E-Cars: Your Best Accomplishment Is Really Its Biggest Hook

Anyone who buys a modern, chic, smart electric car usually receives a promise with it: A promise for software updates, a promise that the manufacturer will import changes to the operating system in the future if necessary. Am I the only one who is going against the grain of this update mentality? A comment by Felix Gräber

Over-the-air updates is the keyword that moves the automotive world in addition to electric drives and autonomous driving. What is meant by that: Modern cars are connected online with the manufacturerwho can distribute updates “through the air” – a nice idea, after all, you don’t need to go to the authorized workshop for minor quirks. But you can’t just make the online updates in the car so appealing to me – and there are two main reasons for that.

Reason 1: My new car can be ready when I buy it

I know that the diligence of the manufacturers should in all probability ensure that cars are only brought onto the market when the software is also mature. VW, for example, assured this at this year’s Innovation Talk. Bug fixes are therefore also included, no company can completely rule out software bugs.

Still, the update promise in advance the stale aftertaste of the unfinished. I’m not particularly fond of half-cooked breakfast eggs either. When it comes to newly released Android smartphones or installing the latest macOS on the MacBook, the following rule of thumb also applies: Better to wait first until the first ailments have subsided, the fixes are ready and show that they are working.

I will probably have to do the same with the new electric car in the future. I don’t want to bother with the teething troubles. That’s why I say: Thank you, no! Important to note: This problem is not only faced by e-cars. Software has long been an integral part of many vehicles, with the exception of classic cars. It is an advantage over you that you do not have to go for repairs so that someone can just import fresh code. And the fresh code accompanies us to my second point of criticism:

Reason 2: I’m not a fan of subscription contracts

Subscriptions, subscriptions, subscriptions everywhere, accompanied by term contracts, usage fees, etc. Not long and that too Automakers are doing that in a big way Discover the subscription business model for yourself. It all started at Ford, VW announced its plans a long time ago. They all follow Tesla, because we have known not just since Bitcoin: practically everyone goes where Elon Musk is going – and for some there is money to be made there.

Other automakers will do the same: The necessary improvements to the operating system will be given to car owners free of charge, it can be assumed. For everything else that can be monetized there will be costs for us. Advanced driver assistance systems, for example, or multimedia offers for breaks, special software bundles for more range in the electric car or more power – everything is already being planned.

It is a fact that there is a lot of software in current e-cars. in the Video On the other hand, you will find five misconceptions about electric cars that are not true:

For this, the cars are – unfortunately it has to be said so drastically – before they are sold artificially crippled. Because everything that can be activated over the air using software is already built into the car. But you can’t use it without paying extra. A sports car with the virtual handbrake on – I lose the fun at the thought.

Not least when I imagine the cost of it. Maybe I’m the exception here. but I like to have low monthly fixed costs. Paying for a car with a subscription and for (almost) every extra thing the monthly price is increased a bit? I say: thank you, no!