What to expect from OTA?

[Jasper4S]

Hi all,

I drive a MY23 (feb) Taycan and was enthusiastic when the SA told me the car supports OTA updates. Last 14 months I did receive 2 updates. A finder one and a weather one. Is this what I can expect for coming years? I was hoping on more / more frequent ones with new features like all the Muskmobiles get. Can I expect such updates? For example, can I expect an UI update so my car looks like the MY25?

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[Scandinavian]

YESyou can expect a lot if more OTA updates! In the dealer workshop.

BUT you need to do the OTA update at the dealer and wait for one or two days. Camping gear advised!

 

[daveo4EV]

Porsche's idea of OTA updates is that you receive an eMail telling you to take the vehicle to the dealer so they can install the software - the notice is OTA - the actual software is monkey's with stone tablets's uising a 1978 epson parrallel printer cable…via an ODBZII adapter - the monkey's are wearing some sort of special hat that lets them send good vibes to the car's software.

 

[SteveDC]

Hi all,

I drive a MY23 (feb) Taycan and was enthusiastic when the SA told me the car supports OTA updates. Last 14 months I did receive 2 updates. A finder one and a weather one. Is this what I can expect for coming years? I was hoping on more / more frequent ones with new features like all the Muskmobiles get. Can I expect such updates? For example, can I expect an UI update so my car looks like the MY25?

Humorous comments aside, in response to your question: very few. I do get OTA map updates, and that’s about it. For anything significant you must visit the dealer. ?

 

[Hirschaj]

I’ll be shocked when/if Porsche ever does a meaningful OTA update.

 

[Geno911]

It's understandable to have high expectations for OTA updates, especially considering the potential for ongoing improvements and new features that can enhance the user experience of your Taycan. While the frequency and content of OTA updates can vary between different vehicle manufacturers and models

Hi all,

I drive a MY23 (feb) Taycan and was enthusiastic when the SA told me the car supports OTA updates. Last 14 months I did receive 2 updates. A finder one and a weather one. Is this what I can expect for coming years? I was hoping on more / more frequent ones with new features like all the Muskmobiles get. Can I expect such updates? For example, can I expect an UI update so my car looks like the MY25?

 

[Jasper4S]

It's understandable to have high expectations for OTA updates, especially considering the potential for ongoing improvements and new features that can enhance the user experience of your Taycan. While the frequency and content of OTA updates can vary between different vehicle manufacturers and models

haha, thanks Geno911GPT - my browser plugin is 98% confident that your comment was AI generated. If it was not generated, I’m actually impressed.

 

[Hirschaj]

haha, thanks Geno911GPT - my browser plugin is 98% confident that your comment was AI generated. If it was not generated, I’m actually impressed.

Maybe @Geno911 is the person who trained ChatGPT, so ChatGPT actually sounds like them. ?

 

[FlyingPoint]

NOTHING.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

I’ll be shocked when/if Porsche ever does a meaningful OTA update.

The most meaningful update I’ve received demuxed the AC controls in “sync” mode; where previously sync would merge the 2 elements (temp with up/down buttons and the fan indicator) into a single one, that is no longer the case after the update.

Umm, yeah, that’s all I got. I’m still hoping for a RedShift Perf-like update, OTA naturally.

 

[W1NGE]

Hi all,

I drive a MY23 (feb) Taycan and was enthusiastic when the SA told me the car supports OTA updates. Last 14 months I did receive 2 updates. A finder one and a weather one. Is this what I can expect for coming years? I was hoping on more / more frequent ones with new features like all the Muskmobiles get. Can I expect such updates? For example, can I expect an UI update so my car looks like the MY25?

OTA updates are limited and to be honest down played these days by Porsche.

Map, Finder, Calendar updates are about as exciting as it gets.

Don't expect any MY25 UI updates as the PCM hardware will likely be different.

FoD updates will be thin on the ground too and largely dependent on the spec of your car.

OTA for significant updates was largely abandoned a couple of years back due to reliability issues.

Dealership for any major campaign.

 

[Murph7355]

OTA updates are limited and to be honest down played these days by Porsche.

Map, Finder, Calendar updates are about as exciting as it gets.

Don't expect any MY25 UI updates as the PCM hardware will likely be different.

FoD updates will be thin on the ground too and largely dependent on the spec of your car.

OTA for significant updates was largely abandoned a couple of years back due to reliability issues.

Dealership for any major campaign.

