Automotive data collection is a dirty business. Every day, thousands of people drive new cars off the lot, blissfully unaware that they’ve just forked over a grand sum to be the product in the eyes of automakers. There’s money in selling user data, and while this unscrupulous trend has been going on for years, Texas is fighting back, launching a lawsuit against GM. This could get interesting.
Oh, but the suit against GM is far from the only wild thing going on in the automotive news cycle this morning. Waymo cars are reportedly getting honky. No, that doesn’t sound right, even if it is technically accurate. Waymo autonomous cars are being unbelievably annoying, keeping people up at night by being acoustically inconsiderate machines.
In addition, DC fast charging still sucks but seems to be improving, and Chinese automaker BYD seems to be taking further steps towards launching in Canada, meaning that in time, the weirdest thing about going to Canada might not be seeing someone in a 10-gallon hat hop out of a Ram 1500 speaking fluent French and realizing that situation is perfectly normal. All of this in today’s edition of The Morning Dump.
Don’t Mess With Texas
You know how automotive data privacy is a hot topic these days? It all seems to be coming home to roost. Reuters reports that the state of Texas is suing General Motors for allegedly violating drivers’ privacy as a result of a probe into data harvesting. See, this all traces back to GM collecting driver data and selling it to LexisNexis, which then sold information on late-night trips, hard braking instances, hard acceleration, and high speeds to insurance companies so they could allegedly jack up drivers’ premiums. While GM stopped sharing data with LexisNexis earlier this year, the true fallout of that is yet to be seen. Not only is this creepy as hell, there’s a strong argument that drivers weren’t able to properly consent to this use of their data.
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[Texas Attorney General Ken] Paxton said GM’s practice was for dealers to subject unwitting consumers who had just completed the stressful buying and leasing process into believing that enrolling in its OnStar diagnostic products, which collected the data, was mandatory.
“Companies are using invasive technology to violate the rights of our citizens in unthinkable ways,” Paxton said in a statement. “Our investigation revealed that General Motors has engaged in egregious business practices that violated Texans’ privacy and broke the law. We will hold them accountable.”
The suit is filed in a Montgomery County state court, and Reuters reports that Texas seeks “the destruction of improperly collected data, compensation for drivers, civil fines and other remedies for violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.” It isn’t the first suit GM has been hit with over user data, but it’s the first one filed by a government entity. This sort of legal action feels like it’s been inevitable for years, because the world of automotive data has been the wild west for far too long. Oh, and since GM isn’t the only automaker alleged to have partaken in similar practices, don’t be surprised if similar suits start cropping up all over the place. It feels like a reckoning has started, and it may not end well for automakers.
Waymo Autonomous Vehicles Are Keeping People Awake At Night
The great autonomous robotaxi experiment generally doesn’t seem to be going well, and now Waymo has found a whole new way to piss off neighborhoods. See, Automotive News reports that when these Waymo vehicles come home to roost in a rented San Francisco parking lot, they communicate the exact same way frustrated human drivers do when faced with parking wars — incessant honking. These cars reportedly park up for the night at around 4:00 a.m., which means those honks are keeping people awake.
“There’s no one for me to go down there and have a conversation with, because they’re a robotaxi,” Randol White, 57,told the Los Angeles Times. “That’s the most frustrating thing, you’re just yelling into the void.”
Some people may have a slightly better sense of humor around the whole situation, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t upset. Software engineer Sophia Tung is using the unfortunate position of overlooking the parking lot to set up a livestream called “LoFi Waymo Hip Hop Radio: Self Driving Taxi Depot Shenanigans To Relax/Study To.” It’s an entertaining way of approaching the disturbance, although Tung also sounds fed up with the honking.
“It’s f*cking 4 a.m.,” she says at the end of one video, sounding exhausted. “Help.”
Help indeed, because could you imagine having to live with this? Here’s a great rule: Don’t sh*t where you eat. Waymo needs to fix this fast, because if its cars have been vandalized before, who’s to say fed up residents won’t do it again?
