The German automaker’s ID family of electric cars are plagued with buggy software, causing customer headaches plus leading in order to major setbacks for the company’s next-gen Trinity project. How can VW patch the problem?
During the year that he owned a 2021 Volkswagen ID. 4 , Branden Flasch came to believe that the electric crossover SUV did many things very well. But when it came to the car’s software-based functions — the infotainment system, the particular various controls, smartphone integration, and so on — “it was death by a thousand cuts, ” Flasch said.
Flasch said he experienced problems along with scheduling charging at home and had trouble getting the car to get along with Apple CarPlay . He had an “obnoxious” experience with the ID. 4’s much-lamented capacitive settings , which eschew actual buttons for touch panels that offer haptic feedback.
His experience has not been isolated. Owners of VW’s electric IDENTIFICATION cars all over the particular world have reported problems with infotainment screens, range calculations, buggy smartphone connections, getting, and other features that are far more seamless on other companies’ cars. And VW’s long-promised addition of over-the-air updates, increasingly common on some other cars, is just now starting as associated with this month, but still not in North America.
Flasch is an old hand at EVs, having owned several, including the Tesla Model S this individual drove with regard to 100, 000 miles. (“I essentially lived out of that car regarding nine months during the worst of COVID, ” he or she said. ) He makes YouTube videos about his experiences along with EVs; in his day job, he develops ELECTRONIC VEHICLES charging stations and infrastructure for a major convenience store chain.
But when this individual got a chance to part with his ID. 4 intended for only $1, 200 less than he or she paid to get it, he did thus, trading up for the Polestar 2 and then a Rivian R1T.
Flasch said he sold the Vw more pertaining to financial reasons than anything else, but the software headaches are not missed.
“As a vehicle, not really talking about like infotainment and software program, it’s fantastic, ” Flasch said. “There are very few vehicles that will are that good, realistically. ” But, this individual added, “I would say Volkswagen is a bit behind the curve [on software] compared even to the particular other legacy automakers. ”
Software problems have emerged as a major roadblock in order to the entire Volkswagen Group’s electric vehicle plans. So much so that VOLKS WAGEN Group CEO Oliver Blume is due to outline a revised software strategy at the carmaking giant’s supervisory board meeting upon Thursday, December 15th. The particular meeting has been described by outlets like Automotive News as the “reality check, ” where Blume will be expected to present a more grounded plan to realize VW’s ambitious plus expensive electric powered dreams.
“The Volkswagen Group is undergoing the biggest transformation in its history, ” a VW Group spokesperson said in an email. “Our NEW AUTO Group technique sets out a clear roadmap up to 2030 for us to become a sustainable software-oriented mobility provider. We have to transform ourselves and acquire completely new competencies if we want to play a leading role in tomorrow’s mobility market. Software will certainly become the new differentiator. ”
Blume knows the cost of not getting this right. He took the particular CEO job in September after their predecessor Herbert Diess was fired over clashes along with unions plus software issues .
The Vw Group’s software problems are usually well-documented and reflective of wider problems facing many legacy automakers. As they aim to compete with new players like Tesla plus Rivian and transform their vehicles into essentially battery-powered computers on wheels, they find themselves forced in order to become software program companies as well because manufacturing companies.
This transition has not been an easy one.
“It’s pretty clear that software and the way the consumer interacts with the particular vehicle are some of the most critical areas of focus meant for automakers, particularly for EVs, ” stated Paul Waatti, the industry analysis manager for AutoPacific, an automotive marketing research and consulting firm. “It’s no longer just mechanical plus dynamic advantages that stand out like with internal combustion. It’s software program and the overall user experience that will ultimately set vehicles apart. ”
For the particular VW Group, the stakes could not be higher. It’s not just a conglomerate that includes Audi, Porsche, Ducati, and Bentley that’s either the largest or second-biggest car company in the world, depending on how Toyota is performing that quarter. It’s the car company undertaking one associated with the most aggressive pivots to electrical vehicles, driven in part to seek penance for getting caught cheating on diesel emissions in 2015 . That even included founding Electrify America, its public EV charging subsidiary.
In the years since, the VW Group offers committed in order to phasing out there its internal combustion engines in Europe by 2035 , building six battery “gigafactories” inside Europe meant to supply millions of EVs, plus electrifying almost all of the brands, even Lamborghini .
Plus, automakers like VW have high aspirations for brand new revenue sources beyond simply selling cars, and those, too, depend on software. These include features like connected cars, leveraging data, subscription features , integrating e-commerce and augmented reality in to vehicles, virtual assistants, and other functions that could redefine how we think of cars entirely.
To achieve any associated with that, Volkswagen must get the software program right. And so far, it has not.
In the particular increasingly electrified and digitally-focused automotive world, “software” can refer to a great numerous things. It can mean the programs that govern more complex functions such as semi-autonomous driver assistance systems, battery management, navigation, over-the-air updates, plus interactions with various charging networks. This can also make reference to more conventional features that drivers have spent the last two decades getting increasingly accustomed to, like infotainment systems and smartphone incorporation.
In Volkswagen’s case, it’s “all of the above. ”
The original ID. 3, a compact hatchback sold in European countries and other markets as a close sibling of America’s IDENTIFICATION. 4 crossover, was delayed at launch over software problems . The other ID cars possess received considerable backlash in China more than issues want sudden blank infotainment displays. Owners plus car testers alike in America have reported issues along with nonresponsive infotainment screens, issues with getting route planning , inaccurate tire pressure readings, charging connectors not really unlocking, mobile phone integration errors, and additional pains.
All of this offers added upward to the frustrating ownership experience designed for many people, said Will Kaufman, a senior writer and content strategist in the auto shopping site Edmunds. The publication added a 2021 ID. four to its long-term testing fleet within March, and it has since documented a number of software-related technical difficulties .