Much as the driving side of the product is exemplary, I think this will start to hurt Porsche in the not too distant future.

Younger buyers will simply not accept it.

Porsche needs to seriously pull its finger out with the software side of its products.

 

[W1NGE]

Much as the driving side of the product is exemplary, I think this will start to hurt Porsche in the not too distant future.

Younger buyers will simply not accept it.

Porsche needs to seriously pull its finger out with the software side of its products.

Actually, I'm ok with it. Not a fan of autonomous driving aids (dangerous) and absolutely not a fan of major software patches primarily on safety grounds. The last major software patch on the Taycan took the best part of a day - can you imagine performing that at home / remotely - and required intervention on most applications (some cars were rendered useless). This could be due to a weakness in the software architecture but in principle I'm happier to go to the dealership for something which profoundly changes the behaviour of my car.

Not sure the age aspect is that relevant - it's a Porsche before its a piece of (disposable) tech.

 

[whitex]

The last major software patch on the Taycan took the best part of a day - can you imagine performing that at home / remotely - and required intervention on most applications (some cars were rendered useless). This could be due to a weakness in the software architecture but in principle I'm happier to go to the dealership for something which profoundly changes the behaviour of my car.

It definitely is a weakness of Porsche design. Longest Tesla OTA I ever had was just under an hour total, while I was sleeping. It was an equivalent of the major update Porsche did when the icons became colored.

Tesla knew the value of OTA updates. It is absolutely necessary to hit the scale. 2008 Tesla Roadster did not have OTA, but 2012 Model S and all future cars did. OTA is not just for ADAS. Lack of OTA costed Porsche a bundle already on existing Taycans - just see how many software update recalls they already had on Gen1 Taycan - each costing Porsche hundreds of dollars per car, rather than a penny worth of internet bandwidth. Since Taycans are internet connected, they will require constant updates just to keep them secured from internet threats. Would you use an 8 year old phone without updates today? Such phone can be hacked by any script kiddie from their phones while chilling in their parents' basement. There is also a possibility that once warranty is over, this will fall onto owners of the cars to bring them in to a $600-$1,800 service (depending on the dealer, like the 2 year service price) twice a year to update the software. Wouldn't that do wonders to used Taycan values, eh?

OTA is hard. I know because I've worked on automotive OTA. The problem is that companies think they can tack it on at the very end because it looks simple on the C-suite iPhones or Android phones. Tesla got it right, reliable OTA is the most important software feature which cars should have, as VW learned with ID.4's which were one year delayed due to software woes, and tens of thousands of cars had to be manually flashed, over 10hrs of tech time per car.

 

[Murph7355]

Actually, I'm ok with it. Not a fan of autonomous driving aids (dangerous) and absolutely not a fan of major software patches primarily on safety grounds. The last major software patch on the Taycan took the best part of a day - can you imagine performing that at home / remotely - and required intervention on most applications (some cars were rendered useless). This could be due to a weakness in the software architecture but in principle I'm happier to go to the dealership for something which profoundly changes the behaviour of my car.

Not sure the age aspect is that relevant - it's a Porsche before its a piece of (disposable) tech.

Age is very relevant.

I started my career programming mainframes. I put the first PC in the govt dept I was working at (age 18) into productive use. I know the underlying intricacies of technology and am prepared to give it extreme latitude when it doesn't work or isn't ideal.

My kids are growing up in an age where they can get anything they want technologically in minutes. If it doesn't work, they move on to a piece that does.

This is not going to be "optional" when they're in the market for a car (of any price). They will be significantly less forgiving.

It's not about the tech being disposable - it's too expensive for that, and I'm not of the view that J1 is "obsolete" because J1.2 was released etc (a daft view that manufacturers are keen on promoting just as PC manufacturers are/we're). But...it will prevent people buying in the first place (partly because of the expensive - people will also be less forgiving of manufacturers who make their 100k+ trinkets "redundant" after just 4yrs ?

The issues with glitches that Porsche have with updates are poor architecture.

But I'm not even talking about significant upgrades that would go anywhere near "safety".

The way PCM operates for infotainment related functions is behind a 2016 Volvo in many aspects. This stuff should be able to be updated safely if they saw any value in it. I suspect they don't. But that again is short sighted. IMO.

I think we're in a big transitional period with cars at the moment. The question is, can traditional marques catch up on tech quicker than the new entrants can catch up on building nice cars....

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