This post is not about electric vehicle hesitations like range anxiety and more complicated trip planning. No, this post is just me complaining about the digital experiences that come with owning a modern vehicle, but especially with an EV. Yes, this is yet another edition of "Bad Technology that Chuck Doesn't Like".
Let's take charging. At the apartment that I'm officially moved out of as of today, there was a convenient Blink Charging station within the complex which charges a reasonable 21 cents per kWh. There's four charging stations and very rarely are all in use. In order to use this charging station (and basically every station I've come across thus far) it requires that I download and install an app to my phone with no option to pay by card. For whatever reason, this app is entirely dependent on Google Play Services to operate, and because I'm a weird person that likes to actually own my devices, I run LineageOS on my smartphone. When I first got the car, I initially I had no Google Play Services, but didn't want to go through the trouble of having to start the charge on another smartphone, so I caved and sideloaded the Gapps addon. All was good for several months until the app stopped working. I jumped through a several of loopholes, like rooting my device and installing several Magisk modules to spoof Play Integrity Check, and while that worked for a while, eventually it stopped working. From what I understand, it is now impossible to pass the Play Integrity check with a 3rd party mobile OS, and therefore it is not possible to use Blink Charging.
Then there's Nissan's E&V Services app, which is designed to be a companion app to the Nissan Leaf. It can be used to remotely lock and unlock doors, turn on climate control, plan a route that includes charging stations, initiate charging, and check what the current charge is at. Holy shit, what an awful app for a multi-billion dollar global company. The "route planner" is broken and has been broken since I bought the car in 2024. To have the privilege of remotely turning on climate control or unlocking your car, it costs a whopping $25 per month. The only reason I ever used this app is because it is handy to see what remaining charge without having to physically visit my vehicle, but I've since uninstalled it due to how buggy it is.
Nissan's default infotainment leaves a lot to be desired. Not only is it an incredibly clunky and slow interface despite being a few years old, but there's an entire home panel dedicated to advertising XM Radio services with no ability to disable it. It is there forever! The infotainment system does support Android Auto and Apple Play, but again I'm a weird guy that elects not to use Google Play Services. That said, I'm not really a fan of how Google is now inserting ads into Android Auto's navigation.
Ultimately, my frustrations with EV ownership has little to do with the vehicle itself and entirely to do with the software ecosystem wrapped around it. Of course, most of these issues can be found in all modern cars. Auto companies are forcing consumers to use invasive and overall obnoxious software, locked down devices, subscriptions fees, and shoving advertisements down their throats. The Nissan Leaf itself is a fantastic car and I'm very much happy with it, but the surrounding digital infrastructure is a reminder that modern technology and automotive companies are more interested in controlling and monetizing the end user, rather than serving them. I will now end this rant.
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