is that actually a thing for cars without a subscription? i'd imagine they forgo the monthly cost of a data connection (that they're not getting paid for), and download any data off the car when you take it in for servicing instead.
They are constantly connected and log __everything__. They own the data, and they will happily use it against you if it serves them (ie, you die in an "autopilot"-related car crash, they pull your location data and show that you were leaving from a bar at 2:00 AM). Since it's not encrypted to a device key that only you own, like how iOS devices work, Tesla is also forced to hand over your data to federal authorities as soon as they get subpoenaed.
It scares me a lot, frankly. I don't have enough money to buy a Tesla either way, but I don't think I could pull the trigger knowing what their data policy is like.
Of course, with the way automated license plate readers are going, you'll probably be location tracked even with a "dumb" car, but at least the data would be more fragmented.
They hinge heavily on how evil laws are requiring third party dealerships, while being a case-in-point example of why third party dealerships protect consumers from an overbearing mothership.
If these connections are such low traffic and don't have significant performance needs, carriers can even sell them as 3G only, for example, and use older, less critical network resources to handle them.
> is that actually a thing for cars without a subscription?
Subarus have them. As far as I could tell, all of their cars came with a modem, and all you had to do to enable it was call the dealer and subscribe to their "connected car" service. No installation or shop appointment required, that means the modem's there and always in communication to something.
It's also pretty well known that all Tesla's have a cellular modem which they used to pull updates (and probably send back telemetry), and I don't think there's an associated subscription fee.
I'm not even sure how the warranty for the rest of the car would be affected if you replaced the head unit with a 3rd party one or clipped an LTE antenna.