[VW TECHNICIAN]

Regardless, I for one can still appreciate well sourced information coming from a trusted source, it means things are definitely happening. SO thank you for keeping us in the loop.

When approximately can we expect, do you think, actual software updates to start happening with our ID.4s? Not talking about getting the 21 models on 3.0 (though I understand that is a crucial step) or bug fixes, but actual new features?

It will be announced by VW official channels, I'm not in power to make public statement.

 

[tdx44]

It will be announced by VW official channels, I'm not in power to make public statement.

Totally understand. Are you at liberty to disclose any other potential software updates we might be getting? I saw you mentioned battery preconditioning, anything else you can talk about? No worries if you cant of course.

 

[Jon B. Ross]

Like many others, the ESC (traction control) comes on when it shouldn’t. On very gentle corners (often slightly banked) at moderate speeds the ESC will kick in, activating brakes and disengaging the cruise control. there are threads on it- I posted up some video of it on my car.
Reports from people that have it happen, and then got a 22 with the 3.1 say it is gone.

Engaging the ‘sport ESC’ solves the issue. But you have to stop to turn it on, and sport is turned off if cruise is engaged and have to stop again to turn it back on. That is sort of buried in the menus, although one person found it can be put on the ‘swipe down’ menu for faster access (although swipe down does not always work for me).

I’ve mentioned it to the dealer, but the closest place it always does it is probably 20 minutes from the dealer and I doubt they want to ride that far to see something they can’t fix anyway. (Reports are that VW acknowledged that is a bug and 3.1 fixes it).

Odd - I have not noticed any ESC issues with the GTX. I wonder if it is tweaked differently on US AWDs....

 

[Nycturne]

Totally understand. Are you at liberty to disclose any other potential software updates we might be getting? I saw you mentioned battery preconditioning, anything else you can talk about? No worries if you cant of course.

As someone who works in a similar space: please don’t ask engineers or the like to be able to make any statements on upcoming/unreleased products, updates, etc. Even in cases where the upper management isn’t communicating well or at all. For two reasons:

1) In many cases, if it hasn’t been given the OK by management, and it hasn’t been disclosed by the company already (i.e. it isn’t already public knowledge), management will get upset when they find out. It should be assumed the company will retaliate against the employee.
2) Things do happen during development, and so disclosures like this can have unintended consequences. In the sense of creating unintentional promises, providing intel to competitors, and so on. So management tends to run this stuff through processes intended to avoid that sort of thing. Some do it better than others, clearly.

To give you an example of what can happen, there was a project that had a yearly hardware cycle. So it’s common that when that year’s hardware is out the door, within a month or two, there’s engineering samples available for next year’s hardware so that work on software can go forward. Someone leaked information on one of those first engineering samples. It caused a huge stir in the blogosphere to the tune of “Oh, they are replacing X already?” as everyone assumed it was nearly ready to ship. It was also hardware from a partner company, so it damaged the relationship between the two companies. All this because one person decided to share details of a project in progress that wasn’t due for nearly a year.

 

[ericy]

As someone who works in a similar space: please don’t ask engineers or the like to be able to make any statements on upcoming/unreleased products, updates, etc. Even in cases where the upper management isn’t communicating well or at all. For two reasons:

1) In many cases, if it hasn’t been given the OK by management, and it hasn’t been disclosed by the company already (i.e. it isn’t already public knowledge), management will get upset when they find out. It should be assumed the company will retaliate against the employee.
2) Things do happen during development, and so disclosures like this can have unintended consequences. In the sense of creating unintentional promises, providing intel to competitors, and so on. So management tends to run this stuff through processes intended to avoid that sort of thing. Some do it better than others, clearly.

To give you an example of what can happen, there was a project that had a yearly hardware cycle. So it’s common that when that year’s hardware is out the door, within a month or two, there’s engineering samples available for next year’s hardware so that work on software can go forward. Someone leaked information on one of those first engineering samples. It caused a huge stir in the blogosphere to the tune of “Oh, they are replacing X already?” as everyone assumed it was nearly ready to ship. It was also hardware from a partner company, so it damaged the relationship between the two companies. All this because one person decided to share details of a project in progress that wasn’t due for nearly a year.

Years ago, I worked in a space where people worked on things that were classified. Our stuff was pretty low level only classification - there were others working on real secret squirrel stuff, and they couldn't even tell us what it had to do with.

 

[JPWhite]

I'll believe it when I see it. We've had our fill of promises and talk. Show me the software.

 

[Manybees]

Odd - I have not noticed any ESC issues with the GTX. I wonder if it is tweaked differently on US AWDs....

I doubt it occurs on all 2021 AWDs in the U.S. I’ve driven my 2021 AWD Pro S ~13,000 miles through many winding New England roads in conditions similar to those described, and I’ve never encountered any issues with the ESC engaging. Not saying the issue doesn’t exist, it’s just that it’s pure speculation that it’s a common issue or affects all 2021 AWD vehicles in the U.S.

 

[Lotus54]

BTW, I added the ESC ‘sport’ to the ‘swipe down’ menu.
While going through the regular menus it cannot be enabled while driving, it can be with the swipe down.
That makes things a lot better- wish I had tried it before. It still turns off anytime the cruise is enabled, but at least it is a swipe and push to turn back on.

 

[Nycturne]

Years ago, I worked in a space where people worked on things that were classified. Our stuff was pretty low level only classification - there were others working on real secret squirrel stuff, and they couldn't even tell us what it had to do with.

Yeah, I mostly just want folks to be aware that asking for more information from lower level employees of a corporation like this is not much different than asking if they are willing to risk their job. Corporate HR will come down on leakers because the consequences can be pretty ugly and hard to predict. Even when the leaker is being accurate or honest, things don't always play out well. So most folks will simply respond that they can't say anything for good reason. It's just easier to be aware that unless already vetted, folks in the trenches can't really say much.

But yeah, this stuff is surprisingly similar to low level classification in government work. Some companies are more stringent about it than others and even operate under need-to-know (cough*Apple*cough).