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Ask HN: Do custom ROMs exist for electric cars, for example Teslas?

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Re: Ask HN: Do custom ROMs exist for electric cars, for example Teslas?

#11

Post by TheAceOfHearts »

I don't know about electric cars, but for gas powered cars there are open source ECUs [0][1]. There are also tuners that directly modify the car's firmware to improve performance. Finally, you can connect a computer to the CAN bus [2], which allows you to capture and replay commands, as well as craft your own commands. This is how Comma's openpilot [3] works: it connects to the CAN bus and sends commands for all supported functionality.

What kind of features did you have in mind?

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_control_unit

[1] https://rusefi.com/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN_bus

[3] https://comma.ai/openpilot

Re: Ask HN: Do custom ROMs exist for electric cars, for example Teslas?

#14

Post by thrilleratplay »

I think I know what you are asking but it is complicated.

For safety, regulator, historical and frankly common sense reasons, a car is not one system. It is a system of system that communicate via a CAN BUS, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN_bus. This is still true for electric cars. Can this be hacked? Like everything else, yes.

Can you side load a new ROM like an android device? Not that know of and hope that never becomes a reality because your phone crashing is different than you car crashing (figuratively and literally). Can you enable/disable features? Yes, usually through ECU hacking. On my P3 Volvo, I bought a cheap stripped down Chinese clone of Volvo's diagnostic tool called DiCE. Once the ECU is decrypted, which is done through brute force, you can use something like https://d5t5.com/article/vdash-volvo-diagnostic or P3Tool to change level settings like the theme of LED dash or engine tuning.

You may be interested in https://github.com/jaredthecoder/awesome-vehicle-security#re...

Re: Ask HN: Do custom ROMs exist for electric cars, for example Teslas?

#16

Post by eraviloi »

merelysounds wrote: post #10
j4hdufd8 wrote: post #5

Maybe you want https://comma.ai/ , founded by geohot who famously made the iOS and PlayStation jailbreaks

This is not a custom ROM but a hardware solution (installed on a windshield, with its own camera).

It is the closest there will every be to what the OP is asking for.

Re: Ask HN: Do custom ROMs exist for electric cars, for example Teslas?

#17

Post by eimrine »

bigmattystyles wrote: post #12

Surprised they aren’t all signing their firmware and not loading it if it doesn’t match a fused cert or something.

Security (for vendor) from obscurity. AFAIK most of car owners cannot just buy the replace electronics for his car on used market so most of owners afraid of messing with proprietary computers in the car.

Re: Ask HN: Do custom ROMs exist for electric cars, for example Teslas?

#19

Post by AlotOfReading »

poulpy123 wrote: post #18

It's legally forbidden for the part of the software that is controlling the car

The only parts where that's true are for things like FCC certification. The US does not have an affirmative certification process for automotive software, including safety critical systems. NHTSA instead puts out a set of rules called FMVSS that manufacturers and aftermarket parts must comply with. Manufacturers then self-certify that they meet FMVSS and produce a bunch of documentation demonstrating that if NHTSA asks.

Note that FMVSS has almost nothing to say on the topic of software. The industry broadly follows industry standards like ISO 26262 and the less universal 21448, but these don't have firm legal weight outside their status as standards of practice, nor do they preclude installing your own software.

The situation in Europe is different and an affirmative certification process does exist there.

Re: Ask HN: Do custom ROMs exist for electric cars, for example Teslas?

#20

Post by MostlyStable »

euLh7SM5HDFY wrote: post #9

[dead]

Does "infotainment system" include the cluster displays (speedometer etc) in vehicles where that is entirely a digital display (must be most at this point). I really hate the (very non-traditional) way my current vehicle displays this info. Whats funny is that both the highest trim level of this model and the one-step-cheaper model both do it in a more traditional, far superior way.
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