This is a much bigger problem that requires a bigger solution. I'm pretty intrigued by the mention at the end that several european manufacturers are collaborating on an opensource automotive software platform, although their track record on software isn't that encouraging.
[0] Not perfect, but I think as good evidence as any: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2501.15654 [1] https://www.pangram.com/history/44cd07d3-ba94-4331-8c7f-a626...
It’s sad to see a good site put out bad AI writing like this.
> The irony of that headline...
> [reflective pause]
> "Coming soon, in a future software update" [shorter pause] now reads like an epitaph
Who's going to sell me one?
https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2018/may/18/tesla-incomplete-... https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2019/oct/30/calling-all-tesla... https://sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/dec/21/tesla-no-source-c...
See also this interesting slide deck about the GPLv3 and cars, I expect that regulations would mean you could not drive cars with modified software (similar to what happens with solar inverters):
https://events19.linuxfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017...
Aggressive regulations for emissions control software + industry deterrence for car modifications via insurance and warranties
Give me a car without internet uplink any day!
And then just 3 days back, the same thing happened with steering wheel while I was reversing the car. But this time, the car hadn't even turned-off... the wheel just got jammed. Restarted the card, and it worked. What the absolute fck man!! What tf!
Electronics and the corresponding software should stay 100% out of all critical paths inside of the car. Sure if it "helps", it's fine, but, that should NOT turn into such outcomes.
The brakes (n.b., spelling) and steering will feel increasingly stiff or "locked up" if your engine is off because the engine is not powering the vacuum system that powers the brake booster, and the steering will be extremely difficult to operate without the assistance of power steering.
But, the worrying, and a lot more scarier part is that this was not me accidentally leaving the car in accessory/power-on mode. The engine cut out while I was driving, which is itself a serious fault.
Regarding the steering wheel case, it still feels like electronic/software fault since the car was actually reversing on engine power. But, similar to the first case, most likely it was also not jammed, rather, i lost the power steering assist, and hence, it "felt" like jammed since it happened first time to me.
Im from India btw and the car in question is a 10+ year old Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire.
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Summary:
1. Break issue: vacuum assist lost due to engine shutting off (by itself) which "felt" like it "jammed" the breaks, but, most probably had just gotten super stiff instead.
2. Steering wheel: Still looks like a software/electronic fault, but, similar to the break case, it "felt" like jammed.. but, it had just gotten super stiff.
This all, however, is still so wrong. In either of the cases the fault was not mine, yet, I was put in a situation that could have been very serious.
There is literally nothing about any Fisker automobile that makes it worth all this effort. But a handful of rich boomer tech execs think there's nothing else in the world that could possibly meet their expectations for a hybrid or electric vehicle, have more wealth than they know what to do with, and so here we are.
Saabs are much the same way. Some nonsense about a completely overengineered security system in the newer vehicles that makes losing a key a "well, now you're fucked" event, I believe?
Uh no, we need significantly less software in the auto industry. Software sucks. It excels at taking relatively simple (if inconvenient) problems and in exchange for some notional convenience introduces problem spaces so baroque they border on the occult. An example: between all of the seat controls on the driver's seat of my wife's car I've counted 16 individual switch positions and something like six motors, all wired into the CAN bus so the central console can save user preferences.
Without bothering to check the OEM parts cost to replace that seat I am absolutely dead ass certain that it by itself costs more than my first three cars combined. And all of this pageantry replaces the two traditional dumb mechanical levers to control seat distance from the pedals and back tilt. This and real-time cell network surveillance is all the proof I need that executive depravity in the auto industry is functionally unlimited, and the reason why I wouldn't accept a "modern" car as a gift, much less buy one.
Overall I think it’s a good thing, but it’s the closest to Eternal September I ever experienced in my life, the sudden change inclusion of cultural strangers in a shared space with its customs etc.
LLM slop. Why does the author believe he is entitled to our attention if he cannot even bother to use his own words?