Branden Flasch believed that the electric SUV he owned did a lot of things well. It was death by a thousand cuts when it came to the car's software based functions.
Flasch had trouble getting his car to work with Apple CarPlay and had trouble scheduling charging at home.
It was death by a lot.
His experience has been going on for a long time. Many owners of VW's electric ID cars all over the world have reported problems with features that are better on other cars. The long-awaited addition of over-the-air updates for VW cars in North America is starting this month, but not yet.
Flasch owned several electric vehicles and drove a Model S for 100,000 miles. He said that he lived out of his car for nine months during the worst of carbon dioxide. In his day job, he develops EV charging stations and infrastructure for a large convenience store chain.
He traded his ID.4 for a Polestar 2 and a Rivian R1T when he got a chance to part with it.
Flasch sold the Volkswagen more for financial reasons than anything else.
Flasch said that it's fantastic as a vehicle. There are very few cars that are that good. He said that Volkswagen is a bit behind the curve when it comes to software.
The Volkswagen Group's electric vehicle plans are being hampered by software problems. VW Group CEO Oliver Blume is due to give a revised software strategy at the company's board meeting on December 15th. The meeting has been described as a reality check, where Blume will be expected to present a more grounded plan to realize VW's ambitions.
The Volkswagen Group is going through a major transformation.
A VW Group spokesman said in an email that the group is undergoing the biggest change in its history. The new auto group has a plan to become a sustainable software oriented mobility provider. If we want to be a leader in tomorrow's mobility market, we need to transform ourselves and acquire new competencies. The software will be the new differentiating factor.
Blume knows how much it costs to not get this right. Herbert Diess was fired as CEO in September after clashing with unions.
The software problems of the Volkswagen Group are indicative of the larger issues facing the legacy automotive industry. They were forced to become software companies as well as manufacturing companies as they were forced to compete with new players likeTesla and Rivian.
The transition has been difficult.
According to Paul Waatti, the industry analysis manager for AutoPacific, software and the way a consumer interacts with the vehicle are some of the most critical areas of focus. It is no longer just mechanical and dynamic advantages that make up the difference. Software and the user experience will set vehicles apart.
Software and the way a consumer interacts with the vehicle are some of the most critical areas of focus for the auto industry.
The stakes are high for the VW Group. Depending on how Toyota performs in that quarter, it is either the biggest or second biggest car company in the world. One of the most aggressive pivots to electric vehicles was undertaken by the car company in order to seek penance for cheating on diesel emissions in 2015. The founding of Electrify America was included.
In the years since, the VW Group has committed to phasing out its internal combustion engines in Europe by 2035, as well as building six battery "gigafactories" in Europe meant to supply millions of electric vehicles.
VW has high ambitions for new revenue sources beyond just selling cars, and they rely on software. Connected cars, leverage data, subscription features, integration of e- commerce and augmented reality into vehicles, virtual assistants, and other features could redefine how we think of cars entirely.
Volkswagen needs the software to be right. It hasn't yet.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Software refers to a lot of things in the automotive world. It can mean programs that govern more complex functions, such as semi-autonomous driver assistance systems, battery management, navigation, over-the-air updates, and interactions with various charging networks. It can also be used to refer to features that drivers have been used to for the last two decades.
It's "all of the above" in Volkswagen's case.
The original ID.3 was delayed due to software issues and was sold in Europe and other markets. There have been issues with the other ID cars in China. Problems with charging route planning, inaccurate tire pressure readings, and other pains have been reported by owners and car tester in America.
There are issues with charging route planning and inaccurate tire pressure readings.
Will Kaufman is a senior writer and content strategist at the automotive shopping site Edmunds. A number of software-related technical problems have been reported by the publication since it added a new ID.4 in March.
One of our editors wrote an article about why Volkswagen wants me to hate it. Kaufman spoke. There were a lot of bugs and unexpected behavior that led to that. We've had a lot of issues with the internet.
The ID.4 is meant to be the tip of the spear for the new Volkswagen in America, one eager to move past its diesel-cheating past. It is aimed at mainstream Americans and is priced to convince families that they can break up with gas for good. The MEB platform is an electric vehicle architecture meant to underpin a small army of VW Group cars in the future.
Kaufman said that this is up against the Mustang Mach-E. These are important vehicles for brands to use to lay out their future and get new consumers on board.
The ID.4 is supposed to be the tip of the spear for the new Volkswagen in the US.
Kaufman believes it has something to do with the many all-new technologies that made their debut here and that the root cause of the ID cars' software issues is not clear.
Kaufman said that there was a lot of new stuff for the vehicle. It's not carrying much over from other vehicles.
VW's struggles show the pitfalls of car companies developing software in-house, but they also show what car companies will risk if they don't. Waatti recalled a conversation with another car company.
They were worried that they would become suppliers to a software company. That is a possibility. I think that a company like Volkswagen, who has as deep pockets as they do, might not be willing to give up that huge portion of the vehicle's future to an outside brand.
Some cars are different. Volvo, Polestar, and Ford will all use the same software for their in-vehicle entertainment systems next year. Apple, which has had its own set of troubles developing a car in-house, appears to have similar software plans.
Waatti understands why the auto industry is reluctant to give software to other entities. He thinks it is to their disadvantage. The core knowledge base of Volkswagen should be more focused on developing and building cars. Not a program.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Issues with the screen have been around for a long time, but they don't often lead to CEOs being fired. Plans for future factories, as well as big goals around eventual self driving, have been affected by VW's problems.
The new high-end electric flagship sedan is called Project Trinity. It was meant to herald in the successor to the MEB platform, called SSP, and was to debut a whole new range of technologies for VW, including a high level of autonomously driving. The VW brand's CEO described it as a lighthouse project. It was to be built at a new 2 billion euro factory.
VW's problems extend beyond the screens and have affected new car launches, plans for future factories, and big goals around eventual self-driving cars.
A hard reality check has been done on that dream. VW Group CEO Peter Blume is considering whether to build the vehicle at the new plant or at an existing plant. Project Trinity's new software platform has been delayed, according to reports. The more revolutionary SSP project will be punted down the road, according to VW's announcement of substantial further development to its MEB platform called MEB Plus.
VW could stick with what it has now while sorting out its software issues and scaling up its battery tech and production before promising the future of electric and self-drive cars.
Some of their future plans were disrupted by the fact that they would have to direct a lot of resources to the software.
Many current owners still sing the praises of their ID.4s despite the software problems and the question of whether VW can get Apple CarPlay sync right. Despite the supply chain issues that have plagued the entire industry, it has been selling well and has made a number of publications' "best" lists. An update that must be installed at a dealership, not over the air, like aTesla, adds some much-needed features, like better charging route planning, display updates, and what VW calls'minor bug fixes.'
A Volkswagen USA spokesman said in a statement that the company is constantly working to improve and enhance the digital experience for its consumers.
Updating software for MY21 ID.4s is one of the ways we are working to improve the digital experience for our consumers.
Some owners are still happy with their purchases. He has owned his ID.4 since October of last year, and he said he is very much enjoying it.
I don't have anything to compare it to. Menjivar said he loved the ride, the pickup, and the overall look. It could be better. Nothing would stop me from getting a second.
Menjivar said he wished his car had the plug-and-charge feature that's now available on, because VW's software isn't on par with some competitors.
He wants to be able to plug in to Electrify America and have it recognize his car.
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