At the beginning of the new year, Tesla recalled 1.6 million vehicles, which is almost its total global sales in a year, and almost all of Tesla's vehicles sold in China.
On January 5, the State Administration for Market Regulation announced a Tesla recall, and the vehicles within the scope of this recall may misuse the Level 2 combined driving assistance function when the automatic steering function is turned on, increasing the risk of vehicle collision and posing a safety hazard.
In May 2023, Tesla has just recalled 1.1 million vehicles on a large scale, and after less than a year, it has recalled 1.6 million vehicles again.
On the same day, Tesla made a rare public response to the recall, saying, "Some people think the recall is negative." In fact, voluntary recall is a very meaningful thing, which is a strict requirement for enterprises to their own products, and it is also a responsible attitude. ”
The reporter noticed that whether it was 1.1 million units before or 1.6 million units this time, Tesla chose to use OTA (that is, car remote upgrade) for recall. Industry experts told reporters that OTA technology is now widely used in the automotive industry, but there are also some safety risks. While consumers feel that it is convenient to upgrade because of OTA, some people are also worried about whether this kind of "patch" that can be upgraded at any time leaves a "back door" for car companies to quickly repair, and whether it will make car companies take the quality of vehicles lightly?
The recall recalls almost all vehicles sold in China.
Tesla owners recently learned of a recall that some imported Model S, Model X, Model 3 and domestically produced Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles with production dates between August 26, 2014 and December 20, 2023 will be recalled, totaling more than 1.61 million units.
However, that doesn't mean owners of 1.61 million vehicles need to get their cars back to their stores.
Tesla will use OTA technology to push newly developed features to vehicles covered by the recall, including the addition of additional Autosteer control and related prompts, to further encourage drivers to perform driving duties and comply with driving regulations when the feature is enabled, so as to reduce the risk of collisions caused by misuse of the assisted steering function.
Regarding this recall method, Tesla officially stated that with the innovation of technology, the recall through OTA is not like the past that requires consumers to go to the store to replace parts, and only needs to upgrade the software remotely, which is more convenient. "I believe that this innovative approach can help car companies better improve product safety, after all, the pursuit of safety is endless. ”
Zhang Xiaorong, president of the Deep Science and Technology Research Institute, told reporters that OTA technology, the full name of OTA technology, is Over-the-Air Technology, that is, aerial technology. This technology was first widely used in the mobile phone industry, ending the complicated operation of connecting to the computer, ** software, and then installing the update for mobile phone software upgrade. The emergence of automotive OTA technology is in the context of the popularization of smart cars and the development of Internet of Vehicles technology, which can realize remote management of automotive software through mobile communication interfaces.
The automotive industry began to use OTA technology back to 2012, when Tesla's Modes S was the first to use OTA technology," Zhang Xiaorong recalled, and then domestic NIO, Ideal, Xpeng, BYD, etc. have also launched models that can achieve OTA. Nowadays, OTA technology is no longer "exclusive" for new energy vehicles, and some traditional fuel vehicles can also achieve OTA upgrades.
However, OTA technology, which is widely used, also has a B-side, which may be vulnerable in practical applications.
OTA may be a safety hazard.
Zhang Xiaorong said that an OTA upgrade of a previous brand led to problems with the battery management system of some vehicles, which reduced battery capacity, reduced cruising range, and slower charging speed.
In addition, the OTA upgrade of a certain brand has also sparked controversy about "power locking", that is, the upper limit of the charge and the total discharge amount of the battery are limited through the OTA upgrade, so as to reduce the probability of thermal runaway of the battery, thereby reducing the incidence of spontaneous combustion accidents. This practice is carried out without the knowledge of the owner, resulting in a large impact on the owner's range.
Zhang Xiang, dean of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute of Jiangxi New Energy Technology Vocational College, told reporters that in order to solve these problems, car companies need to take a series of safety measures. For example, OTA updates are rigorously verified and tested to ensure the security and integrity of data transmission, strong authentication and authorization mechanisms are employed, and known vulnerabilities are fixed in a timely manner. In addition, car owners should also pay attention to protecting personal information and vehicle security, and avoid** and installing suspicious software or links.
Zhang Xiang said that with the digitalization and intelligent development of the automotive industry, the development trend of OTA technology in the automotive industry is rising. As more vehicles become connected, OTA technology will become more widely used. It is expected that OTA technology will become more popular and become one of the mainstream technologies in the future. It can be applied to various scenarios, such as software updates, feature upgrades, security fixes, etc.
However, as OTA technology becomes more widespread, regulatory and safety issues will become even more important. More research and regulatory measures are needed in the future to ensure the safety and reliability of OTA technology.
OTA regulation still needs to be strengthened.
In fact, many car companies are now working on OTAs. Recently, FAW Automobile filed a patent application for a project called "Marking Method, Device, Equipment and Medium for Remote Software Upgrade Process of Vehicles". Recently, BYD has also spread the news of OTA upgrade in the market.
Zhang Xiang said that through OTA technology, car companies can provide personalized tasks for car owners, such as customizing the in-vehicle infotainment system, driving mode, seat position, etc. Car companies can also use OTA technology to push advertisements and promotional information to car owners, such as pushing in-car **, radio programs, navigation services, etc. These services can be offered to car owners as a paid item.
In addition, through OTA technology, car companies can collect a large amount of vehicle usage data and owner behavior data, which can be used for analysis and mining to improve products and services, increase car owner satisfaction and loyalty, and thus increase the profitability of car companies.
Car companies can also provide third-party app stores for car owners through OTA technology, where car owners can select and install the software and services they need. OEMs can get a share of the revenue from third-party app stores.
In his view, OTA technology provides a variety of ways for car companies to make profits, which can help them increase revenue and market share. At the same time, it is also necessary to ensure the security and stability of software updates, as well as comply with relevant regulatory and compliance requirements.
The reporter noted that as early as July 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Access Management of Intelligent Networked Vehicle Manufacturers and Products", which emphasized the need to strengthen enterprise management capabilities. If an enterprise produces an automobile product with the function of upgrading (also known as OTA upgrade), it shall establish management capabilities that are compatible with the automotive products and upgrade activities, and have the ability to conduct safety impact assessment, testing and verification, implementation process guarantee, information recording, etc., to ensure that the vehicle is in a safe state when the upgrade is carried out, and inform the vehicle user of the purpose, content, duration, precautions, upgrade results and other information of the upgrade.
In April 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued the "Notice on Carrying out the Filing of Automotive Software Upgrades", pointing out that the automobile manufacturers that have obtained the road motor vehicle production access permit and the vehicle products with OTA upgrade functions produced by them and the OTA upgrade activities implemented will be recorded. The subject of the application shall be the automobile manufacturer.
Zhang Xiang suggested that in the future, China should still establish a sound system of regulations and standards, clarify the requirements for the use and management of OTA technology, and ensure that it complies with relevant laws, regulations and industry norms.
Beijing News Shell Financial Reporter Lin Zi.
Edited by Xu Chao.
Proofreading by Liu Baoqing.