Please, help me! Where does the book/PDF state this? I read the whole VehicleMaker chapter and parts of ArmorMaker but did not find any hints on this. Yes, I saw the fittings on p.286 and these got me wondering where their values are. But I cannot find instruction to build them myself with ThingMaker.
Okay the Fittings on p.286 don't have a cost or volume associated with them. They are more like background detail for the designer to include to help players understand the inherent capabilities of the vehicle.
For example: Notice how the description for Controls states "All vehicles include at least rudimentary manual controls." Then it details what manual controls are. Next it says Medium, Heavy and VHeavy vehicles have powered controls.
Essentially its saying
these are built in already so you don't have to worry about including them. The extra detail helps you as a designer flesh out your vehicle and helps players understand what to expect from different vehicles.
Communications: This shows the basic types of communication system that a vehicle might be fitted with. In real life if you were buying a car would you expect to have to buy a basic FM radio with CD Player separately? No its included in the price. But if you want to fit a media center and huge speakers you need to get the dealer to fit it or a specialist to build it in for you.
From p.286 under Communicators there is a Standard option. You can expect every vehicle that is fitted with a communications system to have an open channel radio broadcast system to Range=5. Think about the vehicle you create, an old TL5 Ground Car probably has no communications fitted as standard but a Grav Carrier built as a mobile command post will have at least have the Battlefield Command radio system fitted and probably the Relay option.
Some things in T5 are assumed to be there, built in when you build something so they have no cost or volume. For example ACS assumes all ships have comms, radar, and viewports on p.383
What VehicleMaker does not include is Sensors, Defenses or other fittings. To design sensors for a vehicle consult ACS p341 select the sensor and choose a mount that will fit on your vehicle. If the sensor is too large you can use ThingMaker p599 Range Effects to create a "Transportable" version of the sensor. This works for some types of Defenses too especially screens.
You can also use the Payload section of ACS p347 or the Equipment chapter p608 to further fit out your vehicle.
But remember MOARN
sorry for taking up the Errata thread but this sort of counts as clarification.