DC Fast Charging Is Reportedly Getting Better Thanks To Supercharger Access
The worst part of owning a non-Tesla EV has historically been charging it outside of home or work. From various networks requiring a litany of apps to broken DC fast chargers failing to live up to expectations, it’s been rough, but it seems to be getting slightly better. The latest J.D. Power charging satisfaction survey is up, and while DC fast charging still earns a disappointing grade, satisfaction is up 10 points year-over-year, satisfaction with speed is up 34 points over 2023, and the majority of non-Tesla EV owners report enjoying the Supercharger experience. Here’s what J.D. Power’s EV experience director Brent Gruber said in a statement:
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“Overall, both Tesla and non-Tesla owners find charging their vehicles at Tesla Supercharger facilities is most satisfying,” Gruber said. “Non-Tesla owners—like those with EVs from Ford or Rivian who now have access to the Supercharger network—appreciate the ability to charge at the broad network of Tesla chargers that was previously unavailable to them. Despite the recent influx of non-Tesla vehicles into the Supercharger facilities—which has caused some grumbling—Tesla owners still appreciate the ease of charging and ease of payment that the network offers. However, since the beginning of the year, J.D. Power has seen a decline in satisfaction with the availability of Superchargers among Tesla owners.”
While it’s natural for a few Tesla owners to be peeved that their little charging club isn’t as exclusive as it once was, the numbers suggest only a slight downtick in satisfaction for Tesla owners (down two points year-over-year), but satisfaction scores for non-Tesla owners using Superchargers stand 46 points higher than those of general DC fast chargers as a whole. Yeah, that seems like a worthwhile tradeoff.
However, it’s not all good news. Charger reliability only improved one percentage point over 2023, with a full 19 percent of EV owners surveyed saying they “visited a charger but were not able to charge their vehicle,” with the majority of these instances citing broken equipment. Clearly, we have a long way to go to actually make charging away from home reliable for EV owners.
BYD Is Getting Serious About Canada
Remember how, a few weeks ago, we shared that Reuters found a regulatory document in which Chinese automaker BYD registered to lobby the Canadian government? Well, it seems like things might be progressing on the potential for Chinese EV sales in Canada. As Automotive News Canada reports, BYD is attempting to procure trademarks in Canada for models like the Atto 3 crossover, the Dolphin hatchback, and the dirt-cheap Seagull subcompact.
BYD recently applied to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for Canadian trademarks for all three of these models, along with several others, including the BYD Shark, a mid-sized plug-in hybrid pickup the companyplans to build in Mexico.
However, don’t expect smooth sailing for BYD. The Canadian federal government recently concluded a consultation period for Chinese EV tariffs much like those in place in Europe and America. Is there a chance some tariffs could be put in place? Don’t rule it out, as CTV News reports that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office has commented on the issue.
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“The Deputy Prime Minister has been clear that action is necessary – such as a surtax under Section 53 of the Customs Tariff – to counter China’s intentional, state-directed policy of overcapacity,” said Freeland’s deputy communications director Katherine Cuplinskas.
“As the true defender of Canadian workers and industries, including of the auto manufacturing, steel, and aluminum sectors, our government will have more to say soon”
While I wouldn’t expect a 100 percent tariff like the one America has in place, it’s possible that any new BYDs sold in Canada might not be as cheap as expected. Still, if the brand does end up launching in Canada, we’ll be here covering both the market launch and the products. If Canada’s next, it’s only a matter of time before America’s in the crosshairs, right?
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
If you want proof that trend cycles in the postmodern era are just ever-collapsing trend cycles, you’re witnessing the butt-rock redemption arc right now. The kids know what they want, and they want Nickelback and Creed for some reason. Perhaps some of it has to do with genuine nostalgia, as the earliest members of Gen Z actually grew up with post-grunge on in the background, scoring family road trips and excursions to chain eateries. Perhaps it’s tinged with irony, as blue-collar cosplay has made it past Clear Channel pop-country radio and into every art school from New York to Los Angeles. However, maybe it’s just about feeling good in an age where record labels seem reluctant to invest in new artists. That’s right, this morning I’m listening to Creed’s unforgettable Dallas Cowboys halftime show featuring a flying dude and an almost unfathomably smooth transition from “Higher” to “My Sacrifice.” If you ever hear a kid with an “eat the rich” bumper sticker talk about how America used to be a proper country, this is exactly what they’re referring to.
The Big Question
If you own a modern car that wants to harvest your data, have you opted out? How easy or unbelievably difficult has that process been?
(Photo credits: GM, Tesla, BYD)
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