Ars Technica article on Audi's (VW group) move towards software-defined cars.

[dtich]

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/0...es-and-say-hello-to-the-software-defined-car/

Good, informative article, if a little anemic by the usually comment-y Gitlin. I find it somewhat concerning how many times the interviewee says 'but it's very complicated' or similar... Leads me to expect lots of out-of-the-gate hiccups and a fairly long public beta phase on this new architecture. Part of me wishes my 23 GTS were part of this new rollout, expecting that many issues will be worked out, and part of me (the bigger part?) is relieved not to have to surf that wave right now. I'll check back in in 2026 or so.

Reminds me of my BMW days when I had the first MY of the X5, in 2000 (99), was a pretty great machine, but new and the first result of BMW's acquisition of Land Rover - they sort of smashed a 5 series with a Range Rover and got an X5, great idea, great result. Then they dove into iDrive system control in the next one I had, the 2005. I found that to be kind of a dud MY and actually switched to a Lexus Hybrid SUV for a year. Until that car did a 180 after I was forced to brake really hard behind a car that zoomed out into traffic on a rainy day. My first thought after coming to a safe stop was, "the X5 would *never* have done that." I went back to BMW with the 2010 X5 which was a super star of a car in that market. Anyway, at my advanced age I'm happy to not really deal with manufacturer's beta test rollouts anymore... I guess I'm making a small allowance for the 23 Taycan, but I'll stay away from a whole platform re-think for now. YMMV.

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[WasserGKuehlt]

If I read about one more "software-defined" thingy, I'm going to roll my eyes so hard I'll tear a ligament or something. Good on them for trying - it's definitely a big challenge to model a car, but it's a bit concerning they're counting on some authority to "define the rulebook". Great - more sampling-based, directed testing of, you know, life safety systems. Working in software, I'm very skeptical of our (humankind's) ability to produce functionally-correct complex software.

 

[Slappy_G]

Given how utterly atrocious the software ecosystem of the Taycan was at launch (and still is to some extent), seeing MORE software dependency from VW group scares the hell out of me.

Porsche at least is a company that has proven they cannot properly execute vehicle software at feature parity with other companies. As someone new to Porsche, I feel I can speak honestly without falling into "fanboy excuse" mode.

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