Pretty soon insurance will require black boxes

How does that matter now?

Because it is pointless to try to buy an offline car.

Especially when everyone is online through their phones.

Honestly aside from Lemmy, this is not an issue to most.

Aren’t those two separate issues?

Sadly, they’re not. Every single EV is a privacy nightmare.

I’d love a dumb EV, but there is none.

Retrofitting classic cars is a thing. Have you looked into that? I agree it seems you are letting a different problem lock you into inaction.

It’s very expensive and you get a car no one can service.

Well yeah getting things tailor made to meet your needs is expensive. It sounds like your going to have a really bad time paying extra for dirty gas options going forward. I hope you can keep finding someone to service your car until you can’t drive anymore.

www.slate.auto/en

Slate is still going to be constantly connected to the internet, feeding data back to Slate…

And it’s backed by Jeff fucking Bezos lol. Yes, it will be a nice little bare bones vehicle, but that’s irrelevant to the brain and network of the thing.

There might be less data to collect, but they’re still going to be collecting and sharing data.

Slate is still going to be constantly connected to the internet

No, it’s not. It doesn’t even have a cell radio.

It’s bluetooth only, no modem.

Every single car in the last five years is a privacy nightmare, not just EVs. My next car will likely be an economical ICE not because it’s ICE, but because it’ll be old enough to not be a privacy nightmare.

Every single EV is a privacy nightmare.

I’d love a dumb EV, but there is none.

Slate Truck. I mean, the base model is also stripped of basically every luxury that’s been on a vehicle since the 1980s to bring the base price down. It does have airbags. There are no privacy issues because there is no entertainment computer, no GPS radio, no cell radio. Just a mount point for you to provide your own computer.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slate_(vehicle)

Designed around a starting price of US$24,950, the vehicle uses a simplified design with fewer parts and omits features such as an infotainment system, speakers, and power windows. All vehicles are to be produced with an unpainted gray plastic exterior and support customization through accessories and vinyl wraps.

The Slate’s base configuration, called the “Blank Slate”, will not include an infotainment system, speakers, or power windows. All units will be produced with the same unpainted gray polypropylene exterior, with vinyl wraps as the only offered way to change the exterior color.[13] A smartphone mount will be standard, and a tablet mount optional. The Blank Slate configuration will have fabric armrests and physical climate control knobs. The company plans to offer a large number of accessories for professional or DIY installation.[14]

There isn’t much there to have privacy implications. I haven’t looked at the (now government-mandated on new cars) tire flat detection system, whether it uses radio to talk to the wheels. Some people are concerned that vehicles that use radio TPSes broadcast a unique ID, and that that facilities ALPR-like logging of vehicles, though I’d guess that for most, that’s a pretty secondary concern to things like manufacturers harvesting data via phone-home.

That being said, it’s got a shorter range than, say, a Tesla Model 3, which could be an issue for some users.

www.slate.auto

EDIT: And just to be clear, since OP’s article is talking about the UK, I have no idea whether it’s available in the UK. Serial production should be starting in the US shortly, late this year.

EDIT2: NACS-based charging reports a vehicle’s VIN to the charging station when charging, which may be an issue from a privacy standpoint; the Slate can do NACS charging. 240V and 120V charging is a lot slower. It might be possible to do something like an NACS charger linked to a NACS->J1772 adapter linked to a J1772->NACS adapter to isolate the vehicle from the charger at the tradeoff of being limited to J1772 charging rates; I haven’t investigated this. I don’t know if someone makes an NACS->NACS device that doesn’t relay the VIN; again, haven’t investigated.

NACS charging is why no one steals EVs.

considers

My vague understanding from past reading is that often cars that are stolen are broken down for parts, and the parts sold, which generally makes it easier to fence the stolen goods. I’d think that that’d defeat that.

All you guys worried about privacy in your car pull out the batteries on your phones while driving? It’s all the same data.

What dumb ICE cars are there?

None, they all scan your face as it’s legal requirement.

I believe with Chevy evs at least there are guides to remove the modem/OnStar and even guides out there for Teslas

There is a relatively simple solution to that problem, you can disconnect the system from the Internet by replacing its antenna connection with SMA terminators. Here’s an example with lots of details about it:

tacomaworld.com/…/simpler-solution-for-disabling-…

Some cars you just need to pull a specific fuse too.

That seems like a lot to go through…though agreed, it makes it doable…and no car manufacturer has ever put a stock stereo in their vehicles that’s worth a dam anyway, so an awesome reason to rip it out.

First thing I did when I got my Mustang was rip the Microsoft Sync system out of it. What an absolute piece of shit that thing is. (of course it is, it’s a Microsoft product)

It’s not even part of the stereo or radio on some cars, many will have a Telematics Control Unit that’s a separate box with those GPS and cellular data antenna connectors on it. It’s the owner’s choice to decide if they want to leave those antennas in place or upgrade to antenna terminators to permanently block cellular data.

