[Evillen]

Hiya,

I didn't see a thread for this, but maybe I'm missing it somewhere else. I'm also relatively new to the forums and still learning. If I'm incorrectly posting, please let me know.

I wanted to start a discussion about the Id.4 and all things surrounding updates. There's still a lot of unknowns on my part and I'd imagine others are in the same shoes as me and others will know a heck of a lot more than I do.

Does anyone know where I can find the latest information from VW about planned updates to the ID.4? I saw something somewhere about 2.3, but it appears that to get it initially, folks had to manually sign-up and opt for it. Even if its buggy, I'd absolutely have signed up for it. I love testing new tech/updates and so long as any bugs don't limit the core function of driving, I won't generally care.

How will we know when an update has been pushed to the ID.4? Is it something we have to manually accept, or is it something VW just does. Thus far I haven't seen anything alerting me to new updates, however that also could mean I haven't had any. I know VW was over the last month releasing updates but I don't know if that's happened or been delayed to us US customers.

This next question, I'm sure the answer is yes and I just haven't played around much with the settings aspects of mine, but is there a way to check for software updates manually? I'm assuming it would follow a similar path to this: settings > system > about > software > version > updates. When I bought mine I don't think even the dealers had much info about updates.

Anyone else with questions about updates, feel free to chime in and ask!

Thanks y'all!

-Eric

 

[Nai3t]

Updates haven't begun in the US yet

As far as I know there's no North American "First Movers" group to join to test updates early, as VW did in Europe.

The two big updates that will hopefully come next year are working scheduled charging and hill hold.

To check for updates manually, try swiping down from the top on the main screen. I believe the function is hidden there. But by all accounts from European owners, the car will inform you when it's ready with as pop-up message.

 

[JimmyVW]

The (hidden) manual update function is only to update from usb-key, so ignore that one.

 

[Evillen]

Updates haven't begun in the US yet

As far as I know there's no North American "First Movers" group to join to test updates early, as VW did in Europe.

The two big updates that will hopefully come next year are working scheduled charging and hill hold.

To check for updates manually, try swiping down from the top on the main screen. I believe the function is hidden there. But by all accounts from European owners, the car will inform you when it's ready with as pop-up message.

Thanks for the information! I didn't event think about whether or not what I read about 2.3 was in the US or Europe.


As far as the two updates you mentioned, hill assist and scheduled charging, where did you find information on that? I find it funny they're adding "scheduled charging" (to be fair I don't know what all that means). Most 3rd party reputable level two chargers already have that functionality built in if they can be controlled via an app.


Is there by any chance a place to make suggestions for updates? I've only briefly looked and very quickly got distracted. I will plan to look later, but folks on here may already know about it so figured I'd ask.

Updates haven't begun in the US yet

As far as I know there's no North American "First Movers" group to join to test updates early, as VW did in Europe.

The two big updates that will hopefully come next year are working scheduled charging and hill hold.

To check for updates manually, try swiping down from the top on the main screen. I believe the function is hidden there. But by all accounts from European owners, the car will inform you when it's ready with as pop-up message.

Thanks for the information! I didn't event think about whether or not what I read about 2.3 was in the US or Europe.

As far as the two updates you mentioned, hill assist and scheduled charging, where did you find information on that? I've been mostly unsuccessful about finding information directly from VW about updates for US ID.4s. I find it funny they're adding "scheduled charging" (to be fair I don't know what all that means). Most 3rd party reputable level two chargers already have that functionality built in if they can be controlled via an app. Nonetheless, not all chargers do, nor does everyone have those chargers, so definitely will be useful feature for those that want it!.

Is there by any chance a place to make suggestions/feedback to VW for updates? I've only briefly looked, very became distracted, and only just now remembered it. I will plan to look later, but folks on here may already know about it so figured I'd ask.

I hope this (or something similar) can become a place for quick easy info about updates etc., maybe it needs to be more specific to the US (sorry European friends!). Obviously though, ANYONE is more than welcome to participate.

Thanks again, I appreciate the info and replies. All the best.

 

[Tinman]

I don't understand why hill/brake hold takes a year to program when you can see the options that are enabled for the EU/UK markets if you get in the car without your key fob nearby. It seems like it would be easy to "un-gray" that option for American vehicles. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️

 

[Huey52]

Auto/Hill Hold could be awaiting a US DOT approval, but I agree that it shouldn’t have taken this long in any case. Same for scheduled charging, which is showcased in VW USA online tutorials.

I don't understand why hill/brake hold takes a year to program when you can see the options that are enabled for the EU/UK markets if you get in the car without your key fob nearby. It seems like it would be easy to "un-gray" that option for American vehicles. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️

 

[Nai3t]

As far as the two updates you mentioned, hill assist and scheduled charging, where did you find information on that?

Auto hold I figured was a lost cause, as Europe has had it since launch, and in the US the option is greyed out. VW of America had been saying "that wasn't an advertised feature" responding to owner inquiries. But apparently something changed. There are slides posted recently showing this as an upcoming feature. They maybe received enough complaints or safety concerns that they're going to switch it on. I wouldn't have been surprised to see it enabled in our 2.3, but I recall the slide indicated 3.0 this spring.

Scheduled charging I watched a German Q&A presentation where they said 3.0. That was the first instance I saw them admit it didn't work. VW has had lots of trouble with this. Still doesn't work in the ID.3, nor apparently the Skoda Enyaq. I believe it's also listed on the slide I mentioned above.

I hope this (or something similar) can become a place for quick easy info about updates etc., .

I hate to break it to you but there are a dozen other threads asking these same questions. There's not a lot to say so they get answered and sink to the bottom (or the next page) then get asked again.

