I am old enough to have been required to take auto shop class in school. Back in those days, all you had to focus on is the mechanical aspects of the car. These days that’s not the case as there are a number of computers in a modern car that control everything from the engine, the transmission, as well as keep you safe by running key features such as traction control and stability control. But recent events had made me wonder if owners need some sort of “Patch Tuesday” to ensure that bugs in those computers are addressed before they become major problems.
Now for those of you who don’t know what “Patch Tuesday” is, it’s the second Tuesday of every month where Microsoft releases security patches to address security issues in their operating systems and applications. They do it this way because they want everybody to have some degree of certainty when it comes to these issues being addressed and get into the habit of patching their software when the patches become available. The car industry doesn’t have anything like this, but there have been a couple of recalls for software issues that makes me think that they do need something like this. The first is the recall of 625,000 Toyota Prius cars because of bugs in the software that runs the hybrid system:
The current software for the motor/generator control and hybrid control ECUs can cause high heat to develop around some transistors and damage them. If this happens, lights on the dashboard would warn drivers. However, in some instances the problem could result in a failure of the hybrid system.
Dealers will upgrade the software for both ECUs to fix the issue, and Toyota will notify owners in the US by mail about scheduling repairs. According to Reuters, there are also 340,000 vehicles in Japan and 160,000 in Europe that need this, as well.
The second is Ford recalling over 400,000 cars because of a software bug that keeps the engines from turning off:
The affected models include some 2015 Focus, C-MAX, and Escape vehicles. If you’re unlucky, turning the ignition key to the off position and removing the key, or pressing the engine stop button, will not actually stop the engine, which will keep running thanks to a flaw in the body control module software.
The final example is Jaguar Land Rover recalling 65,000 vehicles because of a very interesting bug:
Over 65,000 Range Rover and Range Rover Sport SUVs being recalled because of a bug that unlocks car doors without notifying drivers, making the vehicles more prone to break-ins from thieves.
The glitch affects Range Rover and Range Rover Sport vehicles manufactured after 2013.
All of these were in the month of July. That doesn’t count anything that gets “slipped in” during scheduled maintenance at your dealer. In my case, there have been a few occasions where some piece of software has been updated as part of the scheduled maintenance of my car and I only found out about it after the fact when I noticed something amiss such as the radio being reset or the car behaving slightly differently and I called the dealer on it. That implies that bugs are discovered by car companies and they’re either quietly remedied or you get a recall notice if it is serious enough. Thus I believe that the car industry needs to take a page from the software industry and disclose issues in a regular and timely manner regardless of how serious it is or isn’t. But make it clear to the consumer how serious it might be (Example: Critical, Major, Serious, Minor) so that the consumer can decide how to take action. This should be very easy to find and provide full details on the bug and the changes to remedy it (AKA: a change log or release notes) so that all consumers can be properly informed. Car companies should also install these updates at no charge to the consumer and do so upon request. Now, if you want an example of how this sort of thing is done right, take a look at Tesla who not only provides over the air software updates for their cars, but provide full release notes. Clearly they get it and I think it’s time the rest of the car industry gets on that bandwagon as well. After all, it’s in the car companies interests to make sure that their products are up to date which makes them safer. That in turn, makes us all safer.
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Do Cars Need A “Patch Tuesday”??
I am old enough to have been required to take auto shop class in school. Back in those days, all you had to focus on is the mechanical aspects of the car. These days that’s not the case as there are a number of computers in a modern car that control everything from the engine, the transmission, as well as keep you safe by running key features such as traction control and stability control. But recent events had made me wonder if owners need some sort of “Patch Tuesday” to ensure that bugs in those computers are addressed before they become major problems.
Now for those of you who don’t know what “Patch Tuesday” is, it’s the second Tuesday of every month where Microsoft releases security patches to address security issues in their operating systems and applications. They do it this way because they want everybody to have some degree of certainty when it comes to these issues being addressed and get into the habit of patching their software when the patches become available. The car industry doesn’t have anything like this, but there have been a couple of recalls for software issues that makes me think that they do need something like this. The first is the recall of 625,000 Toyota Prius cars because of bugs in the software that runs the hybrid system:
The current software for the motor/generator control and hybrid control ECUs can cause high heat to develop around some transistors and damage them. If this happens, lights on the dashboard would warn drivers. However, in some instances the problem could result in a failure of the hybrid system.
Dealers will upgrade the software for both ECUs to fix the issue, and Toyota will notify owners in the US by mail about scheduling repairs. According to Reuters, there are also 340,000 vehicles in Japan and 160,000 in Europe that need this, as well.
The second is Ford recalling over 400,000 cars because of a software bug that keeps the engines from turning off:
The affected models include some 2015 Focus, C-MAX, and Escape vehicles. If you’re unlucky, turning the ignition key to the off position and removing the key, or pressing the engine stop button, will not actually stop the engine, which will keep running thanks to a flaw in the body control module software.
The final example is Jaguar Land Rover recalling 65,000 vehicles because of a very interesting bug:
Over 65,000 Range Rover and Range Rover Sport SUVs being recalled because of a bug that unlocks car doors without notifying drivers, making the vehicles more prone to break-ins from thieves.
The glitch affects Range Rover and Range Rover Sport vehicles manufactured after 2013.
All of these were in the month of July. That doesn’t count anything that gets “slipped in” during scheduled maintenance at your dealer. In my case, there have been a few occasions where some piece of software has been updated as part of the scheduled maintenance of my car and I only found out about it after the fact when I noticed something amiss such as the radio being reset or the car behaving slightly differently and I called the dealer on it. That implies that bugs are discovered by car companies and they’re either quietly remedied or you get a recall notice if it is serious enough. Thus I believe that the car industry needs to take a page from the software industry and disclose issues in a regular and timely manner regardless of how serious it is or isn’t. But make it clear to the consumer how serious it might be (Example: Critical, Major, Serious, Minor) so that the consumer can decide how to take action. This should be very easy to find and provide full details on the bug and the changes to remedy it (AKA: a change log or release notes) so that all consumers can be properly informed. Car companies should also install these updates at no charge to the consumer and do so upon request. Now, if you want an example of how this sort of thing is done right, take a look at Tesla who not only provides over the air software updates for their cars, but provide full release notes. Clearly they get it and I think it’s time the rest of the car industry gets on that bandwagon as well. After all, it’s in the car companies interests to make sure that their products are up to date which makes them safer. That in turn, makes us all safer.
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This entry was posted on July 16, 2015 at 8:12 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Automotive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.