MY18 - what would you like to see?

Being realistic, what do people want or expect from the UK MY18?

I'm thinking Apple CarPlay throughout the range and switching from Wifi to mobile data as the easy to do, while my less likely things would be 32amp charging, slightly bigger battery and a all digital drivers console.

I'd like to see (Part 1):

• Carplay
• MMCS taken outside and shot
• Much bigger battery
• Better all-around cameras than the current blur-oh-vision cameras
• 7 Seater version
• Exhaust pipe routed in a better manner
• Use of the huge space under the rear bumper of the car
• Fully digital dash
• Better shift selection lever
• Remote 4G mobile app
• Door buttons that light up at night so you can see what they are
• Flappy paddles with correct logos
• Stalks that you can actually see the legend on rather than peer around the steering wheel
• Heated steering wheel that is either zoned with additional selectable elements
• 32Amp charging
• Leather seats that aren't attached to the car with flippin' zip fasteners
• Auto-steer
• Auto-park
• Selectable electric sound
• Memory drivers seat/mirrors
• Move console buttons to somewhere that you don't have to look down from the road to find the button
• Heated seat buttons that self-cancel when car turned off (same as with the steering wheel)
• Better standard sound system as the current one is *terrible* only good for listening to talk radio
• Alarm that doesn't go off when the remote-heating is running
• Doors/windows that auto-close when locking the car
• A boot that opens/closes at a faster speed
• Replace the bings and beeps with nicer chimes, give the ability to turn some of them off
• TPMS that doesn't go off when temperatures drop
• Charging flap at front/rear of car, a flap that isn't the size of a 747 wing
• Bigger fuel tank
• Sensible RRP, what they actually sell for is much less than the sticker price (based on current price I won't be renewing it as a company car in 2020 due to the tax changes)
• Decent paint

SolarBoy said:

I'd like to see (Part 1):

• Carplay
  
  ...
  
• Sensible RRP, what they actually sell for is much less than the sticker price (based on current price I won't be renewing it as a company car in 2020 due to the tax changes)
  .....

Click to expand...

Hard to argue with any of your wish list - but, as you point out at the end, all these additions have to be delivered along with a price reduction in order to dodge the tax changes!

Well, I'll argue with one, at least:

SolarBoy said:

[*]Remote 4G mobile app

Click to expand...

This is the last thing any car needs. Apart from 4G being pointless for this purpose (the messages are a few dozen bytes, so 20k or 20M speeds make little difference; and there are still substantial areas of the UK struggling to get 3G), the security worries about this sort of facility are bad enough with WiFi (which at least means any evil doer needs reasonably close proximity), without opening it up to every script kiddy in China.

See The Register on the topic.

ChrisMiller said:

Well, I'll argue with one, at least:

SolarBoy said:

[*]Remote 4G mobile app

Click to expand...

This is the last thing any car needs. Apart from 4G being pointless for this purpose (the messages are a few dozen bytes, so 20k or 20M speeds make little difference; and there are still substantial areas of the UK struggling to get 3G), the security worries about this sort of facility are bad enough with WiFi (which at least means any evil doer needs reasonably close proximity), without opening it up to every script kiddy in China.

See The Register on the topic.

Click to expand...

:mrgreen: :ugeek:

For remote control of the CAR .. 2G is more then enough.

But yes .. data should be moved from WiFi to mobile phone network (but this require to pay a fee to local network provider ... I believe will be nation specific and for sure monthly or yearly fee to be paid) .. while WiFi was "free"

What they should do on '18 version

Use 4 eMotor instead of 2 .. so no more differential .. (intermediate solution could be also 3 eMotor, since front differential is needed for Parallel drive) .. but parallel drive could be removed if this can reduce cost (as I believe)

Use a small turbo engine, instead of the outdated 2L aspirated

20kwh battery capable to handle 150kw power

150kw power and 200km/h top speed .. so full power does not need to start ICE

elm70 said:

...

:mrgreen: :ugeek:

For remote control of the CAR .. 2G is more then enough.

But yes .. data should be moved from WiFi to mobile phone network (but this require to pay a fee to local network provider ... I believe will be nation specific and for sure monthly or yearly fee to be paid) .. while WiFi was "free"

Click to expand...

Provided the application is strictly controlled, this may not be true - there are deals available from the mobile service providers that only have an upfront cost. Your EV charging point outside your house has a mobile data SIM in it and sends usage data back to servers, but you don't get charged for that. I don't know if it is still true, but Kindles used to ship with a SIM that only had an upfront cost - my son was remarking on that a couple of days ago when he downloaded a book on a Kindle that is several years old for which he has never paid any SIM charges.

maby said:

Provided the application is strictly controlled, this may not be true - there are deals available from the mobile service providers that only have an upfront cost. Your EV charging point outside your house has a mobile data SIM in it and sends usage data back to servers, but you don't get charged for that. I don't know if it is still true, but Kindles used to ship with a SIM that only had an upfront cost - my son was remarking on that a couple of days ago when he downloaded a book on a Kindle that is several years old for which he has never paid any SIM charges.

Click to expand...

I'm not aware of any mobile service with up font payment .. but I guess it may exist .. as I'm 100% sure it will not be possible in every country .. since each mobile operator is free to charge as he wish to charge .. as well network provider can refuse to allow connectiviy to SIM which has been issued by a different provider

There are different charging BOXs .. I really doubt mine has any SIM card inside

Anyhow .. data transfer over mobile phone network is not for free .. and it is country specific .. I think Mitsubishi opted for WiFi since it is "free" and no issue on establish agreements and payments with network providers around the world

elm70 said:

...

