ID.3 Software Storm and the Digital Road of Volkswagen

"Not yet? 1%? Degree of completion.

member of the board of directors of Volkswagen brand? Thomas? Ulbrich? Talking about the public recently? ID.3? Say this when the software development progress of.

in his opinion, ID.3? It is normal that there are still technical research and development tasks before they are put on the market.

ID.3? Is it the public? MEB? The first model of the platform, positioning pure electric compact hatchback.

where is this car? 219? Year? 9? It was released for the first time in the world at the Frankfurt Motor Show in June, and the first batch of new cars will be delivered in the European market this summer as planned.

but since last year? 12? Since June, about? ID.3? The news of delayed delivery due to software problems is endless.

the one that reported the software problem? ID.3? Is it carrying? VW.os? The first model of vehicle operating system. VW.os? Is it the public? 219? Year? 6? Established in June? Car.Software? Software products developed by the software department.

to give? Car.Software? The department is more free to play space, 22? Year? 1? Since June, the public has approved it? Car.Software? The department operates independently under the Group.

the public? ID.3? Behind the software storm, Car.Software? The progress of has once again attracted the attention of the industry.

1. "Code" storm

Volkswagen? ID.3? The news of falling into the whirlpool of software failures was exposed by the German magazine "Manager".

The Manager quoted a public expert as saying: There are a large number of Volkswagen cars? ID.3? Software problems. Hundreds of software testers find out every day? 3? Software vulnerabilities, more than? 1? A technician is trying to solve these problems.

These problems stem from the basic architecture of the software. Due to the hasty development of the architecture, many system components are not compatible with each other, which leads to the system exit.

at present, Volkswagen has produced? 1? A car has rented a parking space, the software engineering team is stepping up efforts to repair code defects, and technicians manually install complete and repaired software architecture defects through equipped mobile control equipment.

software failure may force the public to give up delivery this summer? ID.3? The original plan, which led to? ID.3? Delayed delivery for one year.

failure also means that? 2? Car? ID3? Cars will be manufactured without a complete software suite, which requires engineers to manually fix problems at extra cost after production.

the public official responded to this, ID.3? The R&D work is progressing smoothly and will be delivered as scheduled this summer.

the public official said that ID3? It is equipped with an upgradeable software architecture, but it is still a challenge to fix the instability of some software.

"Because this is the first time to drive an Internet device on an open road, we must ensure the reliability of the software. Compared with their peers, they may have sold more innovative vehicles and called it a better version. And we want to solve all the problems, and its high quality is enough to satisfy every customer. We believe this can be achieved this summer.

at present, ID.3? Can it be achieved? OTA? Upgrade, but only for some key functions.

this means that ID.3? Can't be realized in the whole vehicle at present? OTA? Upgrade, and this software problem can't pass? OTA? To solve it.

the software storm exposed some problems, that is, being good at hardware and system integration? OEM? It is still not handy in software development.

the key for Volkswagen to enter the next era is electrification and digitalization, pure electric platform? MEB? The research and development has been completed, and then it can be promoted in an orderly manner. What is more difficult is digitalization, which is not an area that the public is good at.

Edith? Diess）? Since? 218? Year? 4? After assuming the post of Chairman of audi ag Management Board in May, he began to accelerate the digital reform of Volkswagen, and planned to? 22? In, the Volkswagen brand will invest about? 35? Billion euros to start the digital revolution.

2. Transformation

What is the important task of digitalization? Car.Software? This department shoulders.

219? Year? 6? In June, Volkswagen announced that it would set up a software department? Car.Software is responsible for the core work of software development of automobiles and cloud platforms of all brands and product sequences in audi ag.

Car.Software? There are five major business segments, namely:

operating system and connection platform

intelligent body and cockpit

automatic driving

vehicle and energy platform

service platform and travel service

Car.Software? The CEO is from? Diess? Right-hand man? Christian? Senger? As, and invited at that time? SAP? Global CTO's? Bj? rn? Goerke? Join, serve? Car.Software? Chief technology officer.

with the CFO? Frank? R? sler? Together, the trio became? Car.Software? Management Committee of.

