[RobertS]

According to a report by Manager Magazin, Volkswagen is experiencing “massive difficulties” with the software for the ID.3

From the article:

Volkswagen stock exchange chart shows struggles with massive software problems with its new electric model ID.3. According to information from the manager magazine, the ID.3 will still be built for months with incomplete software architecture.

The company said that the cars would initially be parked in specially rented parking spaces. In the spring, service teams should move out with mobile computer stations, connect them to the cars and thus deploy a new software architecture to the first 10,000 ID.3. The second wave is scheduled to start in mid-May.

In total, more than 20,000 ID.3 would be reworked. Only then should the software be able to be installed "over the air", as has long been the norm for mobile phones and also for the American automaker Tesla's stock market chart .

 

[RobertS]

IT seems like these delays could be because VW is working with external partners on the software. Continental is VW's main software partner.

This is from Clean Technica:

Volkswagen has placed special emphasis on the software capabilities of its electric cars. It says it wants to develop its own operating system and sell the technology to other manufacturers. But OTA capability is a critical component of any such operating system and so far Volkswagen is behind the 8 ball with its current software package.

Volkswagen is working with external partners on software development. According to a report by Ecomento, Bosch has dropped out of the race and Continental is in the lead to be Volkswagen’s primary software partner. VW hired Christian Senger away from Continental to head up its new software division and he is under intense pressure to deliver the systems that CEO Herbert Diess expects.

Diess has said that software will be a matter of special interest for Volkswagen, according to Inside EVs. “In the long run, I think we might have a bit of an advantage because of scale. On the hardware side, there is probably not so big a difference because they [Tesla] also have a dedicated electric platform and they’re quite big already for an EV manufacturer. But when it comes to the next big thing, which is software — Tesla is strong in software — but software really is a volume game. If you do software, you have to use ten million devices, not one million.”

The irony in all this is that if Tesla was having similar difficulties, the gloomsters and naysayers would be jumping up and down and predicting (yet again) that the company was on the brink of disaster and its stock not worth warm spit.

Bulli For Volkswagen
According to AutoBild, one of Germany’s most respected sources of news about its auto industry, Volkswagen is busy working on more models that will be built on the MEB electric vehicle platform. The report is short.

“The serial version of the study ID. Buzz will be launched as ID.7 in 2022. There will be three battery sizes. With the largest version, the ID.7 should go up to 600 kilometers. The base price of the electric Bulli will be around 45,000 euros.” Pre-production cars should begin coming off the assembly line about a year from now, AutoBild says.

No other information is available at this time. The video below will give you an opportunity to practice your high school German, but the images are what’s important.

 

[CJamie]

More news is out about VW's issues with the ID.3's software and it doesn't' look good.

Manager Magazin in Germany provided an in-depth look at the current state of Volkswagen’s EV development.

The publication quotes VW experts, who are saying that the basic architecture of the software was developed “too hastily”. As a result, many system parts do not understand each other, which leads to dropouts.

Here's how Electrive explains the news:

“Hundreds of test drivers”, who collect kilometres in the evening and at night, reported new bugs regularly, some employees mentioned up to 300 bugs in a single day. Every morning around 50 and up to 100 technology and software experts meet to discuss the latest problems. This crisis has prompted Manager Magazine to title their report: “Showdown in Hall 74,” after Hall 74 where these daily meetings are held. The dramatic headline is underlaid with pessimistic internal scenarios that assume a delay of up to twelve months.

However, confidants of corporate and brand boss Herbert Diess have described a possible delay as “complete nonsense”. When electrive asked, high-ranking VW experts assured us that the German carmaking giant is sticking with the intended target of an ID.3 market launch this summer. That being said, summer is a reasonably vague date. Late summer can still be considered September. So far, first deliveries are currently planned for August at the earliest, as electrive has learned from talks with several car dealerships.

A delay of several months would of course also have consequences for Diess, the major driver behind the MEB and thus the ID.3. It remains to be seen whether the radically new electrical kit can only work well with a software architecture developed from scratch or whether the new software was one step too many. Even the major investors from the Porsche and Piëch families are said to have expressed their displeasure during “talks in a close circle”.

The possibly internally tilting mood against Diess’ electro offensive leads the report to speculate about personnel: “Looking ahead” Diess has already expanded the VW brand board of directors by several heads – for example, head of development Frank Welsch has been joined by Matthias Rabe as Chief Technology Officer. “With a large ID.3 delay, he could fire various board members,” Manager Magazine reports. In other words, if one of the managers had to withdraw, in the case of Welsch and Rabe there would be no power vacuum in the development department. Diess could dismiss some of the board members to protect himself, or so the article speculates.

