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Removing the modem and GPS from my 2024 RAV4 hybrid

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Re: Removing the modem and GPS from my 2024 RAV4 hybrid

#191

Post by phony-account »

nurple wrote: post #5

> Even after the modem is removed, if you connect your phone to the car via Bluetooth then the car will use your phone as an internet connection and send all the same telemetry data back to Toyota. However, if you use a wired USB connection then it does not do that (see the discussion here and elsewhere), so I exclusively use CarPlay via USB. The problem with this is that both carplay and android auto capture their o…

> The problem with this is that both carplay and android auto capture their own vehicle telemetry. So even though the car is not able to use your phone as a general data pipe, Google and Apple still get access to this data when you're connected.

Do you have evidence or a citation for this? Or is it just the sort of statement that’s made in the pretty certain expectation of upvotes on HN?

Re: Removing the modem and GPS from my 2024 RAV4 hybrid

#192

Post by mdasen »

btbuildem wrote: post #132

There's a fortune to be made for whomever produces a car that has minimal features, and and electric-drivetrain with onboard gasoline generator. No screens, knobs and buttons, no assists. Extra fortune if you can licence designs and revive some of the old-and-loved classics with new safety features.

> electric-drivetrain with onboard gasoline generator

Generally speaking, it's more efficient to power a car using a series-parallel hybrid system than an electric drivetrain with generator (series hybrid) while not really being any more complicated.

In a series hybrid (electric with generator), you're losing energy converting the rotational energy into electric energy. It's better to use the engine's output to power the wheels while it's in an efficient range. It's why Toyota's series-parallel hybrid design offered better mileage than vehicles that (primarily or fully) operated as series hybrids like the Chevy Volt.

> No screens

You can't really sell a car without a screen due to government regulations which require backup cameras (since 2018 in North America, since 2022 in the EU and Japan).

> no assists

Automatic Emergency Braking is going to be required in the US in 2029 (detecting frontal crashes about to happen and automatically braking, including pedestrian detection).

The EU requires even more including blind spot detection and lane-keeping assist.

I certainly agree that cars need knobs and buttons for controls like AC/heat, music, etc. However, it'd be hard to make a car where you aren't putting in a screen and assistive technology. I think a better argument would be to make a car where the screen was simply Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and a backup camera - rather than shoving a lot of garbage UX into it.

Re: Removing the modem and GPS from my 2024 RAV4 hybrid

#193

Post by CarVac »

nathan_compton wrote: post #184
alentred wrote: post #172

Buy Nissan instead, they will do that for you free of charge. I own 2021 Nissan Leaf and Nissan sent me an email early this year telling that the communication infrastructure costs too much for them and they are taking it down. Jokes aside, I am seriously pissed at Nissan because it was one of reasons I bought it in the first place: to pre-heat or pre-cool the car remotely before going to work, while it is still plug…

How are you dealing with the chademo only charger thing?

If you buy a ChaDeMo Leaf you do so knowing that it will likely never go more than a hundred miles from home.

Re: Removing the modem and GPS from my 2024 RAV4 hybrid

#194

Post by UltraSane »

NewsaHackO wrote: post #156
bdamm wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some brands take software very seriously. This isn't an "entire industry" problem. My experience is pretty small; I've owned the same Tesla Model 3 LR for the last 6.5 years, and the software has been pretty much solid the entire time. There was briefly a problem with echos when I called land lines using the bluetooth and my iPhone, but that problem eventually went away - not clear if it was because the iPhone change…

Yeah, this is similar to what I hear about Tesla's everywhere. While some members of the company leadership can be polarizing, the product itself seems very solid. Have been saving up for my first "good" car since starting my end-career job, really want to get a Tesla, but wish there was a hybrid option due to charger anxiety. Otherwise, would get one already.

[flagged]

Re: Removing the modem and GPS from my 2024 RAV4 hybrid

#195

Post by AngryData »

retired wrote: post #128
rasz wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In case of Subaru turning off 2G made their modems keep trying to reconnect 24/7 draining and killing battery. Subaru refused replacing batteries killed by defective car.

On my classic cars I fitted a battery quick disconnect in the boot. Might need to start doing that with modern cars too.

Unfortunately for many modern cars that may make it run less efficiently and clean and have a rough start every time you do it for 30 minutes or more because many sensors are trained on-the-fly from a running vehicle and then the correct calibrator sensor values are then stored in volatile memory which is lost upon power loss.

I use to disconnect batteries all the time when fixing vehicles, but the last decade ive been avoiding it unless I have to because of how poorly new cars run afterwards. And people get really angry when you fix something on their vehicle and then go to drive it later and it hard starts and feels and performs worse than ever. Telling them to "just drive for 30 minutes and then restart your car again and hopefully it goes away" doesn't make people happy or confident in your fix, nor does it make diagnosing issues after replacing a suspected faulty module or sensor easier when it sounds and performs like trash for a long while afterwards.

Re: Removing the modem and GPS from my 2024 RAV4 hybrid

#196

Post by addaon »

antonvs wrote: post #100
mchusma wrote: post #89

I get this desire and commend the author, but I just want self driving cars and so I think we are just stuck with this.

Why is a self-driving car so important to you? Is it really worth giving up your privacy, and advocating that others should give up theirs, just for some shortcoming in your own capabilities?

> just for some shortcoming in your own capabilities?

It's a shortcoming each of us will have, if we're so lucky as to live that long.

Re: Removing the modem and GPS from my 2024 RAV4 hybrid

#198

Post by rconti »

ezfe wrote: post #176
stuckindoors wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When reading the article I think he appears to be talking about car play/android auto connection not audio only connections. I think Bluetooth in AA and Carplay is used to configure a local network between the phone and the car to transmit the images to the cars screen. I would assume that that data capability can also be used for the car to communicate with the Internet.

It does produce a local Wi-Fi network but there's no evidence that it supports internet communication. That would be considered a hotspot, which not all carriers even support.

Plus it seems unlikely that the telematics module is even really related to the display screen stuff, let alone being configured to use alternate network connections to transmit data.

Re: Removing the modem and GPS from my 2024 RAV4 hybrid

#199

Post by KennyBlanken »

lucisferre wrote: post #108

I have the same car and want to do this, but not for the reasons the author noted but because the GPS unit in the car is broken when paired with Carplay and has the wrong compass heading causing navigation to be completely useless. I have reported this to Toyota multiple times with videos detailing the problem and they have denied the problem and ultimately when faced with the evidence simply refused to fix it. I've…

Stop "reporting this to them multiple times" and sue them.

This is exactly why the civil legal system exists.

I promise you a consumer rights attorney will be interested in going after Toyota if you have clear evidence of it.

Or you could take it to an independent mechanic. It's likely just a bad connection to the "sharkfin".

> I realize these problems exist with all cars today.

Nah. It really doesn't, not to the same degree. Consumer Reports has demonstrated this handily for many, many years.

Re: Removing the modem and GPS from my 2024 RAV4 hybrid

#200

Post by fghorow »

fc417fc802 wrote: post #157
dylan604 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's only so many rental companies. It might look like there's a lot, but they are all pretty much a sibling company to a larger parent.

I've got a great startup idea - airbnb but it's for renting out your car. Nothing could possibly go wrong!

Turo.
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