During the year that he owned a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4<\/a>, Branden Flasch came to believe that the electric crossover SUV did many things very well. But when it came to the car\u2019s software-based functions \u2014 the infotainment system, the various controls, smartphone integration, and so on \u2014 \u201cit was death by a thousand cuts,\u201d Flasch said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Flasch said he experienced problems with scheduling charging at home and had trouble getting the car to get along with Apple CarPlay<\/a>. He had an \u201cobnoxious\u201d experience with the ID.4\u2019s much-lamented capacitive controls<\/a>, which eschew actual buttons for touch panels that offer haptic feedback.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt was death by a thousand cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n His experience has not been isolated. Owners of VW\u2019s electric ID cars all over the world have reported problems with infotainment screens, range calculations, buggy smartphone connections, charging, and other features that are far more seamless on other companies\u2019 cars. And VW\u2019s long-promised<\/a> addition of over-the-air updates, increasingly common on other cars, is just now starting as of this month, but still not in North America.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Flasch is an old hand at EVs, having owned several, including a Tesla Model S he drove for 100,000 miles. (\u201cI essentially lived out of that car for nine months during the worst of COVID,\u201d he said.) He makes YouTube videos about his experiences with EVs; in his day job, he develops EV charging stations and infrastructure for a major convenience store chain.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But when he got a chance to part with his ID.4 for only $1,200 less than he paid for it, he did so, trading up for a Polestar 2 and then a Rivian R1T.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Flasch said he sold the Volkswagen more for financial reasons than anything else, but the software headaches are not missed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAs a vehicle, not talking about like infotainment and software, it\u2019s fantastic,\u201d Flasch said. \u201cThere are very few vehicles that are that good, realistically.\u201d But, he added, \u201cI would say Volkswagen is a bit behind the curve [on software] compared even to the other legacy automakers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Software problems have emerged as a major roadblock to the entire Volkswagen Group\u2019s electric vehicle plans. So much so that VW Group CEO Oliver Blume is due to outline a revised software strategy at the carmaking giant\u2019s supervisory board meeting on Thursday, December 15th. The meeting has been described by outlets like Automotive News<\/em><\/a> as a \u201creality check,\u201d where Blume will be expected to present a more grounded plan to realize VW\u2019s ambitious and expensive electric dreams.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe Volkswagen Group is undergoing the biggest transformation in its history.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe Volkswagen Group is undergoing the biggest transformation in its history,\u201d a VW Group spokesperson said in an email. \u201cOur NEW AUTO Group strategy sets out a clear roadmap up to 2030 for us to become a sustainable software-oriented mobility provider. We have to transform ourselves and acquire completely new competencies if we want to play a leading role in tomorrow\u2019s mobility market. Software will become the new differentiator.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Blume knows the cost of not getting this right. He took the CEO job in September after his predecessor Herbert Diess was fired<\/a> over clashes with unions and software issues<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Volkswagen Group\u2019s software problems are well-documented and reflective of wider issues facing many legacy automakers. As they aim to compete with new players like Tesla and Rivian and transform their vehicles into essentially battery-powered computers on wheels, they find themselves forced to become software companies as well as manufacturing companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This transition has not been an easy one.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s pretty clear that software and the way a consumer interacts with the vehicle are some of the most critical areas of focus for automakers, particularly for EVs,\u201d said Paul Waatti, the industry analysis manager for AutoPacific, an automotive marketing research and consulting firm. \u201cIt\u2019s no longer just mechanical and dynamic advantages that stand out like with internal combustion. It\u2019s software and the overall user experience that will ultimately set vehicles apart.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s pretty clear that software and the way a consumer interacts with the vehicle are some of the most critical areas of focus for automakers, particularly for EVs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n For the VW Group, the stakes could not be higher. It\u2019s not just a conglomerate that includes Audi, Porsche, Ducati, and Bentley that\u2019s either the biggest or second-biggest car company in the world, depending on how Toyota is performing that quarter. It\u2019s the car company undertaking one of the most aggressive pivots to electric vehicles, driven in part to seek penance for getting caught cheating on diesel emissions in 2015<\/a>. That even included founding Electrify America, its public EV charging subsidiary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the years since, the VW Group has committed to phasing out its internal combustion engines in Europe by 2035<\/a>, building six battery \u201cgigafactories\u201d in Europe meant to supply millions of EVs, and electrifying all of its brands, even Lamborghini<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Plus, automakers like VW have high aspirations for new revenue sources beyond just selling cars, and those, too, depend on software. These include features like connected cars, leveraging data, subscription features<\/a>, integrating e-commerce and augmented reality into vehicles, virtual assistants, and other features that could redefine how we think of cars entirely.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n To achieve any of that, Volkswagen must get the software right. And so far, it has not.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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