Privacy

I bought a used Chevy bolt EV, for now I've pulled the onstar system fuse which kills the telemetry and GPS+cell antenna. No tracking with no power, it's my car and my battery so I decide what gets my power.

I'm not interested in letting any of these companies screw me over behind my back regardless of who is "less evil," but I've gotten so used to the convenience of EVs that I won't do without one.

I use my phone for navigation and music/podcasts and that still works just fine.

Might at some point look at a more sophisticated way of doing this like removing just the onstar module or terminating its antenna, but for now it's fine.

What do you guys think? Stick to older used cars and not use an EV or look at which of the manufacturers have the least bad privacy policy?

Stick to older cars. Learn the way of the wrench. End.

List of automotive connectivity module providers: https://www.evbusiness.net/ev-directory/automotive-lte-5g-module-manufacturers/

Find which one your car has. Then see if you can find a repair manual with schematics. Find where the cell antenna connects. Non-destructively disconnect it. This way your telematics won't be affected. It will just look like you're always in a cell dead-zone.

Edit: don't do this if it's a lease, a rental, or there's a loan on the vehicle. If you own it outright and it doesn't void the warranty, go nuts.

I don't own a car and am not a fan of most modern "features", but, I must say, I'm quite fond of adaptive cruise control. Setting a follow distance and just cruising for long drives is far better than pumping the brakes every 5 minutes for folks mucking up passing lanes or trucks attempting to overtake on lane-limited roadways. I bet if everyone used it, traffic snakes wouldn't be such a nuisance.

I'd rather never own a car, but if I needed one, I'd be hard pressed to sacrifice privacy for that sweet adaptive cruise. Of course, network connectivity isn't required, so perhaps there will eventually be options.

I had been actively looking forward to the Slate truck (even though I don't want a truck) for this reason - an EV with modern drivetrain but no BS electronics or telemetry. Unfortunately the price has gone from about $20K - a price appropriate for it's minimalist approach - to "below $30K" and it's not due out for another year, so who knows how it will pan out.

I have a 2014 Chevy volt. Not a full EV, but used ones are affordable and the 3g cell modem no longer works.

We get 30-38 miles per charge depending on the outside temperature which covers most of our day to day driving. It will charge from a regular wall outlet (120v at 8 amps) in 12 hours. The ICE engine gets an oil change every 2 years since it gets rarely used.

I’m confused here, if cars are not connected to the internet how else are they broadcasting the data? Or is it collected during maintenance and if so what do mechanics care about your sexual activity.

Edit: Reading through the comments there are 3G/4G/LTE/5G bands in the cars? Who is paying for the cellular service then?

I don’t drive nor care about cars so this isn’t my wheelhouse obviously.

We need more development of open source cars

Fun fact, French auto brands are defacto banned in the US. You can’t insure them.

FWIW I did both a GDPR request and a Lexus Nexus data request on both of my Mercedes and they had zero info on me. My buddy did the same and same results. I’m not sure they are collecting any data even though they say they may, or they’re actually honoring the opt out setting. Either way I’m not worried about my Mercedes cars. My brother requested his data and his Toyota and Lexus had a LOT of info on him.