[fireboy92k]

Well, don't forget that Volvo/Polestar are now Chinese-owned. The cars may be designed in Sweden, but all the profits go straight to Geely. Thanks to Ford no doubt, who ran it, along with Jaguar and Range Rover (now owned by Indian company Tata) into the ground.

GM was not better.... I still miss our Saab.

 

[fireboy92k]

The thing that gives me pause about that post is that in all the reviews I've seen AND what's currently on the Enyaq site (picture below) is that the software for it has never been the same as the ID. The same for the Audi Q4. Each of them may use some of the same baseline modules, etc. since things like the battery pack, etc. are the same. But the infotainment system in all of them is a completely brand specific implementation AFAIK. It's a stength for them to use the same baseline, but there is also a lot of work, etc. in the brand customizations on top of it.

That's also not to say that it's completely wrong, as something like preheating would presumably be one of those shared functions in the battery subsystem. But it would be a change to ALL MEB based cars in that case to make it happen and not brand specific. Though it would then a have to be implemented by each brand in their respective stack.

Enyaq:

Audi Q4:

 

[fireboy92k]

Nobody else in the developing world wants a car that gets 18MPG and that they can't park anywhere. As the US manufacturers have satisfied the demand for folks who want and can afford those types of cars, we in the US sadly sell very little that many other countries would probably want. I don't think they will go out of business, but as @Nai3t notes, sales are WAY down.

 

[fireboy92k]

I suspect the US will eventually allow cars built in China to possibly be sold in the US, just like we did cars from Japan in the 80's. The issues will be much like they were then and at least the perceived notion of trying to create a 'level playing' field. The easiest way to do that will probably be to make sure the existing import duties/tariffs/etc. that apply to non-US-built cars apply to those coming from China as well. And they will of course have to meet our unique DOT safety standards as well.

Politics aside, many of these large, foreign car manufacturers have invested heavily in the US over the last 40 years to compete in our market while employing tons of American labor. Honda's are built in Ohio, Toyota's are built across several southern states and they make large pickups pretty much only for the North American market, BMW makes much of their global SUV output in South Carolina, and Volvo built a large manufacturing plant in South Carolina in the last decade. Not to mention our VW's that are mostly built in Tennessee. It's a global market

 

[fireboy92k]

Yes, anyhow, back to the topic at hand. The ID.4 and the Skoda do appear to use the exact same configuration, compute modules, etc. The Audi Q4 however, even though it's based on MEB, I'm pretty sure their software stack is very, very different. They use the Audi MMI stack.

 

[fireboy92k]

you know, if you could slam in, it's not bad.... it's that bottom that kills it. LOL

No Lada.
The Avtotor💪

 

[fireboy92k]

Lines up exactly with what I suspected in one of these threads. They are rolling updates to get all the cars on the same baseline. Legacy manufacturing catching up with the poorly defined software processes they had for delivery. At the rate they are going I suspect we won’t see 3.7 in the US until well into the later part of this calendar year.

 

[fireboy92k]

Yeah remember you mentioned that as well. I suspect that the preheating requires a LOT of module coordination that they just don’t have the skill to pull off at the moment.

 

[fireboy92k]

Depends on how they implement it. If it’s location based to charger like Tesla then it also requires updates and changes to ICAS3 (infotainment) to do the math. And while everything is controlled by ICAS1, since we don’t know the exact software modularization it’s hard to tell from the outside how many software modules plus all the controllers might have to be updated to support it.

If it’s just a switch you turn on then not as much work from ICAS3. But all the ICAS1 questions are still open.

I have no idea honestly without some understanding of that how hard it is to implement.

I will be surprised if 3.7 truly has nothing in it. But 3.0 to 3.1 to 3.2 were not big jumps really. Mostly refinements. Why they’ve abandoned 3.4 to now 3.7 is also something we are unlikely to ever find out.

 

[fireboy92k]

Where is @VW TECHNICIAN when you need him? LOL

 

[fireboy92k]

This is what keeps me from buying a Polestar. The nearest service center/dealer is in Tampa. They say they will come and get the car, but I don't think they will bring me a loaner in the process. They've curated some of their online content, so it's not as descriptive as it used to be about service.

For us, the nearest Volvo dealer is 90 miles away, so going in for service becomes a real pain in the neck. Heck, VW is 40 miles away, and that's enough of a nuisance. We have a neighbor who drives Lexus, and they have a similar 90 mile trip for service. But they get a service loaner for the day and head off to Costco, so they kill 2 birds with one stone.

One thing you get with some of the more expensive brands of car is that they will valet your car from home so you don't need to make the trip yourself. Where I am, VW will valet the car, but there is a bit of an upcharge for it. During pandemic, they would valet for free, but that didn't last (and I didn't really expect it to).

 

[fireboy92k]

Sadly, the Volvo is also too small for what we need in a primary car. The ID.4 works, though to be honest the Audi Q5 we had before it had more trunk space.