https://insideevs.com/news/785581/gm-subscription-software-super-cruise/
How General Motors Is Turning Software And Subscriptions Into A Money Machine
Here’s how much money GM is projecting from its Super Cruise hands-free highway driving system.
Both are betting recurring revenue subscription model is better than one time sale.
I’m sure that’s true. I bet a lot of people balked at adding $8,000 to the purchase price, but adding $99 for a few months to try it out makes it an easy decision. Same reason streaming services offer a free trial, so you see how valuable it is and then you’re reluctant to disengage.
I’m surprised this wasn’t done before.
And apparently GM finally following Tesla in regard to ease of charging.
“GM is streamlining public charging because convenient access is at the heart of a great EV ownership experience. Now, you can find, charge, and pay at more than 5,000 Electrify America fast-charging stations, including Hyper-Fast 350-kW chargers, right from the myChevrolet, myGMC, or myCadillac app already on your phone,” the company wrote yesterday.
Should this have been done 5 to 10 years ago? Yes. Is it great that GM is doing it now? Yes.
GM EV drivers can now access 250,000 public charging stations across the United States and Canada. This new integration now makes it an easier, more seamless process.
I am old enough to remember when the gas companies tried to instill brand loyalty to their product: the Esso lion, Sunoco’s 6 difference grades, “You can trust your car to the man who wears a star”, etc. Pretty quickly people realized that gas is gas, detergent additives or not, and that it didn’t really matter where you got it, so they came up with other “loyalty” programs: S&H Green Stamps, Blue Stamps, the dinnerware dish-of-the-week and so on. Eventually they gave up and just sold gas at the cheapest price they could.
[Slightly resurrected now in the form of grocery store gas points used for discount price, but only at the ‘generic gas’ pump at the store itself.]
I expect EV charging will go the same way: lots of new money trying to capitalize on EV charging; branding via app; eventually they will realize that people don’t care, it’s whatever’s convenient (and price, of course) and that it will be interoperable between (most) brands. How that comes to fruition will be interesting; I have no less than a half-dozen apps on my phone so I can charge on the road, which is a joke since I do 99% of my charging in my garage.
That is the most frustrating part of charging on the road, the apps! Just let me swipe a credit card, just like I do for gas!