What kind of tech do you expect enabled in the car or interface?

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Honestly, some of these responses scare me. I’m concerned that too much fancy tech could pivot the new Scout towards becoming a luxury vehicle. I personally don’t want to see this vehicle move in that direction.

Concerning driver assistance features: I expect a 2026 vehicle to have adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning. All easily disabled via a dedicated physical button.

I don’t expect autonomous driving!

Concerning Infotainment tech: I expect an interface for a smartphone and, well… that’s about it. I would like to see plug-n-play accessories which will integrate into the infotainment system so that digital switches can be configured (for example; I toss a refrigerator into the frunk. I can then turn it on/off digitally via the infotainment system. This allows the car to “know” of the additional energy load so that it can ensure the fridge is OFF when I leave the vehicle or disable it if the battery is getting low). WOW, I just thought of 6 other use cases for a system like this. So, think of it like an open standards interconnect backbone. The boating world has something called “NMEA 2000” for reference.

I don’t expect voice assistance, a factory navigation app (everyone uses their cellphone anyway), color changing LED lights, an app store, a refrigerator, lol.

Concerning the vehicle hardware: I expect heated seats (cooled would be nice also), heated wipers, heated mirrors (yes, I live in the north), power seats with 3-person memory, tilt/telescoping steering wheel, removable rear seat, trailer hitch, remote start, backup camera, power locks, power windows, tire pressure monitoring system, headrests that aren’t leaning forward too much, front/rear dash cams.

I don’t expect to unlock my car with my phone or need a monthly subscription to something.
Tilt/telescoping wheel. You are the first to mention this. Amazing none of us had covered that. With 3-way memory which a lot of us have requested would be nice if Tilt/tele wheel would be electronic so it would adjust with the other memory items
 
Ok so I’m going to go the other direction. I believe with EV, hybrid, or ICEs electronics (computers, wiring harnesses,…) are going to be the death of most modern vehicles way before more mechanical failures like: engine, transmission, gears, EV motor, batteries, ….

So less is more, things that need to be electronic like seat heaters and stereo controls, keep it that way but door handles, doors, hatches, mirrors, … can be mechanical. And screens, it doesn’t need a ton, 1-2 is plenty. Also make computers, screens, and electronics easily replaceable.
 
Honestly, some of these responses scare me. I’m concerned that too much fancy tech could pivot the new Scout towards becoming a luxury vehicle. I personally don’t want to see this vehicle move in that direction.

Concerning driver assistance features: I expect a 2026 vehicle to have adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning. All easily disabled via a dedicated physical button.

I don’t expect autonomous driving!

Concerning Infotainment tech: I expect an interface for a smartphone and, well… that’s about it. I would like to see plug-n-play accessories which will integrate into the infotainment system so that digital switches can be configured (for example; I toss a refrigerator into the frunk. I can then turn it on/off digitally via the infotainment system. This allows the car to “know” of the additional energy load so that it can ensure the fridge is OFF when I leave the vehicle or disable it if the battery is getting low). WOW, I just thought of 6 other use cases for a system like this. So, think of it like an open standards interconnect backbone. The boating world has something called “NMEA 2000” for reference.

I don’t expect voice assistance, a factory navigation app (everyone uses their cellphone anyway), color changing LED lights, an app store, a refrigerator, lol.

Concerning the vehicle hardware: I expect heated seats (cooled would be nice also), heated wipers, heated mirrors (yes, I live in the north), power seats with 3-person memory, tilt/telescoping steering wheel, removable rear seat, trailer hitch, remote start, backup camera, power locks, power windows, tire pressure monitoring system, headrests that aren’t leaning forward too much, front/rear dash cams.

I don’t expect to unlock my car with my phone or need a monthly subscription to something.
I think there is a space for both. The travelall could be luxury.
 
No autonomous driving please; it’s not a taxi. Rivian’s removable speaker idea was pretty ingenuous imho. Charging ports on both ends of vehicle if that’s possible ( I hate having to pull back out of the driveway then back the car in because I forgot I needed to charge the Tesla). 110v outlets (more than just one please!). Bright lights to view back of truck at night (during nighttime camping/loading/tailgating for example). Sentry type security is good, but no need for farts or anything dumb like that. Don’t need a proprietary nav system (read Tesla) unless you plan to sell the data; Apple or Android CarPlay works fine imho. Adjustable suspension.
 
Ok Scouts,

Our interface designers and engineers are looking for some more feedback from all of you and this time it is on:

What kind of tech do you expect enabled in the car or interface?



