicle owner keeps their car for around 8.4 years. Toyota is ranked as the longest-kept manufacturer, with the average vehicle ownership lasting nine years. Cars are also lasting longer than ever with the average age of vehicles on the road being 12.1 years old, meaning that people are keeping new and used rides longer than ever. It's plausible that a vehicle will change hands during that 10-year trial period, leading to the remote start function deactivating after someone purchases the vehicle used. But it's just as plausible that the original owner will have to pay up.
What's even more unknown is how technology might affect something like this in the future. For example, cellular providers in the U.S. have earmarked the end of the 3G cellular network, a technology that many vehicles rely on today in order to call home to the mothership, so to speak. We've got a whole explainer on that available here, but the long and the short of it is that the situation is particularly dire for Toyota owners.
While some other manufacturers are retrofitting vehicles to be compatible with newer LTE networks, Toyota is discontinuing Connected Services support for the affected vehicles, all of which are model year 2019 or earlier. A Toyota spokesperson confirmed to The Drive that it has no plans to offer an upgrade, paid or otherwise, to vehicles affected by the 3G shutdown. Perhaps not coincidentally, the automaker also announced that it has "enhanced" vehicles built before Nov. 12, 2018, to no longer require a subscription for the key fob's remote start feature to function.
It's pretty clear that consumers aren't exactly rooting for subscription services in the auto industry. Toyota's example feels a bit egregious; it would be different if the key required a separate cellular connection or paired with the owner's phone via bluetooth and utilized the app's baked-in connectivity. But this is a physical key fob that needs to communicate directly with the vehicle via radio frequency—no remote connection back to Toyota is needed. So why require a subscription?
Update 12/11/2021 @ 2:20 pm ET: The story has been updated to clarify that the key fob's proximity-based radio frequency remote start function will not work without a paid subscription to Toyota's Remote Connect suite of connected services. The Drive regrets any confusion the original copy may have caused.
Anyway, if they do have a DC type motor, then they might be able to run off DC, too.
DC is for batteries and panels. I won’t use or try to use DC for anything household. Will cost much more in the end.
Your whole house is based on AC 240 split for 120/120 each side. Great, old-school design.
We are really on the wrong thread !!
120VAC. Drop out is usually around 100VAC (maybe lower 90VAC)? 100VAC = ~ 140VDC which is well above the SELV requirement so that wouldn't work. But maybe you can work around the SELV requirement. Heck 120VAC is managed. Anyway, theoretically, you could run your PC and any like devices off of 140VDC. I might be a reliability hit to the bridge since you are only using one branch.
Agreed. :)
Modern switching power supplies might work with dc in, but anything transformer based, nada, must have AC.
Simply say no and have a regular remote start function installed.
They offer wifi through an account with AT&T no one else seems to know what that is. There isn't a visible port for a sim card and none is mentioned at least not in my cursory reading of manual, but I am sure there is one somewhere.
The EmptyShelvesBiden administration is trying to sneak a universal kill switch into automobile requirements but I suspect there is already one built in whether available to users or not.
I may go to AT&T and see what I can find out, might be interesting. I have an iPad that I use as a mobile hot spot but not really the same thing. I have a Toyota App on the iPad and the wife's iPhone which controls all those functions but not a kill switch that I can find, maybe another App to buy for that function.
Everything going forward will have a continuing revenue stream, they need something to replace the service revenue they lost by making cars last so long, and they do last a long time for sure.
Excellent point. A transformer doesn’t propagate DC very well or at all.
I forgot about....
So some wall warts for example that you use to charge your phone probably use a transformer. Cheaper that way plus you get safety isolation for free. Sill it has to regulate to DC for the gadget. But it is moot because you still have a transformer in the path.
Larger devices like a PC will have a switcher since they consume more power and are more efficient. Hey maybe a house level DC voltage that distributes standard DC voltages and a high level that eliminates the need for an inverter.
Anyway, lol.
Very few of today’s walwarts use xformers.
China makes switching ones almost free.
There are hardware solutions that include a telephone based modem and router for campers. You could probably make your own since you only need a telephone modem, which are available, and then you plug the modem into any off the shelf router. Many customers who don't have access to cable or DSL for internet use the telephone network for home internet access. Anyway, kind of cool network hardware is very modular.
Or like you said, you can use your phone as a wifi lan router (I think that they call it tethering) to your phone data network.
But there is always one or two. But those devices simply wouldn’t work. Although it there any safety issue feeding a transformer with DC for an extended period of time?
I would never induce dc into any house wiring. Period.
And any dc circuits should have totally different sockets and plugs.
Safety first. What good is alternate methods if your place goes up in flames!
Old time motto. If you try it and it doesn’t work — STOP IT.
Never leave anything that doesn’t perform, connected.
Oh I agree. So maybe another separate bus that is DC. Heck maybe the switcher power supply designers can add an extra connector for DC as an OR fail over.
I checked with the phone guy in Costco yesterday and he said currently only AT&T can activate the service and cost would be between 20 and 80 dollars. That makes me believe it is already installed by Toyota. Just another revenue stream that all Corporations strive for.
T-Mobile offers a portable link for $50.00 a month which is not bad, used to be $40 I think. They also offer home service with their own router and antenna that is for use in the home. Lot of options now and will only get better in the future. I regularly get better than 50 mbit speeds using the mobile access on my iPad, they claim 200 or more for home but I think that is for 5G stuff. Lot of people are still stuck at 5 or less from their service provider.
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