Today’s EVs are basically computers on wheels. As a software engineer I worry about for how long VAG will support the software and hardware in our cars.
My other car is a 2003 Audi A3. It’s more than 20 years old, has nearly 230k miles on the clock and still runs and drives like the day it was new. It’s a little noisier due to most of the sound insulation having rotted away, but that’s about it.
Whatever electronics and software it has can be support by independent garages, and there’s not really that much that can go wrong.
The Born is different. Also, the software and hardware seems to be very locked down. My hope is that if VAG stop supporting it, they open source it so it can continue to be supported by the community and interested independents. However I think that’s unlikely to happen, which is sad.
I would keep my Born for 20 years if I could, but will it even still work then? Will it be “bricked” by VAG? Will someone reverse engineer solutions?
Long term software support
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mluisbrown
- Posts: 236
- Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2023 4:46 pm
- Location: Lisbon, Portugal
2023 Born 58kWh, Glacial White, 19" Typhoon Copper, Skyline, Blue Dinamica electric seats, Cargo, Privacy, Pilot M+, Tech M
2003 Audi A3 8L 1.9TDi PD 130 with 360,000kms.
2003 Audi A3 8L 1.9TDi PD 130 with 360,000kms.
VW have insisted multiple times that they're committed to 10 years of security updates and it's possible they're bound to EU regulations. We'll see what actually happens.
As I mentioned in other threads, 3.5.2 (which is equivalent to 3.7 for Skoda and VW) is the last major update.
There will be no open sourcing of this software as the EU has a very strict testing & approval process for automotive software.
You can also just imagine insurance companies not paying out the second they discover non-VW software on a Born involved in an accident. Read up about Event Data Recorders for example... this data can only be accessed by authorized forensic parties.
As I mentioned in other threads, 3.5.2 (which is equivalent to 3.7 for Skoda and VW) is the last major update.
There will be no open sourcing of this software as the EU has a very strict testing & approval process for automotive software.
You can also just imagine insurance companies not paying out the second they discover non-VW software on a Born involved in an accident. Read up about Event Data Recorders for example... this data can only be accessed by authorized forensic parties.
