In the future, the electric model will no longer have to go to the workshop for software updates.
(Photo: Reuters)
Dusseldorf Volkswagen is making progress with the software equipment for its newer electric models. After months of delays, the ID models delivered over the past two years are now getting a new software update. To do this, more than 150,000 e-cars in Europe have to spend a whole day in the workshop, but future updates can then be installed wirelessly and without having to visit the workshop.
For the Volkswagen Group, retrofitting the ID models is an important intermediate goal on the way to becoming a fully digitized car manufacturer. The responsibility for the ID software lies with the new subsidiary Cariad, which VW founded two years ago as the central software unit for the entire group.
The development of the software continued to be delayed, which also affected the subsidiary brands Audi and Porsche. As a result, a dispute about the future distribution of tasks in software development broke out in the group.
The current software update 2.4 for the ID electric cars takes some of the pressure off Cariad in the dispute. The new group unit shows that it can implement software changes in the VW group, albeit with some delay. The reason for the delays in the group was repeatedly given as Cariad being overloaded, which was given too many tasks too quickly.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
As a company spokesman confirmed, the software upgrade of the existing ID fleet has now begun. In addition to the software update, you will also receive a new on-board battery in the workshop. According to VW, the ID models delivered in the past two years can then be wirelessly equipped with further software updates. This is now part of the factory equipment for newly produced ID vehicles.
VW customers must continue to be prepared for delays
Wireless software updates “over the air” (OTA) are a core component of future business models for the automotive industry. The cars can be brought up to date technically at any time via the OTA updates – without the customers having to take their cars to the workshop. Tesla implemented the technology first. Automakers also want to sell additional services and vehicle equipment wirelessly.
In the future, VW customers will have to accept that the wireless distribution of new software versions will take longer than planned.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
However, despite the new software version, VW customers have to be prepared for further delays even after visiting the workshop. Volkswagen will distribute the first major OTA update (version 3.0) to the ID electric cars in the vehicle fleet in several waves over a longer period of time.
It may take until the end of the year until all ID customers are really driving around with the new software version. With version 3.0 you get a higher battery charging capacity and improved speech recognition, as well as additional driver assistance systems, such as additional parking assistance.
In the future too, Volkswagen customers will have to accept that the wireless distribution of new software versions will take longer than originally planned. Last year, VW announced that major software innovations should now be distributed to the ID electric cars from the vehicle fleet every twelve weeks.
>> Read here: How the VW subsidiary Porsche reacted to the software problems in the planned IPO
VW CEO Herbert Diess had promised in the spring that the next software version 3.1 would be distributed to the existing ID fleet as early as June 2022. After the last delays, however, a postponement until next year is considered quite realistic. Volkswagen no longer advertises the planned twelve-week cycle for software updates.
The software version 3.1 should offer important new functions. “Plug and Charge” is intended to make payment at the charging station much easier, with the amount being automatically deducted. Other manufacturers already offer this function today.
The Cariad software unit will also have to work under high loads in the coming years. The VW subsidiary not only develops the regular ID updates, but also works in parallel on comprehensive operating systems for future cars from the VW Group.
A first version of the operating system for Audi and Porsche models must be ready in the coming year. In 2026, Cariad then wants to complete the second version of the system, which is to be used throughout the group.
More: Compromise in the dispute over software at VW