Christian? Senger? Yu? 216? Joined Volkswagen in? E-Mobility? Person in charge of electric vehicle product line.

successfully developed? MEB? After the platform, he again? 219? Year? 3? Become a month? Digital? Car& Service? Head of the department, responsible for digital vehicles and services, and was appointed as a member of the brand management Committee of Volkswagen passenger cars.

before joining the public, Christian? Senger? He has worked in BMW and Continental Group for energy management and BMW. i? Management positions in the fields of brand, automotive system and technology.

yes? Christian? Senger? In contrast, the heads of the five business segments are:

Markus? Lipinsky、Klaus? Büttner、Thomas? Müller、Manfred? Harrer? And? Christoph? Hartung。

they come from audi ag, Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen passenger cars, and directly report to? Christian? Senger? Report.

five people have their own areas of expertise.

Markus? Lipinsky? Used to be the digital brand of Mann, a Volkswagen commercial vehicle? RIO? Person in charge, responsible for providing digital services and applications for vehicles.

Klaus? Büttner? Before joining Volkswagen, he served as the unmanned vice president of BMW, and later became the executive vice president of electrical/electronic business of Audi Automobile Co., Ltd.

Thomas? Muller? Was Audi? A8? Head of research and development department of suspension system with variable suspension.

Manfred? Harrer? Is the vice president of Porsche chassis development, since? 27? He has been engaged in chassis development in Porsche since 26.

Christoph? Hartug? He is the head of brand digital and new business and mobile travel service of Volkswagen.

in order to provide software R&D talents for these management, Volkswagen will integrate its subsidiaries? 12? A brand is scattered? IT? Department, focus on? Car.Software? In this new department.

besides, the original? 35? The budget of 1 million euros also began to increase, and Volkswagen announced that it would invest? 7? Billion euros for recruitment? IT? Industry talents, the plan will be? Car.Software? From? 219? When hundreds of people, to? 22? What is the development of the year? 2? People.

This plan has been overfulfilled. This year? 3? In mid-June, Volkswagen announced the first batch of contracts. 3? An expert in the field of numbers has been put in place. Arrive? 225? Years, more than? 1? A software engineer will work in this department.

the goal of the public is to win? 225? Will the proportion of self-developed software be reduced from the shortage at that time years ago? 1%? To at least? 6%。

first set the general direction, and then gradually expand the team, so the digital transformation of the public from top to bottom began.

Car.Software? After its establishment, it mainly does two things: developing vehicle operating system? VW.os? And the car cloud platform? Volkswagen? Automotive? Cloud, these are things that no car company has ever done.

VW.os? It is mainly used in vehicle terminals to integrate traditional systems and ADAS? And mobile travel services such as autonomous driving, car entertainment, car networking and energy management.

the car cloud platform is used to connect cars, people and cloud services. The combination of the two has become the technical path for the public to realize digitalization and build smart cars.

Volkswagen cloud platform is also the technical basis for building a digital ecosystem, which is used for? VW.os? The operating system accesses rich ecological content.

popular? VW.os? The operating system is completely independently developed, and the car cloud platform has chosen to cooperate with Microsoft.

VW.os? The goal is to build a set of software operating systems suitable for all Volkswagen brands.

Volkswagen? Automotive? Cloud? The goal is to become the central control unit of Volkswagen, and the owner can access or order the digital function of the vehicle through the Volkswagen cloud platform, and get the automatic driving function updated through the cloud platform.

according to the plan, where is Volkswagen? 22? Vehicles produced after 28 will be able to realize the connection function.

according to the annual production? 1? The speed of 1 thousand new cars, which means? 225? In, there will be? 5? Ten thousand cars installed? VW.os? Operating system and into the network of the cloud platform.

so, VW.os? Operating system and? Volkswagen? Automotive? Cloud? Is it a measure? Car.Software? An indicator of progress.

due to? ID.3? It is the first model equipped with two software platforms, and this car is inspected? Car.Software? The touchstone of propulsion effect.

unfortunately, now? ID.3? In trouble. More questions have also appeared.

for example, Car.Sostware? Has it been done? VW.os? And the car cloud platform? Is there a new model for the relationship between Volkswagen and suppliers? Has the digital age of Volkswagen been successfully opened?

