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Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

insideevs.com

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Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#201

Post by SoftTalker »

cameronh90 wrote: post #190
StopDisinfo910 wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I seem to remember Jeep saying manual window winders were actually more expensive once you factor in the costs of having them as an option given how cheap electric ones are when they dropped them for the new Wrangler. Might still be cheaper if you only manufacture with them and don’t offer electric but the price difference can’t be that high.

Is it about price or reliability? I never had a manual window winder fail to work, but electric window buttons breaking or the motor getting stuck (e.g. in icy conditions) has happened at some point in every car I've owned. The convenience factor hugely outweighs the rare failures for me, but I could see why someone buying a Wrangler for its intended purpose might actually prefer the manual option.

Manual windows can and do fail, but in my experience not as often as electric ones. There’s just less to go wrong.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#202

Post by ericmay »

DragonStrength wrote: post #192
ericmay wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s interesting - what vehicles require you to do that? I know the usual suspect is the Tesla, which I have, but I never have to navigate through menus to change the temperature while driving. As an aside a lot of people like to levy criticism on the infotainment screens which I think is very well deserved, but then people text and drive, watch YouTube videos, and do all sorts of crazy things too. Instead of levyi…

Subaru require you navigating to second screen for climate modes. Simple temp adjustment has buttons, but the screen interactions for basic usage feels dangerous as a driver.

I’m being pedantic but the OP did specifically say they need to “navigate through screens to adjust the temperature” which I think is different than setting climate modes. Not that I’m defending that you might have to do that specifically, but I was responding to the OP’s specific wording.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#203

Post by jay_kyburz »

ghaff wrote: post #82
dmitrygr wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait till you see how much it costs (in sales) to NOT have it. Eg: I won’t buy a car without it.

I'm not sure why you have the downvotes. Even it's mostly just about GPS, the built-in screen is better than iPhone on a somewhat dodgy clip attached to a vent someplace. Unless the car were otherwise compelling--and it's a pretty competitive market--not sure I'd buy a car without CarPlay.

I want a car with a phone holder built in! My phone will always be higher powered and more update than any tech in the car.

Give me a car with no computer, but a phone stand and charger built in!

Oh oh, we could even use a standard like monitor stands.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#204

Post by 1a527dd5 »

minusLik wrote: post #198
1a527dd5 wrote: post #161

I would really rather that cars didn't run software, or at the least the minimal software to get the job done where there is no other option. My current car is a Kia; I love it. But the door locks are software controlled (you can tell from the lag). The issue is I like to lock my doors as soon as I'm in the car. The software can't cope with this; about 500ms later it unlocks the doors again and won't let me lock unti…

The cars I know lock their doors automatically when they go at a certain speed (e. g. mine does at 20 km/h). Doesn't yours?

It does. But that isn't what I want it to do. I want to manually lock the doors as soon as I close my driver side door.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#206

Post by adriand »

ak217 wrote: post #191
anon7000 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mazda has done a great job at this so far, very minimal screen which automatically just shows CarPlay, and buttons for all the normal car stuff, which also isn’t overdone. The only flaw is the scroll wheel to interact with the screen, which is just slightly too clunky in apps with too many options

Mazda also managed to squander a huge brand and structural advantage by falling into lockstep behind other Japanese automakers in underinvesting in EV manufacturing infrastructure. Now they have to rely on their JV partner Changan to lead the way in producing EVs, giving up the core structural strengths that Mazda previously had in designing and building their own components - including software and controls, which i…

Hopefully they figure it out because I love my Mazda 3 hatchback and would buy an EV version of it in a heartbeat. Not only is it very fun to drive (I have a manual transmission) but the interior design is excellent.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#207

Post by hedora »

SoftTalker wrote: post #196
ak217 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mazda also managed to squander a huge brand and structural advantage by falling into lockstep behind other Japanese automakers in underinvesting in EV manufacturing infrastructure. Now they have to rely on their JV partner Changan to lead the way in producing EVs, giving up the core structural strengths that Mazda previously had in designing and building their own components - including software and controls, which i…

A lot of people still don’t want or can’t really afford EVs given their limitations. I’d say it’s the majority where I live. I directly know only one person who has a full EV (not a hybrid). I don’t think the Japanese automakers have squandered anything, yet.

We paid maybe a $10K premium for a used EV truck. It gets 2mi/kWh. Most parts of the country are paying ~ $0.125 per kWh, so that’s &0.06 of a dollar in electricity per mile.

A comparable truck gets 18mpg mixed. At $3/gallon, that’s $0.16 per mile. So, the price premium pays back after 100K miles. That’s comparable to milage driven during a long car loan.

I ignored oil changes, tax breaks on used cars, and picked the form factor where EVs are the least economical.

It’s still basically break-even.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#208

Post by SoftTalker »

ghaff wrote: post #117
gambiting wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally yes, but I would buy a car that has no screen at all, just give me a phone holder on the dash.

And what happens when phone sizes change? I've certainly had phone clips that didn't comfortably fit a new phone with case.

I think phones are about as big as they can get, unless we genetically engineer larger hands.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#209

Post by reliablereason »

Jiocus wrote: post #10

The author mentions "military grade firewall", as a must have in a vehicle. Genuine question; What's a military grade firewall?

I wonder if that is a "Genuine question"..

"military grade" is often used as a marketing term used for things that pretend to be built to be extra strong.

In this case it is a stupid term to use to describe a firewall cause a firewall either works or it does not.

Re: Car companies are in a billion-dollar software war

#210

Post by sarchertech »

FrankWilhoit wrote: post #2

Embedded-systems programming is not taught, and no one is willing to pay for training. The result is that development is outsourced to entities that claim, falsely, to have the knowledge. Eventually the consequences of the fact that they do not have the knowledge surface in an undeniable manner, and the only way to cover is to make a great show of a fresh start. (This affects all industries, not just automotive, but…

My CS degree concentration is embedded systems. I love embedded programming, but it would probably cost me $200k a year to do it versus the backend distributed systems stuff I do now.
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