[Louisdeg]

I ran into this Wired article about owners who are paying to have the software in their vehicles hacked to enable hardware built into the vehicle that requires a fee or subscription to the manufacturer to enable.

BMW’s Heated-Seats-as-a-Service Model Has Drivers Seeking Hacks

Connected car companies now charge owners to use physical hardware they already bought—but some are pushing back.

www.wired.com

Which brings up at least the question of: does the explore pac really not have adjustable lumbar support in the passenger seat? among others.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Which brings up at least the question of: does the explore pac really not have adjustable lumbar support in the passenger seat? among others.

No one has had their Explore reservation delivered, so the most-acurate answer is "no one knows, yet".d. However, I think we can make a reasonably-confident, educated guess that the Explore seats are likely to NOT have the physical hardware. The upholstery between Adventure and Explore is different, and the seats are delivered to Rivian as a pre-assembled assembly from the vendor (Hyundai Transys); this means that they aren't getting a single seat SKU and just changing the cover. In addition to the lumbar mechanism, itself, the switch gear involves physical controls on the seat, which will most likely be absent, as well. The Explore package also lacks ventilated seats, and the (patented) design employed includes a unique air channel molded into the seat foam. I would expect the non-ventilated Explore seats probably use a unique seat foam SKU, so it's not a stretch to think the provision for lumbar may not even be present in the Explore seat.

 

[EVRider]

Fascinating article. Really makes you think about where "ownership" of things is going. Is an attack on "right to repair" next? Are the car companies going to monitor my driving and charge me more if I drive in certain areas? Or charge me less if I go to Walmart instead of Costco?