 

[Evillen]

I don't understand why hill/brake hold takes a year to program when you can see the options that are enabled for the EU/UK markets if you get in the car without your key fob nearby. It seems like it would be easy to "un-gray" that option for American vehicles. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️

Yeah who knows. You'd also think it shouldn't take long to program because it's not a new technology. What I mean by that is, that it's not, "just arrived yesterday" new.

 

[Tinman]

I took the vehicle in for service today and listed scheduled charging, convenience entry, key fob window up, and the middle logo bar on the back as other issues. I also referenced seeing hill hold setting and not being able to enable it. I put stickies in the owner’s manual and referenced page numbers on the service ticket. I would really like to see it come back with the seat enabled. That’s the one I hate not having the most. I figured I’d try a little mischief. Watch it be gone now until next year. They promised me a loaner and I got a Lyft. Sales promises, service has no vehicles to loan.

 

[Nai3t]

They promised me a loaner and I got a Lyft. Sales promises, service has no vehicles to loan.

I dropped off my i3 at BMW and the service writer offered me a Lyft, I said "no thanks I'll take the bus" and his reaction was... unusual.

I don't understand why VW didn't take the (I assume) easy step of hiding the non-functioning features. Scheduled charging especially. I'm positive there was a conference room debate about the merits of "leaving it in" even though it doesn't work in order to demonstrate they were offering a promised feature — somebody thought that was preferable to it missing. Maybe they knew reviews would note its absence, but wouldn't actually test it.

The auto hold and easy entry I'll bet were simply missed in the rush to ship this version, not intentional.

How BMW sees their typical owner:

How BMW sees their i3 owners:

 

[Tinman]

It’s funny, I have a smart charger and I still get angry seeing that scheduling screen every time. It just screams, “THEY DON‘T CARE!” I think back to how many hours I spent trying to make it work, along with other features in the owner’s manual. I hope the other features I mentioned are not in the feature set of the oft-boasted monetization of OTA updates. Another bad publicity move when the cars they’re delivering do not entirely work when sold.

 

[Don]

I don't think the problem is figuring our how to program new software features for the car - I think the problem is they've not got if figured out how to update the cars via Internet in a 'foolproof manner' - This is their first rodeo and there are dozens of ways to go wrong, some of which would probably be pretty hard to recover from. They don't want to force everyone who has already bought a car to go to the dealer to get a botched update loaded into the car and working, so they're being extra, extra careful, IMO

Don

 

[Huey52]

As someone who appreciated the VW USA tutorial videos (more so than the owner's manual) it would seem to me a VW corporate embarrassment to demonstrate Scheduled Charging but not have it actually viable in owner's vehicles. 😣

And I agree, if you're not going to offer Auto Hold then don't just grey it out, which brings even more negative attention to the lacking. 🤷‍♂️

If software updates followed smartphone convention, with shipping the product and then having an update available almost as the users received them, fine, but it's been over 6 months now for the USA ID.4. Flip the switch already!! 😖

...I don't understand why VW didn't take the (I assume) easy step of hiding the non-functioning features. Scheduled charging especially. I'm positive there was a conference room debate about the merits of "leaving it in" even though it doesn't work in order to demonstrate they were offering a promised feature — somebody thought that was preferable to it missing. Maybe they knew reviews would note its absence, but wouldn't actually test it.

The auto hold and easy entry I'll bet were simply missed in the rush to ship this version, not intentional.
...

 

[agzand]

As someone who appreciated the VW USA tutorial videos (more so than the owner's manual) it would seem to me a VW corporate embarrassment to demonstrate Scheduled Charging but not have it actually viable in owner's vehicles. 😣

And I agree, if you're not going to offer Auto Hold then don't just grey it out, which brings even more negative attention to the lacking. 🤷‍♂️

If software updates followed smartphone convention, with shipping the product and then having an update available almost as the users received them, fine, but it's been over 6 months now for the USA ID.4. Flip the switch already!! 😖

I agree, the updates are past due. How could the largest carmaker on the planet be so incompetent in delivering the updates? I don't understand.

 

[Tinman]

I ordered the car a year ago yesterday on Reveal Day (web site crashed). I've had the car six months today (in the shop for recalls, a coincidence of scheduling). No software updates, lots of continuing known glitches and anomalies. Maybe, instead of doing a big update, VW could push out small weekly updates addressing known bugs. I'm fairly confident that some of these missing features will become monetized.

 

[Stinsy]

More like a legacy car company trying and failing to be a software company. The leadership don’t see the importance of the software so hire cheap people and don’t give them much say.

 

[Spin]

Be patient...it will be another 12 weeks

 

[agzand]

It has been 12 weeks for as long as I remember.

 

[Nai3t]

More like a legacy car company trying and failing to be a software company. The leadership don’t see the importance of the software so hire cheap people and don’t give them much say.

Quite the opposite.

Legacy auto company realizing in-house software is key their future, spending gobs of cash to hire a team and build out their own OS, but failed to realize how hard or time-intensive it would be to make the transition from the patchwork of legacy code they've been existing with to a "clean sheet" product all while continuing to produce cars.

Seriously, there's absolutely nothing to back up the claim that VW is "cheaping out" in this department. Looking at their partnership with Continental to assist with the transition (e.solutions, partnering Continental's Elektrobit with VW's Cariad)indicates that they're paying for help, realizing they can't efficiently do this on their own.

 

[Spin]

Looking at their partnership with Continental to assist with the transition (e.solutions, partnering Continental's Elektrobit with VW's Cariad)indicates that they're paying for help, realizing they can't efficiently do this on their own.

I just wish they would do it more quickly. We are all waiting to see what the process looks like. I don't care if they start with small things, I just wish they would start!