3. separation of software and hardware development

Car.Software? The goal is to? 22? Software released in 23, 223? A complete software stack was launched in.

the challenge is to learn from? ? Arrive? 1, and let a huge organization like Volkswagen complete the transition smoothly.

to transform into a software company, we must deal with the relationship between software and hardware development. What the public does is:

Because the development cycle of software is faster, in months or even weeks, the development cycle of hardware usually takes four to five years. Therefore, the public's hardware and software development is separated from the organization. Car.Software? Responsible for all software research and development. At the same time, all brands under the Group will still retain their own software core specialties.

yes? Car.Software? Before its establishment, Volkswagen has been packaging and purchasing software and hardware from suppliers.

established? Car.Software? After that, this department will be responsible for defining a software platform with basic functions for all brands of Volkswagen, and in this way, a virtual shelf at the software level will be formed, from which all brands under the Group can choose certain functions and realize the personalization of functions. At the same time, the R&D departments of various brands still shoulder the responsibility of hardware development.

To build these software platforms with basic functions, there are three specific steps:

First, the public has changed from being oriented towards components and control units to being oriented towards software and standard methods. Let the employees of the group understand the whole system.

Secondly, through recruitment and internal training, more software personnel will be trained, and new technical partnerships will be established, and finally the professional knowledge of software will be expanded.

thirdly, by building a high-performance software platform, we can provide services for all brands and markets.

it is worth noting that it is true? Car.Software? After that, after completing the self-built standardized software platform, Volkswagen will establish hardware suppliers on this basis.

according to? Christian? Senger? The idea, and? MEB? The universality of the platform is similar, and the software platform established by Volkswagen can be opened to third parties in the future.

these practices determine that the relationship between the public and suppliers will be reshuffled.

"The main pressure now is the connection of hardware and software in the car. For example, in the Volkswagen brand car, from? 2? Up to 1 different suppliers? 7? Control units must be networked. Most of our energy is spent on technology integration, and we rely heavily on the development of third parties, which will not be a good model in the future. We need to be people who develop software and set standards, and then provide these things to all our brands and suppliers. 」

Christian? Senger? Said that Volkswagen must put the car? 7? A control unit is connected to the network.

Volkswagen didn't talk about the supplier relationship in Otawa, Christian? Senger? Just said, like Apple, we should improve the attractiveness of our partners through the services we can provide.

However, according to Volkswagen's software development logic, this partner should not only be a supplier, but access as many eco-service providers as possible like Android.

4. Difficult supply chain

Back to establishment? Car.Software? This matter itself, why should we set up this new department? Volkswagen's original brands? IT? Why do departments need to be integrated?

all this comes from the car? ECU? Speaking of.

ECU（Electronic? Control? Unit), also known as electronic control unit, controls the internal engine, airbag system, AEB? System, ADAS? The microcomputer controller of the sensor is equivalent to that of a computer? CPU, so it is also called "car brain".

the difference is that there is only one computer? CPU, and? ECU? It's decentralized, with one engine and one airbag system? ECU。

Take Volkswagen as an example. What do you usually have in a car? 7? A? ECU, where are they from? 2? Different suppliers.

if it develops in the traditional way, with the advent of intelligent network connection and the era of automatic driving, the car's? ECU? The number will only increase, but different? ECU? And it needs data transmission and processing, which will cause problems such as low communication efficiency and information security.

the solution to this problem is to start from the level of electronic and electrical architecture. ECU? Finally, the car will have an "on-board brain" like a computer.