There’s a moment in the 1992 film “Sneakers” where Ben Kingsley says to Robert Redford, “The world isn’t run by weapons anymore, or energy, or money. It’s run by little ones and zeroes, little bits of data. It’s all just electrons.”
Redfords responds, of course, with his trademark smirk, squinty eyed expression and a withering put-down that escapes us, and Kingsley is left without a comeback, probably because he’s wearing a ponytail. Have you ever seen a grown man look respectable with a ponytail? We have not. Seeing Obi-Wan Kenobi sport one in “The Phantom Menace” should have been a signal to leave the theater.
In any case, to Kingsley’s point, data is becoming an increasingly important part of our society. Most of us order data for our smartphones and mobile devices, but Audi and AT&T are taking strides to bring this into our cars, as well.
The 2015 A3 was the first car to offer 4G LTE data, and now Audi is nominating the Q3 to also offer its own data service. Via AT&T’s Mobile Share family data plan, you can add a car onto your monthly bill for $10 per month, which is the same cost as adding a tablet. Just as a tablet offers a more convenient way to browse the Internet, so, too, will an Audi.
In terms of cost, no one wants a ballooning monthly bill, so AT&T has gone to great pains to make this an easy addition. You can get 1 GB per month for $20, or 5 GB over 6 months for $99, which averages out to at $16.5 at 0.83 GB per month. We know, we know, it’s some wonky math. Why not just follow the smartphone route of offering increasing gigabytes of data per month? Well, cars are different than phones, so Audi and AT&T realized they needed a different payment structure.
There’s also a long-term plan for $499 which gets you 30 GB of data over 30 months. This averages out to $16.6 at 1 GB per month. It seems that Audi and AT&T want to keep the range of prices narrow ($16-$20 per month), in favor of increased flexibility in contract length.
This is smart because with smartphones, you have more options for the amount of data, but are locked into a two-year commitment. Audi is betting that while there’s only so much data you can use in a car, people might feel better if they had more control over their obligation for the service.
We’re glad to see Audi being forward-thinking while thinking about what the user would prefer. And in two great cars like the A3 and Q3, we think a lot of people will take them up on it. If you want to learn more about mobile data, come talk to us here at Audi Raleigh; we’re glad to help.