Built-in obsolescence?

Considering the 2g antennas are still working in many areas and there are no 5g carriers right now, i don't think we should plan or worry about that.

 

I can't recall Honda abandoning customers - so I have no reason to expect that of them.

 

Not sure about manufacturer support, but in general technological obsolescence is potentially a big deal with any device, including cars. To consider future change possibilities, just look backwards. For example, it was just over 10 years ago the iPhone was first available. I hope car makers will continue to update and support current firmware and hardware even as new technology replaces it, but it will add a lot to their costs.

 

We all bought a TEV and since this is a transitional vehicle and low production it will become obsolete faster than the average vehicle. The upside is that it is a three in one vehicle sharing body parts with a hydrogen and all electric version. I still wonder what Honda will do with all those lease returns. Are they going to strip them for research and refurbish the body parts for sale? I can’t imagine they will resell them. It would be a cheap way to keep aluminum body parts in stock for vehicle they are writing off with tax credits.

 

The whole consumer environment is changing rapidly that I don't think we can keep going back to the way how things were in the past 20 30 years.

If you want to talk about build in obsolescence I would say the android auto would probably obsolete even sooner than the 3g connection.
And the battery tech? If there is a breakthrough in the next couple years then we might not have a battery that we can replace on our car when it comes to it.

Hell even the ICE can be obsolete once we figure out how to charge quick enough or enough people adapt the change to drive a battery car that cause a large percentage of the gas station to shut down....

Life is short...go worry about something else

 

The sad news is that all our wonderful technology of the moment will eventually, some day become a left behind, unsupported legacy device.
The happy news is that this happens because technology advances to become ever faster, cheaper, more reliable, more compact, and with more features and abilities than we can easily imagine.
So our PHEV Claritys being so high tech and presently a niche vehicle with small sales volume is a two edged sword. We get a car that is perfect for the present state of affairs of few public chargers and battery’s that are expensive and can’t fast charge.
On the other hand, the small number on the road will make it dicey that third parties will see enough market potential to support it with things like compatible battery packs as they inevitably become cheaper, lighter, and able to hold more charge. But certainly we will be able to get Honda batteries for the next 10 to 15 years. (5 yr sales +10 yr Cali warranty).
I think the only thing we can actually loose is the Honda Link. It’s either a 3 or 4G cellular connection and one day when the roll out to 5G is complete and has matured they will become legacy devices not because of anything Honda does but because there will one day be no way for the TCU to communicate.
At that point will Honda see any profit in the R&D/Sales of an add on 5G fix? Will third parties see an opportunity? No way to tell.
I keep cars for a long time and with the Clarity, I don’t worry about being able to replace the battery one day, but I do think I will possibly loose my Hond Link one day in the future if the FCC allows the discontinuation of 3 and 4G communication. The frequency band, like real estate, is finite and limited and the FCC is always striving to make it more efficient.
Of course for those of you who trade regularly, you won’t have a problem with technology passing you by.

PS: How is your Iomega Zip Drive stock doing these days? And I have a 10 pack of 5 1/4” floppy disks for sale. Any takers?

 

My 2015 Nissan Leaf had exactly this problem. Their telematics used 2g wireless internet, which doesn't exist anymore. Fortunately they extended an olive branch and offered a 3g upgrade.

However, there was a bug in the software that would sometimes cause the cellular connection to not shut down properly and drain the 12V battery, resulting in a dead car in the morning.

It took close to a year to get fixed, but just last month I had a firmware update installed that will hopefully resolve the problem completely.

So, yeah, connectivity is going to be a problem in another decade!

 

I wonder if we can get around that by just leaving a MIFI unit in the car and set the car's wifi to point to it.

 

I think the car needs to be on for wifi to turn on.... So no I don't think that will work

 

Cars are not really good investments to begin with. Not intending to keep this car forever, either. As soon as something better comes along - and it will in 4-6 years - this one's paid for and it'll be on to the next cool car. What I don't like is buying something new that already uses obsolete technology or does not incorporate the full spectrum of available technology. In a few places, Clarity does fall short on this account. The side and rear cameras were already obsolete when they were installed since they really don't connect in any meaningful way to the auto-driving or Honda Sense system.

Even Tesla, with its much ballyhooed OTA software improvements can't make a 2015 Model S behave the same as a 2017 Model S. There will always be some trade-offs right at the technological edge.

 

My current MIFI will last about 8 hours on its internal battery. For more than that, there are intermediary batteries can be used. These are usually used to keep dash cams powered after turning off car. Anyway, it's a hassle but if the car becomes far less useful in 10 or so years due to loss of cellular connectivity then it's at least a workaround.

 

Never had any stock in Iomega, but still have a Zip drive and I actually got out my "colorful collection" of zip disks a few months ago just to see what was on them. Back then USB had just come into vogue. I remember having both SCSI and Serial connectors for the drive - so I could connect to Mac and PC that didn't yet have USB. The drive and the disks still work fine. Lotta junk on those drives, but most of it was just backups anyway. I was somewhat surprised it all still worked. Not sure how well the process will work once everything goes USB 2, though. I guess a good dongle collection will always be necessary … LOL

 

Oh I meant the wifi module on the head unit.... Not your mifi.

 

Well sir, I’ll see your SCSI and raise you a CP/M to see whose the real technology geezer is here.
My first computer was the world’s first portable computer. It was a Kaypro that weighed in at about 32 pounds with a metal case but it has a handle so it’s the great grandfather of the laptop. Had two 8” floppy drives, a green 9” phosphor screen (ASCI only), and a 300 baud modem that was so slow you could almost watch the individual characters appear on the screen. It ran the CP/M system. That was back in the early 80s and I thought that new upstart Microsoft MS-DOS would never catch on. Double LOL!

 

Can confirm it will still work as long as you have a serial to USB adapter....

 

Honda could just swap out the cellular telemetry unit.
I think it's in the trunk.
Worst case, customer's might have to pay $100 for the part.
If a Honda component became obsolete and non-functional during the life of the car, I would bet Honda would subsidize it.

 

Oh, ah. Yeah, I didn't think that that side would turn off. The internal cellular radio obviously doesn't, but this is two different things.

Oh well, as my wife tells me all the time, "you're not as clever as you think you are."

 

Ok, since we're on a tangent, my first computer decision, in 1984 was between the Kaypro or a Mac. Since I got the Mac, I recognize all your SCSI references...

 

Don't forget the head unit running Android 4.2.2. Such an old version even includes "bluejacking" vulnerabilities, so hopefully it isn't connected to any of the actual control systems of the vehicle.