Thanks in advance for your opinions!

- Jamie
The Rivian R1T is loaded with great features. I would suggest you mimic their software package but don't forget to put a "bumper" on the back, the R1T does not have.
 
I love a lot of the ideas here. I’m a walking EMP at times, I would love a button for those days that puts it all back to the basics. Oh and one button to darken everything to prevent night blindness.
 
A lot of good ideas here.

An important one I haven't seen is heated headlight lenses...LEDs don't melt snow & ice, causing visibility issues.
 
A lot of good ideas here.

An important one I haven't seen is heated headlight lenses...LEDs don't melt snow & ice, causing visibility issues.
Someone may have touched on that or maybe I saw it on Bronco forum but either way you are 100% correct on reminding the team. I would hope they already figured on that but better to put it out there. How do they heat the lense covers-is it a wire like windshield? I’ve never paid attention the the “how” part of that design/engineered part
 
Just reading through these: Didn’t see lateral or longitudinal tilt listed: can be nice off-road. Steering angle and altitude are also available on my Touareg and I have used them before.

On connectivity: my old Touareg uses the satellite GPS I believe because it knows where I am when my phone signal drops… I hate the old school DVD satellite system, but I really hate having NO GPS or emergency services because my signal drops in the boonies. Wish these two systems could be combined to where the vehicle provided satellite signal to phone for two way communication (there is a name but I am not tech savvy).

If the factory lights could have an off-road option that bumped up the output to only off-road legal levels and to perhaps yellow (the human eye sees yellow light significantly better than violet which is in most lights with the blue effect).

Also RGB LED in tail lights for off-road that could turn the entire taillight anssembly all white or yellow for rear visibility for backing up / maneuvering.

I am pretty minimal on my tech needs honestly because I feel like it ages like milk and if updated then the hardware will eventually meet a limit.
 
Wow! I just read through some of the wet techie dreams of those who responded. Most of the tech trash they crave for is unnecessary, superfluous frill designed to fill the option list of the Land Rover fops. It breaks so much on Teslas that their reliability ratings suck!
Keep it simple, stupid should be a mantra for all car manufacturers. At best, all that tech junk should be available, but let’s start with a real Scout first for those of us who don’t want or use that stuff.
 
Wow! I just read through some of the wet techie dreams of those who responded. Most of the tech trash they crave for is unnecessary, superfluous frill designed to fill the option list of the Land Rover fops. It breaks so much on Teslas that their reliability ratings suck!
Keep it simple, stupid should be a mantra for all car manufacturers. At best, all that tech junk should be available, but let’s start with a real Scout first for those of us who don’t want or use that stuff.
I've read through these comments and I'm not sure what you are referring to when you say Superfluous frill wet dreams....lets be respectful because the people that wrote those things actually want it, and on top of that the vast majority of the people here are scout owners who also want a "real scout"

also what things break on teslas so much that reliability sucks? i've owned my tesla for 2 years and nothing has broken...yet.....either way lets discuss this like civilized people.
 
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I am honestly shocked and awed by the SW updates Rivian keeps dropping. In fact, the most jaw-dropping release came recently with better power and battery management along with other enhancements that actually increased the range of the vehicle. My favorite OTA update included a new drive mode for snow that essentially adjusted regen and modulated throttle and drive characteristics specifically for snow covered roads (SNOW MODE). One thing that I would like to see would be a single button to enable a "power save" mode to reduce drain. I'm sure something like that will be released OTA, but for now, Rivian recommends disabling features like Gear Guard that take bits & pieces of power from your battery when the vehicle is left idle. I'm torn between a heat pump or no heat pump. There is a lot of debate on this one. For reference, I could do without Rivian NAV and just use car play, although the maps are nice and the 3D maps can show terrain. for the Scout a Topo Map feature would be a pretty cool option (perhaps through a third party like Avenza or Gaia that could synch directly to the Scout app). That way, if you are going off grid into the wilderness, your app could pick right up where you are when you hop out of the truck for offline use. Something that that Scout could improve on vs Rivian are specific heating elements to clear ice from the headlights or windshield. If it is storming, cold and windy, its nice to be able to mitigate as much ice build up as possible on the pointy end of the truck. I would agree with the bumper comment. Although the R1T has a bumper, it is small, and not something you can stand on. You CAN stand on the gear tunnel door, but that doesn't help much when looking to access the very back of the truck, so a corner foot hold or integrated step into the bed would be really nice. Lastly, I would prefer to have slotted mounts for the racks that my R1T has over the bed of the truck that are at least adjustable to some degree. the R1T has 4 anchor points that are "set" for crossbars, so accessories need to adjust to the bars. Sometimes having the bars adjust along with the accessories would be preferable.
 
