this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024
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On the flip side: if a car stereo has a known firmware issue causing problems with say Bluetooth connection, I DO want the manufacturer to actually provide an easy means of fixing/updating the borked software. Better that the system was properly tested and feature complete to begin with- but I'm not delusional enough to believe we can truly have nice things.
With old cars if the radio stopped working you'd go to the dealership/auto store and have it replaced. I think a lot of people would be fine having to go to a similar place for software fixes. Remote updates scare me. Rivian had an update earlier this year that blue screened the infotainment console on every car it went out to. It's not hard to believe a similar mixup could happen with a more important system.
I've had cars where if there's a programming update required, they issue it as a service action, you take the car to the dealer, and they do the software update locally with an SD card or USB stick.
You can still have easily updated software without it requiring OTA updates.
It's a matter of time till we see cars bricked. Didn't I also read something about a driver being stuck while the car was updating?
It's already happened, it was either Fisker or another new EV manufacturer.
To be more clear I was more focused on the not wanting a car that needs software updates part of the argument, less so the means of delivery. Obviously, having an always on connection absolutely sucks and I'd personally be super down with just pushing an update via a USB drive or whatever like you can a BIOS update. But a lot of manufacturers have it set up so that you have to either pay a dealership to plug in the USB for some arbitrary reason, or demand the always on connection to do it. In a utopia of software development where there are no critical bugs, we would all prefer a car that doesn't need updates. I didn't mean to imply that I was arguing in favor of remote connection by manufacturers, and it's absolutely my bad in not wording it properly.
Yes that's a nice thing to fix a problem with a software update. But isn't it funny how the possibility of updating after purchase seems to mean that products ship without really being well tested. If there's no possibility of fixing problems once something is in the field, then you make damn sure it works before it goes out the door.
Well, OTA update may be a bad idea. USB Key is good enough for anything and don't rely to a server. For your radio problem, it would solve it.
The infotainment having an Internet connection I can see the point of, just not the vehicle proper.
OBDII can be used for that, no need to be done over the air but then you need to pay the dealership...