Software is the New Chasis

The credit must go to Tesla for being the first to figure out the importance of software as the foundation of a car platform. They were also the first to integrate all car subsystems into one - motor control (including charging in EVs), entertainment, navigation.

Not long ago it was all (mostly) disconnected bricks - the engine had its own ECU and the radio was separate from the navigation unit. The latter two typically had their exclusive screens and any attempts to integrate them were patchy at best.

And to gest software upgrades (if any) you had to visit an authorized service station.

With Tesla it was the first time people experienced automatic over-the-air firmware updates. And BTW they drunk the cool aid, some still believing the Level 5 self driving is just around the corner and an overnight upgrade away (more on that in another post).

About 15 years ago I had a conversation with an engineer working at BMW. He gave me the (shocking - it was circa 2005!) statistics the cost of software was half of the cost of a new car platform. Unfortunately BMW has not managed to improve on this part sufficiently. Volkswagen - on the other hand - seems to have learned the lesson. 

The ID.3 (in Europe) and ID.4 (in America) are getting very positive comments, being partially responsible for the fall of TSLA stock (and similar gains by VOW). But not many realize the ID.3 debut was mostly delayed by problems with the software platform (a Feb 2020 article on this). Fast forward a year and the OTA update for the ID.3 is now available. Anticipating even greater role of software as the fundamental chassis of new cars, VW also supports broader software education efforts, including the 42 software academy with funding for the 42 Wolfsburg. All it being part of the plan to "get close and overtake".