Autocar UK – 14 August 2019

18 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 14 AUGUST 2019

A

year has passed since

BMW released what it

called OS7 – the seventh

iteration of its iDrive

infotainment system – but the

first customers are now being

asked to hand over money

in order for some services

to continue. Owners are now

seeing the message: “Your

free trial of Apple CarPlay is up.

Would you like to renew? Please

pay £85 for another year.”

We’re used to automakers

bundling in free infotainment

features such as CarPlay and

Android Auto, both of which

migrate functions from your

phone to the car’s multimedia

system, but manufacturers are

now starting to ask customers

to pay for the services.

It’s the start of a revolution

called ‘features over the

air’, which offers the ability

to continually upgrade cars

remotely with both useful and

frivolous software functions.

CarPlay is not free. Apple

charges car makers £45 to £

per car to use it. Then it has to

be integrated into the screen,

which incurs further costs, all

of which are factored into the

list or lease price.

BMW owners now have

to choose whether or not to

pay for it to continue being a

feature of their car, alongside

add-ons such as a digital ‘key’

for up to five phones.

Mercedes-Benz is also

charging customers for its

new MBUX operating system

via the Mercedes Me Store,

where CarPlay or Android Auto

can be downloaded for a £

one-off payment.

Audi, meanwhile, has kicked

off its over-the-air feature

range with the electric E-tron

SUV. Launch models are fully

loaded, but on future, cheaper

versions it will be possible to

upgrade after the factory build,

even swapping the LED lights to

fancier matrix ones.

The pioneer for all this is

Tesla, which has long upgraded

software and added features

via wi-fi. The latest addition

is the ability to watch Netflix

programmes on the dashboard

screen while charging.

“CarPlay, Android Auto and

infotainment upgrades are just

the beginning,” said Krishna

Jayaraman, program manager

for connectivity and telematics

at consultants Frost & Sullivan.

In a recent analyst report

Jaguar Land Rover highlighted

that three electronic ‘modules’

in its newest cars were

updatable over the air, with

the feature mainly used to

‘Free’ CarPlay days are ending

Click to subscribe:

software charges are

set to become the norm

Era of free-to-use in-car software is coming to a close as paid-for downloads roll out

OVER THE AIR: SUBSCRIPTION EXAMPLES

BMW (2019 cars with

iDrive7 via Connected Drive)

„ Apple CarPlay (£85/year)

„ Digital key for up to five

phones (£69/year)

„ Real-time traffic

information for the sat-nav

(£49/year)

„ On-Street Parking

Information (£29/year)

Mercedes (2019 cars with

MBUX via Mercedes Me)

„ CarPlay and Android Auto

(£267 one-off payment)

„ Remote Parking Assist

(£49/year)

„ Digital key (£29/year)

„ In-Car office (£19/year)

„ Live Traffic Information with

car-to-car communication

(£49/year)

Tesla (all models)

„ ‘Premium connectivity’

($100/year in US). Adds

satellite-view maps with live

traffic visualisation, in-car

streaming, internet browser,

updates via 4G (instead of

just wi-fi)

„ ‘Full self-driving computer’

(£5800)

update infotainment software.

In the medium term that figure

is set to rise to 14 modules,

with “all” modules eventually

being upgradable over the air.

In future customers could, for

example, download circuit-

specific suspension settings

the night before a track day.

“Today the role of the car

maker is changing,” Jayaraman

said. “It’s in the business of

selling an experience rather

than the car itself.”

Jayaraman believes

subscriptions will come into

their own when paying for

really expensive technology,

such as autonomous driving

functions. “CarPlay could

cost a company £90, but a

self-driving feature could cost

thousands,” he said. “How

do you break it down so the

customer can afford it?” One

way is via a one-off payment

for, say, a long motorway trip.

This new technology does,

of course, present a security

risk. Volkswagen, for example,

reportedly delayed sales of

the next Golf because of issues

with the over-the-air capability

of its next-generation software

for the infotainment system.

The overall concept, though,

is here to stay. If you don’t like

the idea of it or can’t or don’t

wa nt to p ay, th e n s i m p l y d o n’ t

subscribe. But at least now you

can change your mind.

NICK GIBBS