My son has a 2023 GR Supra (BMW Z4 ish) The TCU antennas are also purposed to receive the transmissions from the keyfobs and such, so they’ve made it so that disconnecting the TCM fucks up the doors (and a number of other systems)

I know in other toyotas parts of the stereo / audio break when you disconnect the TCM.

Manufacturers need them to stay in place, because they make money selling your data…

moneygeek.com/…/driving-data-insurers-privacy/

Important to know that terminating the antennas is not the same thing as disconnecting the TCU. It’s just a “no signal” condition for the still-working TCU.

And terminating the antennas doesn’t guarantee no outbound traffic… hit the reception cone of a cell tower just right and it will get enough connection to upload it’s data…

I want it out. I ripped the Sync out of my mustang, it’s sitting on my workbench (just in case I sell it and the owner wants it back in) I don’t know that it collects data (that will then be uploaded via bluetooth connection to a cellphone) but I’m not chancing it. Micro$oft can’t be trusted.

My Nissan leaf doesn’t have an internet connection

The rare exception. Keep it as long as you can.

Agreed. Even without internet connection, there still remains a ton of other stuff I don’t like about modern cars. I find them quite frustrating to drive honestly.

I’m perfectly happy with my -07 Nissan pickup and willing to drive it the next 20 years too if I have to. Just gotta try and stay ahead of all the rust.

Looks like you aren’t driving any car made after 2018, so why say you aren’t driving an EV?

My wife’s 2019 Acura isn’t internet ready…

I drive a 2014 and probably will until the end. This need to buy a new car every few years baffles me.

I love my V8, manual transmission mustang and will drive it until the end.

My wife’s 2019 Acura isn’t internet ready…

Acura has been putting mobile data connection and collection devices in their cars since 2014. They call it their subscription service AcuraLink.

It was even installed on their lowest end car in 2014, the ILX:

My wife has a 2019 MDX, no internet at all. Must have been an option… We wouldn’t have bought it if it had it…

Now they have an option for bluetooth and an app if you install it on your phone… but that’s not a car connected to the internet, and we never installed the app.

My plan is to rip out their shitty infotainment system and replace it with something better as soon as I can figure out how to not break everything in doing so…

Now they have an option for bluetooth and an app if you install it on your phone… but that’s not a car connected to the internet, and we never installed the app.

From what I’m seeing its installed on all cars. The app was the primary way to interact with it, and it is indeed internet connected, including location services (so you can find your car on an internet map if you lost it) in 2019 models. The useful features required a subscription, but the basic features showing when you need an oil change (from vehicle telemetry) and being able to schedule service are apparently free for life. However, Acura disable the paid service July 21, 2025. I wouldn’t have any faith they disable the telemetry though.

The mobile phone radio is apparently in the TCU (Telematic Control Module) which was not an option but installed in all vehicles.

Here’s a youtube video of someone taking their TCU out of their 2020 RDX if you’re interested.

Ran a VIN search on the car, it is NOT factory equipped with AcuraLink. So looks like all the Hybrid’s, and all the Petrol models with the Technology package and up do, but the base MDX SH-AWD does NOT include the telematics system. Things like remote start and app based access are not available.

Thank god. I was beginning to thing we’d been lied to at the dealership (which would have resulted in us walking it back in and throwing the keys at someone). The LKAS (Lane Keeping Assist System) was bad enough (and got disabled week one). The stupid auto-engine-start-stop gets turned off as a part of the “start the car” routine since it can’t be disabled…yet. ;-)

Once I crack the ECU, that will be gone.

I’m glad you were able to confirm the situation. Thanks for following up and satisfying my curiosity too.

Yeah, it’s going to get harder to avoid, seems like for some manufacturers, 2015 marked the entry of the “LTE in every car” trend, but for some manufacturers it’s later…

I swear my next car is going to have a carburetor again.

We thought about it…my wife has a short in-town commute and we considered it…but two things nixed it for us. The Internet-connected car, and the lack of physical door releases. There is no good reason the regular door-handles have to be electric, and it’s inherently unsafe.

Add that to the fact that the Condo association at our house doesn’t allow external chargers to be installed, makes it a non-starter.

I 100% agree about the door handles, but not all EVs have non-physical door releases. There are at least 6 from various manufacturers that are fully physical.

The internet connected car is every single car made today, unless you pull out a fuse, regardless of EV or ICE.

We tried that in my sons Toyota… The fucking ignition key stopped working. Manufacturers work really hard to make sure you don’t…

As for door handles, physical handles backing electronic locks doesn’t count.

I also read some people putting some kind of blocking device on the cell antenna or something instead of pulling a fuse.

it can work, until you’re in a particularly strong cell network, then the traces on the board can pick up the signal, and everything gets uploaded in a burst.

it’s either remove the unit, or don’t bother.

Just get a stellantis EV. Their connectivity is so utterly shit you don’t have to worry.