At least the ID.3 is not having problems with the availability of battery cells. This problem has been plaguing many an electric car manufacturer lately and is currently affecting the Audi subsidiary and the production of the e-tron in Brussels. The main supplier for the battery cells of the e-tron with the 95-kWh battery is LG Chem, where there are problems with the production ramp-up in the plant in Poland. The cells for the smaller 71 kWh battery come from Samsung SDI, but are reported to be “not yet of the necessary quality”. According to Manager Magazine, this has caused friction at Audi and Porsche who are internally arguing about the available battery capacities. In the group board of directors, Diess spoke out in favour of Porsche, which is why the production of the e-tron is currently paralyzed and not that of the Taycan. Although this turn of prioritising one brand over the other has not been confirmed, the story of an internal battery struggle adds up with information from battery experts with whom electrive editors have spoken.

 

[RobertS]

More news is out about VW's issues with the ID.3's software and it doesn't' look good.

Manager Magazin in Germany provided an in-depth look at the current state of Volkswagen’s EV development.

The publication quotes VW experts, who are saying that the basic architecture of the software was developed “too hastily”. As a result, many system parts do not understand each other, which leads to dropouts.

Here's how Electrive explains the news:

“Hundreds of test drivers”, who collect kilometres in the evening and at night, reported new bugs regularly, some employees mentioned up to 300 bugs in a single day. Every morning around 50 and up to 100 technology and software experts meet to discuss the latest problems. This crisis has prompted Manager Magazine to title their report: “Showdown in Hall 74,” after Hall 74 where these daily meetings are held. The dramatic headline is underlaid with pessimistic internal scenarios that assume a delay of up to twelve months.

However, confidants of corporate and brand boss Herbert Diess have described a possible delay as “complete nonsense”. When electrive asked, high-ranking VW experts assured us that the German carmaking giant is sticking with the intended target of an ID.3 market launch this summer. That being said, summer is a reasonably vague date. Late summer can still be considered September. So far, first deliveries are currently planned for August at the earliest, as electrive has learned from talks with several car dealerships.

A delay of several months would of course also have consequences for Diess, the major driver behind the MEB and thus the ID.3. It remains to be seen whether the radically new electrical kit can only work well with a software architecture developed from scratch or whether the new software was one step too many. Even the major investors from the Porsche and Piëch families are said to have expressed their displeasure during “talks in a close circle”.

The possibly internally tilting mood against Diess’ electro offensive leads the report to speculate about personnel: “Looking ahead” Diess has already expanded the VW brand board of directors by several heads – for example, head of development Frank Welsch has been joined by Matthias Rabe as Chief Technology Officer. “With a large ID.3 delay, he could fire various board members,” Manager Magazine reports. In other words, if one of the managers had to withdraw, in the case of Welsch and Rabe there would be no power vacuum in the development department. Diess could dismiss some of the board members to protect himself, or so the article speculates.

At least the ID.3 is not having problems with the availability of battery cells. This problem has been plaguing many an electric car manufacturer lately and is currently affecting the Audi subsidiary and the production of the e-tron in Brussels. The main supplier for the battery cells of the e-tron with the 95-kWh battery is LG Chem, where there are problems with the production ramp-up in the plant in Poland. The cells for the smaller 71 kWh battery come from Samsung SDI, but are reported to be “not yet of the necessary quality”. According to Manager Magazine, this has caused friction at Audi and Porsche who are internally arguing about the available battery capacities. In the group board of directors, Diess spoke out in favour of Porsche, which is why the production of the e-tron is currently paralyzed and not that of the Taycan. Although this turn of prioritising one brand over the other has not been confirmed, the story of an internal battery struggle adds up with information from battery experts with whom electrive editors have spoken.

If this actually threatens the ID.3 launch this is going to be a massive blow for VW. Also, it'll likely mean some sort of annoying Elon Musk tweet.

 

[CJamie]

If this actually threatens the ID.3 launch this is going to be a massive blow for VW. Also, it'll likely mean some sort of annoying Elon Musk tweet.

Agreed, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that VW can figure this out before the launch.

 

[RobertS]

Agreed, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that VW can figure this out before the launch.

If there's a car company that can get its act together like this it's VW.