Why Are Car Software Updates Still So Bad? Leave a comment
Regardless of years of effort and the outlay of billions of {dollars}, not one of the world’s automakers have but to match Tesla’s prowess in delivering over-the-air (OTA) software program updates. Identical to along with your cellphone and laptop computer, these working system refreshes enable house owners to improve their automobiles remotely.
Tesla launched OTAs in 2012, however now Elon Musk’s firm pumps out these updates like no different automaker. “Tesla as soon as issued 42 updates inside six months,” Jean-Marie Lapeyre, Capgemini’s CTO for automotive, tells WIRED. However for a lot of different automakers, says Lapeyre, OTAs ship “perhaps annually.”
For conventional automobile firms, software program stays, or has been till very not too long ago, merely one bolt-on element amongst many. In distinction, for Tesla and different digital-native automakers—amongst them Rivian, Lucid, Polestar, and Chinese language manufacturers akin to BYD, Xpeng, and Xiaomi—it’s virtually the entire shebang.
Curiously, GM was really the primary automaker to introduce OTA performance, two years ahead of Tesla, however it was restricted to the OnStar telematics system. OTAs from conventional automakers typically add simply infotainment tweaks, whereas OTAs from the digital-first manufacturers will be shape-shifters, rising vary and boosting pace. They typically additionally reward options from the puerile to the genuinely performative: fart noises on demand from Tesla, plusher suspension for Rivian house owners, and car unlocking by phone from Polestar.
Automobiles have had onboard microprocessors since the 1970s, however till comparatively not too long ago conventional automakers made their automobiles with software program designed to stay largely unchanged all through a car’s 20-year lifespan. Since 2021, the complexity of the most recent car software program platforms has elevated by about 40 p.c per yr, estimates McKinsey. There at the moment are 69 million OTA-capable automobiles within the US, reckons S&P Global.
Such software-defined vehicles, or SDVs, would enhance automobile gross sales, automakers hoped. In line with two scorecards measuring SDV progress, Tesla leads the pack. Gartner’s Digital Automaker Index for 2025 locations Chinese language EV producers Nio and Xiaomi in second and third positions, respectively. Wards Intelligence agrees these are the three to beat. On the opposite finish of the dimensions, and just like the Wards evaluation, Nissan, Toyota, Mazda, and Jaguar Land Rover wallow at the bottom.
Saving and Promoting
Finished proper, OTAs not solely freshen a automobile’s person expertise, they will additionally slash the price of remembers for automakers. Greater than 13 million vehicles have been recalled in 2024 attributable to software-related points, a 35 p.c improve over the prior yr. Earlier than OTAs, the average cost of an auto recall was about $500 per car. OTAs could also be delivered wirelessly, however they aren’t cost-free, both for the environment or for automakers—Harman Automotive, a provider of OTA software program, estimates that it prices an automaker $66.50 per car to ship a 1 GB replace.
But it surely’s normally solely the digital natives sending out big replace recordsdata, as a result of usually solely they’re able to firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updates. These can replace powertrains, battery administration, and braking techniques. FOTA capabilities require automobiles—normally EVs—to have good, persistent connectivity and important computing energy, a lot of it left latent for future updates. Lucid’s Gravity electrical SUV, for example, is provided with the most recent Nvidia Orin-X processor, with 512 GB of onboard storage, but the car’s OS matches on simply 100 GB, leaving oodles of room for later OTA refreshes.
As Western automobile firm revenues fall, automakers want to earn cash from OTA-enabled subscriptions. Give Tesla $2,000 and, with the optional Acceleration Boost, your EV will be unlocked over-the-air to turn into a tire squeal faster off the mark. For one more $10 a month, Tesla’s “premium connectivity” package provides streaming information, reside sentry cams, and different goodies. Need what critics declare is the misleadingly named Full Self Driving (FSD) Supervised function? It’s yours for an extra $99 a month.