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Ok Scouts,

Our interface designers and engineers are looking for some more feedback from all of you and this time it is on:

What kind of tech do you expect enabled in the car or interface?



Thanks in advance for your opinions!

- Jamie
Solar power hood instead of roof top so roof top can still have room for a rack and a built-in deployable drone to scout ahead when needed.
 
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Solar Power hood, now that sounds innovative. Would probably work well with a historic front hinged hood, which means you would be able to angle the solar panel at different degrees while parked to get the most out of their production.

I know a lot of people would worry about glare though pointing back into the vehicle while driving, I wonder how solar panels compare to a hood of a car
 
Solar Power hood, now that sounds innovative. Would probably work well with a historic front hinged hood, which means you would be able to angle the solar panel at different degrees while parked to get the most out of their production.

I know a lot of people would worry about glare though pointing back into the vehicle while driving, I wonder how solar panels compare to a hood of a car
I think it’s a neat concept but beyond the concern of glare I think aesthetically it would look very unappealing. I think solar panels in regions that get considerable sunlight are worth exploring but in PA we don’t get enough full sun days to typically justify on houses so it would be a stretch on cars. Additionally a lot of businesses offering charging are putting covered roofs/canopies over spaces which would be counter productive while sitting in the lot or even personal garages. But I like the innovative thinking
 
When you say justify, are you referring to payback terms? You should absolutely be able to justify solar in PA (provided you own your own house and don't plan to move within 5 years or so). Even if you do end up moving, having a modern solar array can increase the value of your home. The interesting thing about having an electric truck is that it will make that justification even better, assuming you add a home charger. If you plan to install solar with a system like a Tesla power wall (for example) that will typically double the cost of a solar installation, so that is an entirely different equation than tying directly into your utility. I live in New England and installed 20 400W Solaria panels on my last house, so an 8.0kW installation. This was prior to electricity prices increasing fairly drastically, and my payback period (based on buying the system outright, along with installation, and taking into consideration available incentives) was 6 years. With an EV added to the home, and with the increased kWH rates we see today, paybacks are now accelerated, although some costs for systems and components have of course also gone up. It is worth exploring. Solar on the vehicle itself would be great for a fridge and charging small electronics, however solar charging a Scout, with essentially one or two panels on a RTT or roof would likely take days based on the size of the battery pack and how much energy you can produce with a small array.
 
I would like the barest minimum of tech: A robust Bluetooth connection, a really good stereo, and that’s about it.

No need for Nav: there are dozens of solutions for that on your phone already.

No need for driver assist stuff: I despise the nanny-ware on other cars like lane keeping. Try out a high end Volvo, then make it the opposite of that, those cars are infuriating with all the non stop warnings and beeping and weird steering responses. The only ADAS function I want is adaptive cruise and maybe descent/crawl mode for off road.

A 30A/240v outlet would be cool to power external equipment.

Leveling mode for the shocks would be cool for camping with a roof tent, if the suspension design allows it.

Other than that: keep it simple, keep it light, keep it affordable!
 
Features like lane-keeping, adaptive cruise, driver+, emergency braking, etc. also make driving safer (not just for you, but for other drivers around you). However, most of these functions are controlled through SETTINGS, so where possible, you can simply disable or disengage these functions (or elect not to use them during your drive). Personally, and when on a long-haul on well marked HWY, Driver+ is great in the R1T. On long drives from point A to point B, on HWY, and over hours, there isn't a great deal of variability. Might as well let the car drive itself, and relax a bit. Once off the HWY, that is a completely different story. Also, these features have been improved over time, so newer makes and models can take advantage of faster processing speeds, better cameras, sensors, and SW.
 
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I think it’s a neat concept but beyond the concern of glare I think aesthetically it would look very unappealing. I think solar panels in regions that get considerable sunlight are worth exploring but in PA we don’t get enough full sun days to typically justify on houses so it would be a stretch on cars. Additionally a lot of businesses offering charging are putting covered roofs/canopies over spaces which would be counter productive while sitting in the lot or even personal garages. But I like the innovative thinking
I have solar in Alaska, 3 months of dark…. And I’m ~2500 miles further north than you…. My ROI was 7 years.