The Holdup With Audi eTron Highlights A Bigger Problem With Electric Vehicles: Software

Audi launched its first ever electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) in San Francisco last month amid much anticipation. While the car did manage to grab headlines the world over and has many eyeing its roll-out, recent update by the company states that the SUV will hit the showrooms four weeks later than earlier planned.

The delay is because of a software development issue. As per Audi¡¯s spokesperson, a new regulatory clearance is required for a specific software that has been modified during the development process.

This, however, highlights a bigger issue with electric vehicles. To think of it, software is a major part of electric vehicles and the holdup in the case of Audi e-tron only re-emphasises it. In an EV, many embedded software systems act as a replacement for complex mechanical systems found in IC engine vehicles. A classic example of this is the in-built electronic stability control system acting as the complex Limited Slip Differential found in most other vehicles. The electronic system on Tesla models provide individual braking to the wheels to maintain a designated amount of torque in each, as required. In IC engine vehicles, this task is performed by a Limited Slip Differential, which is a complex assembly of mechanical parts weighing over 7 kgs.

Tesla Model S

And the same case applies to autonomous vehicles as well. As the world moves to autonomous capabilities for both personal as well as mass transit systems, the powering software is the unnoticed cause of success for most of these. And there is a proportionally rising challenge along with this.

Consider the eyes and ears of self-driving cars. Most of the vehicles use LiDAR or cameras or both. In addition, data is being fed into the systems through the central servers. The cumulative effect is the use of a lot of software interacting with each other on a real-time basis. The very same data has to be shared intra-vehicle as well for a connected network. That means combining the software capabilities of all the automakers whose cars are plying on the road. So in addition to making their own software full proof, the companies also have to ensure their integration with others are just as seamless as well.

Mercedes-Benz EQA Design (Concept Electric Car)

Then there is the inevitable question of cyber security. The end-to-end systems should be hack-proof to avoid any mishap on the road. It is not rocket science to figure that as the connected ecosystem on the roads grows, it will start becoming a much more preferred target for miscreants and terrorists alike. Remember the scene from ¡®The Fate Of The Furious¡¯, when Cipher gains access to all the cars on the roads? Still sends chills down the spine, doesn¡¯t it?

The complications further aggravate when you try to combine both autonomous prowess to electric vehicles. Imagine your car¡¯s self-driving software eating up half of the car¡¯s battery. Any benefits of the autonomous software will be eliminated there and then. And this is just one of dozens of such issues when it comes to the integration of both the aspects.

Lamborghini Terzo Millennio (Concept Electric Supercar)

Apart from the technical aspects, all the developed or to be developed software will have to clear the regulations in place in order to be implemented in vehicles. This again is a time-consuming challenge for the auto makers and might cause delays anywhere during the production line, as can be seen in the recent case of Audi.

Bottom line, though we have a broad perspective of the future of road transport, there is still a long way to go. While we know that a future full of electric and autonomous vehicles is inevitable, the road from 'work in progress' to being a practicality is still long.

For now, it is good to see that this does not deter the automakers from coming up with new and improved solutions to all and any of these problems.