Within 6 Years, Most Vehicles Will Allow OTA Software Updates (computerworld.com)

Lucas123 writes: By 2022, using a thumb drive or taking your vehicle to the location you bought it for a software update will seem as strange as it would be for a smartphone or laptop today. By 2022, there will be 203 million vehicles on the road that can receive software over-the-air (SOTA) upgrades; among those vehicles, at least 22 million will also be able to get firmware upgrades, according to a new report by ABI Research. Today, there are about 253 million cars and trucks on the road, according to IHS Automotive. The main reasons automakers are moving quickly to enable OTA upgrades: recall costs, autonomous driving and security risks based on software complexities, according to Susan Beardslee, a senior analyst at ABI Research. "It is a welcome transformation, as OTA is the only way to accomplish secure management of all of a connected car's software in a seamless, comprehensive, and fully integrated manner," Beardslee said.

Comments

So defective cars

[Anonymous Coward]

So you're telling me you'll be selling defective cars that need repaired so often their need OTA updates? And not just a regular maintenance at the dealership?

And where are the regulatory authorities then? Are they sitting on their asses while you sell us these defective cars?

Autonomous Driving

[Anonymous Coward]

BY DEFINITION the car can DRIVE ITSELF to the dealership.

It can do this at night, when I am sleeping.

It will wait in line with the other cars, the techs will plug in their devices, and they will fix the car.

The car will then DRIVE ITSELF home, park itself in the driveway, and finish its recharge cycle.

Why in the world would anybody need OTA?

Re:better

[phantomfive]

The problem is that the quality of software being put into cars has been decreasing. That isn't something you want to mess with, you want to make sure it has close to zero bugs.

Being able to push OTA updates will only encourage managers to declare projects done then fix things later. The threat of a recall like an invisible hand encourages car companies to try extra hard to get it right.

Furthermore, there generally isn't adequate protection of critical systems from those that are provided for the convenience of the passengers. Those systems generally aren't very secure

Exactly.

Re:The real resaon for this

[mwvdlee]

It's only one time for that one particular car and they promise to delete the code afterwards.