“One of our editors titled an article, ‘Why does the 2021 Volkswagen IDENTIFICATION. 4 want me to hate this? ’” Kaufman said. “A lot of that came down to just bugs and unexpected behavior… Apple CarPlay has been a huge problem just for us. We’ve had simply tons associated with connectivity issues. ”
It is a tough break for that ID. 4, which is meant to be the tip from the spear for your new Volkswagen inside America — one eager to move past its diesel-cheating past plus into a cleaner, greener future. It’s the crossover so directly aimed at mainstream Americans that it’s aimed at the ubiquitous Toyota RAV4, something priced to convince families everywhere that these people, too, may break up with gasoline for the purpose of good. Along with the ID. 3, it furthermore launched the MEB platform, an electric automobile architecture designed to underpin a small army of VW Team cars in the years to come.
“This is up against the Mustang Mach-E, the particular [Hyundai] Ioniq 5, the [Kia] EV6, ” Kaufman said. “These are really important vehicles for these brands, sort associated with laying out what their future is and getting brand new consumers onboard. ”
Kaufman said the root cause of the IDENTIFICATION cars’ software program issues — a few of which usually have extended to conventional, gas-powered VOLKS WAGEN vehicles using some of the particular same techniques — will be unclear, although he believes they have something to do with the many all-new technologies that made their debuts here.
“They rolled out a lot of new stuff for this particular vehicle, ” Kaufman mentioned. “This is usually not really carrying much over from other [vehicles]. ”
But while VW’s struggles illustrate the pitfalls involved with car companies developing software in-house, it also shows exactly what car businesses will risk now with regard to fear associated with being left behind. AutoPacific’s Waatti recalled such a conversation along with another automaker recently.
“One of their biggest fears was that they’d become a supplier to a software organization, ” he or she said. “That’s a reality that could happen. So [a company] like Vw who has since deep pockets as they do, I think that will they’re not necessarily willing just in order to hand off that huge portion of the particular vehicle’s future to an outside brand. ”
Some automakers are taking the different approach. Volvo plus Polestar have got turned their own UX over to Google’s Android Automotive, and Ford’s Android-based Sync infotainment stack arrives next year . Plus Apple — which has had its own set of troubles developing a car in-house — appears to have got similarly ambitious software plans , which will hardly be ignored simply by automakers.
Waatti said he can understand why automakers are reluctant to cede software completely to other entities. “But I think on a big level, it’s to their detriment, ” he stated. “I think a company like Volkswagen should be focusing more on their particular core knowledge base, which usually is developing and building cars. Not software. ”
While issues with infotainment screens have already been around as long as that feature has existed, they don’t often lead to CEOs obtaining fired. That’s because VW’s problems extend beyond the screens and have affected new car rollouts, plans regarding future factories, and big goals around eventual autonomous driving.
In 2021, Volkswagen announced “ Project Trinity , ” a new high-end electric flagship sedan. But it was more than just a car; it was intended to usher in the particular successor to the MEB platform, called SSP, and was in order to debut a whole new range of technologies intended for VW, including a high level of autonomous driving plus new software-based business models. At the time, the VW brand’s CEO known as it “a lighthouse project, our software dream car. ” Furthermore, it was to be built at an all-new two billion euro factory inside Wolfsburg, Germany, starting in 2026.
That will dream provides since been met with a hard reality check. According to Reuters , given that taking the particular reins, VW Group TOP DOG Blume is definitely now evaluating whether to build the vehicle at that new plant or perform so in a existing 1. A brand new software system due to become used on Project Trinity has also reportedly already been delayed. More recently, VOLKS WAGEN announced “substantial further development” to the MEB platform called MEB Plus, indicating the a lot more revolutionary SSP project will be punted down the road.
In various other words, VW could well stick with what it has now while sorting out its software problems and scaling up the battery tech and production before promising the potential of electric powered and autonomous driving.
“It’s pretty clear they’re going to have to direct lots of resources to the software program, and I think that will definitely stalled some of their potential future plans, ” Waatti mentioned.
Yet in spite of just about all of these software troubles and the questions of whether VW’s “e-mobility” ambitions may ever end up being realized if it can’t get Apple CarPlay syncing right, several current owners still sing the praises of their ID. 4s. It’s produced a number of publications’ “best” lists , has lured over many first-time EV proprietors, and despite the supply chain issues that have dogged the whole industry, it is even been selling well . And an update — albeit one that must be installed at the dealership, not really over the air, like a Tesla — folded out inside December beginning with 2021 ID. 4 versions adds some much-needed functions, like better charging route planning, display updates, and what VW calls “minor bug fixes. ”
“We are usually continuously working to improve and enhance the particular digital experience for our consumers, you start with updated software to get MY21 IDENTIFICATION. 4s, ” a Volkswagen USA spokesman said in a statement.
Miguel Menjivar is one of those owners who’s still happy with his purchase. The particular Claremont, California resident said he’s owned his ID. 4 considering that last October, and he’s “very a lot enjoyed” the vehicle so far despite “minor glitches. ”
“Maybe because it’s my first ELECTRONIC VEHICLES, I don’t have anything else in order to compare it to. I love the ride, the pickup, the interior as well as the overall look, ” Menjivar stated. “Could this be much better? Everything can be better, but nothing would dissuade me through getting a second. ”
Yet, in another example of exactly how VW’s software isn’t quite on par with some competitors like Tesla, where Supercharging works seamlessly without the aid of a phone app, Menjivar said he wished their car experienced the plug-and-charge feature that is now available upon the 2023 models.
“I would love it if I could plug in [to] Charge America, and it would recognize my car, ” this individual said.
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