Anyhow .. data transfer over mobile phone network is not for free .. and it is country specific .. I think Mitsubishi opted for WiFi since it is "free" and no issue on establish agreements and payments with network providers around the world

Click to expand...

Wifi is a lot easier too - very few mobile phone contracts support incoming connections, so if you want to use 3g/4g for remote control, Mitsubishi would have to operate an intermediate server on the internet to function as the hub with each PHEV polling it periodically to see if the owner has requested any control function.

Just to clarify - it seems to be possible to implement remote control functions using mobile data (I think BMW, for example, operate this way) - but the BIG problem is that, if there's a security hole somewhere (and there's always a security hole somewhere), anyone who can connect to the Internet can control your vehicle. Using WiFi, there's an additional physical access barrier - you may need to worry about a burglar (or your neighbours), but not someone in China.

Possible, it is possible, no question about it

I know Volvo does it, both with cars and tracks but I guess most of the trucks are now equipped with "mobile network" remote control. I'm sure many other car producer are offering similar service

About security, I would not be much concerned ... WiFi on Mitsubishi has been proved to be hackable easily ... hack a server on the net it is not trivial, almost impossible if managed in a professional way

Anyhow ... as said ... control over mobile network is way more convenient then over WiFi .. it is also a perfect tracking device that may cause some issue to people that may want to steal the car.

elm70 said:

hack a server on the net it is not trivial

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If you really believe that, you haven't been paying attention for the last decade or two. I make a living assessing businesses' computer security. I can assure you that most of the Internet servers I audit are vulnerable, and a significant minority are trivially hackable (and it only takes one ...). If the Mitsubishi WiFi implementation had been done professionally, it would be much less easy to hack, but it wasn't. Read the article I linked to above to get an idea of how 'professional' another car maker's security is.

ChrisMiller said:

elm70 said:

hack a server on the net it is not trivial

Click to expand...

If you really believe that, you haven't been paying attention for the last decade or two. I make a living assessing businesses' computer security. I can assure you that most of the Internet servers I audit are vulnerable, and a significant minority are trivially hackable (and it only takes one ...). If the Mitsubishi WiFi implementation had been done professionally, it would be much less easy to hack, but it wasn't. Read the article I linked to above to get an idea of how 'professional' another car maker's security is.

Click to expand...

The fact that 3g/4g devices cannot accept incoming connections does make them less vulnerable to hacking. They have to contact a shared server and ask for instructions - there is a lot less scope for a hacker to exploit poor quality code.

maby said:

The fact that 3g/4g devices cannot accept incoming connections does make them less vulnerable to hacking. They have to contact a shared server and ask for instructions - there is a lot less scope for a hacker to exploit poor quality code.

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Without (obviously) any knowledge of the actual system, my concern would be about that shared server. The public analysis that has been done of these relatively new vehicular systems has revealed a very low level of understanding of security issues and doesn't fill me with confidence.

One thing I know for sure, anyone who thinks "this system is inherently secure, so we don't need to worry about other measures" is riding for a fall.

Everything can be hacked .. especially if there is an insider involved on it

But this does not mean it is unsecured.

All banks now have online access over internet .. does this means it is easy to take money from banks ?

Volvo and Tesla have already this system in place (I guess other brands have too) ... I never heard that any Tesla car got stolen due to the mobile network connectivity .. but I know that people that stolen a Volvo Track have not been able to disable the system (or not aware) .. and the stolen Track thanks to the mobile network support got back to his owner in no time.

Anyhow ... as remote control for the PHEV, moving from WiFi to mobile network (even if only 2G or 2.5G) it will be a big advantage .. actually for what does cost a WiFi module in these days .. there is no reason why to have both and let end user to decide which one to use .. actually a 2G data module device in these day cost less then 5USD ... only cost for mobile network support is to make agreement with network operators in the main relevant countries (50+ nations I would say)

Banks have had decades of dealing with online banking to develop their security systems; risk management is 'baked in' to all their activities; and they're legally required to compensate their customers if they lose money from hacking. Despite this, banking systems are regularly hacked. Car manufacturers OTOH are new to this game; security is well down their list of priorities (if they think about it at all); and if your car is stolen, it's very difficult to sue the manufacturer for not making it sufficiently secure.

In addition to the things above, some other ones I can think of quickly:

- Headlight beam activation as FORWARD not BACKWARD flick, leaving BACKWARD flick for flashing lights only.
- Auto-sensing rear wiper
- Ability to disable ICE entirely regardless of exterior temperature unless the drive battery is below normal driving charges.
- Side lights in the boot area so I don't have to flick back the cover to see what's there in the dark.
- A "traffic jam" setting that you can flick when your main drive battery is drained allowing you to use another 10% of charge while you're fiddling around in very slow traffic and don't want ICE to engage.
- A self-holding bonnet meaning I don't have to mess around with the ridiculously flimsy metal pole to hold the bonnet up when I'm filling the washer fluid.

Panoramic roof please.

CraigN said:

- Ability to disable ICE entirely regardless of exterior temperature unless the drive battery is below normal driving charges.

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This should be already on '17 model

My wish list would be: -

Increase battery capacity by 50%
Minimum fuel tank size of 80litres
Move heated seat switches to dash and have them push type rather than rocker and auto off when the car is turned off
Illuminate all door switches properly
All windows to be one shot up and down
Proper gas strut bonnet supports
Decent radio reception
Move the luggage area cover up to glass level
Stronger paint
Power outlet for rear seat passengers
Face level fresh air vents for rear seats
Mains power socket in the cabin

Finally, and I don't care what protocol it uses, the ability to access the app functions from my phone without screwing up my phone, but allowing me to have a calendar for heating or cooling as well as 'work now'. Also, fewer steps in the voice activated dialling and showing the name of incoming calls if the caller is saved on my phone