Interior of an ID.3 from Volkswagen
The new software updates turn the screen on the dashboard into a control center.
(Photo: Volkswagen)
Wolfsburg What Tesla has been able to do for years, Volkswagen finally wants to be able to do. The Wolfsburg-based company is slowly approaching the topic of comprehensive software updates “over the air” – but initially only for the latest generation of electric models from the ID family and not for the classic combustion models such as the Golf and Passat.
The past week showed how important this competence is. The US electrical manufacturer Tesla announced a wireless software update “over the air” in China for almost 290,000 vehicles because, for inexplicable reasons, they could suddenly accelerate. With the “over the air” update, the annoying callback to the workshop is no longer necessary and the cars can be repaired much more easily.
“It will start in the third quarter,” said VW Development Board Member Thomas Ulbrich at a press conference in Wolfsburg. In August, the factory holidays are due at the Volkswagen group headquarters, after which the software updates of the Lower Saxon automaker should actually begin on a larger scale. Volkswagen had already announced in March that the starting shot for the wireless and workshop-free distribution of software was on the program for this summer.
A classic car manufacturer like Volkswagen has immense respect for the new topic of software, and there is a great fear of failure. Tesla had started wireless software distribution about eight years ago and gained experience accordingly. Premium brands such as Mercedes and BMW also offer updates “over the air”, but in contrast to Tesla to a very limited extent.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and be notified by email.
Mostly it concerns updates for the infotainment system (navigation, map data, radio). Tesla goes much further and can use wireless technology to make extensive changes to any car – as the current example from China shows with the elimination of inexplicable acceleration.
Loading an ID.3 from Volkswagen
The latest generation of electronics from Wolfsburg will in future also understand wireless software updates “over the air”.
(Photo: dpa)
At Volkswagen, there is great respect for the new software, also based on our own experience. Last year we just managed to get the first new electric model ID.3 to customers reasonably well on time. Software problems had significantly delayed the start of sales. The first cars delivered did not contain the full range of software initially promised.
With the wireless software updates “over the air”, Volkswagen is therefore once again introducing an additional test phase before large-scale distribution of up to 200,000 electric vehicles in Europe can begin in late summer. The Wolfsburg-based car manufacturer prefers to play it safe and avoid major problems with software distribution.
This week, Volkswagen will begin with the wireless software distribution to around 2000 ID customers from the so-called “First Mover Club”. These are the first and very loyal buyers of the ID models, who have been there from the start and are mostly fully behind the Wolfsburg-based electrical concept. You are more forgiving of mistakes than the average customer.
In an initial test phase, Volkswagen had already tested the software distribution in around 1,000 of its own company cars since February. The 2,000 cars of the “first movers” are then the second test run.
“We will need six to seven weeks before we are through with the ‘first movers'”, said VW development director Ulbrich. Should all systems prove to be stable, Volkswagen could actually begin the widespread wireless distribution of vehicle-related software for the approximately 200,000 ID cars that have already been sold.
Updates are initially only available in Europe
Volkswagen is initially only planning to distribute wireless software in the European market; other sales regions such as North America and China will follow later. Other group brands such as Audi and Skoda use the same technology as the Volkswagen cars (the so-called “MEB electric platform”) in their latest electric models, but they take a little more time to start the updates “over the air”. Volkswagen should first gain experience with the new technology.
Customers of classic VW combustion models will wait in vain for comprehensive wireless software updates. Volkswagen uses a completely different platform for the Golf or Passat, with which updates over the air are only possible to a very small extent. The VW group would have to spend a lot of money in order to bring the combustion models up to the state of the art. As the end of the combustion engine is getting closer and closer, the group is more likely to decide against these additional investments.
Stefan Bratzel, professor at the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) at the Bergisch Gladbach University of Applied Sciences, describes the software challenge for established car manufacturers like Volkswagen as a “Herculean task”. As one of the world’s largest car groups, Volkswagen must get this issue under control.
“If VW doesn’t make it, who will?” Says Bratzel. The automotive industry shouldn’t leave this field to IT giants like Apple and Alphabet as well as newcomers like Tesla and Nio. “But Volkswagen still has to prove that they can really do it,” emphasized the university professor.
In the cockpit of an ID.3 from Volkswagen
The screen indicates when new software can be installed.
(Photo: Volkswagen)
With the wireless software updates “over the air” you can not only avoid annoying workshop visits. With them, the car manufacturers can also develop a new field of business. Companies like Volkswagen can sell additional software features to their customers on a permanent or temporary basis. That would be, for example, a higher engine output for a weekend trip or the fog lights for a winter ski holiday in the mountains.
In Wolfsburg there are already specific plans to offer their own electrical customers an extended range of batteries this year. VW sales director Klaus Zellmer already speaks of additional software sales “in the three-digit million range”.
Volkswagen is excited to see how many customers will actually be interested in the software updates “over the air”. It is already certain that not everyone will be there. In order to be able to download the software packages, the cars equipped with their own SIM card must be connected to the Internet.
According to VW’s experience so far, around 80 percent of customers have done this. If one day security-relevant updates are also distributed “over the air”, such Internet refusers would then have to go to the workshop in the traditional way to have the new software installed there. In future, Volkswagen is planning comprehensive software updates every three months, which is comparable to the update frequency of a smartphone.
More: VW boss: “The issue of software is the big challenge.”