Depending on your definition of "internet connected," I'd disagree with your first point. Most new cars come equipped with the hardware for a data-enabled cellular connection and many have been for years. While it's not a feature you necessarily see or know about, it's there. Presumably, the ones that are used by a service like OnStar are constantly polling in the background to get status updates for the account the vehicle is associated with.
But yes, to my knowledge, most (all?) operate fine without a cell signal.
Of course they can, the car will check in at least once every few months, so you can go without internet connectivity for 30 days or so without problems.
Almost everyone will get within range of internet at least once every two months, so few Wil notice or care that the car requires constant contact with the mother ship.
> IIUC the leader, Waymo, does all the computation in the cloud, so you're hosed if the network goes down.
All the computation for driving happens on the onboard computer(s) and the maps are also onboard, so they can drive just fine without a network. But it is required for managing trips, remote assistance when necessary, etc.
The vehicle will most likely come to a safe stop on its own during an extended network outage because it can’t report the trip status anymore.
This is another reason why I think it's incredibly foolish to own a vehicle with an internet connection. Even if the vehicle doesn't support remote control like Tesla there may be a chain of bugs that could be used to do just that or cause other problems.
That's not even considering the major privacy issues that come with such vehicles.
Yes, otherwise it would be unusable by anyone living in a city, given that underground parking (esp multi-level one) tends to have no reception at all. Not even mentioning driving through countryside stretches on road trips.
The only things that won't work with no cell connection while you are in the car are things like spotify app in the car (but you can still use spotify through the car bluetooth connected to your phone, if you preloaded the songs on your phone) or being able to see live stats of the car in your phone app.
Not heard a single story of an internet connected car not having basic functionality work without internet.
reply