this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2024
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140
Volvo recalls all of its 72K EX30 cars due to software bug that obscures speedometer (www.theregister.com)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (1 children)

OTA “recall.” Sucks that there was a bug like this, but the headlines try to make these out to be bigger than they are.

Physical or otherwise “bring to the dealer” recalls are bigger news because direct owner action needs to be done, often meaning their car is unavailable for some period of time. OTA just means people will drive their car like normal and it’ll be passively fixed, which is hardly news-worthy.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

How is this news? I have recall work done on my Honda almost every time I get an oil change. This is a Volvo software update.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Because it obscures the speedometer which could be dangerous and shows why we shouldn’t have screens for everything. They’ve still got regular gauges on airplanes for backup. I don’t see the need to change away from analog gauges.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Really wish there was more regulation on this. Everything core instruments should not require software to function.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Everything is integrated into the computer network for every function… so if you want an old style analog speedometer how analog do you go? Cable on the gearbox (no software, no bugs, no electronics if you choose a mechanical gauge)? Separate sensor near the transmission (basic analog electronics)? Analog readout from the multiplexed network on an electronic gauge?

Cars are already incredibly complicated and expensive to meet current legal requirements.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think there’s a reasonable amount of digital that can be incorporated. Going back to my original example, Airbus is fly by wire and very safe. However, there are still analog gauges for the important backup functions, or at least single purpose digital displays such as the ISFD. I don’t think it’s wise to have the multimedia display and speedometer display running off the same device.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I agree, people buy cars like this though, to me modern cars are extremely annoying because of this extreme cost-cutting without any thought put into it. They even lack basic functions like dimming the gauge lights that were standard in the 1980s on cheap cars, or turning off a screen completely and still having the steering wheel controls for the radio… turning off ESP for getting out of slippery places that it gets confused by is also a challenge on a lot of cars.

People have very different priorities from commercial users that need an impeccable safety record and no compromise on reliability, they're buying a steel box on wheels to get from A to B, preferably in a fashionable shape.

If you've ever nearly died because the car decided a reflection was an imminent collision risk and braked hard on the motorway, you know that cars are way worse than Boeing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

car decided a reflection was an imminent collision risk and braked hard on the motorway

I had that almost happen once- it didn't actually brake, but it did the very loud "omg we're gonna die" alert, freaked out my wife & kids. Then there's the fun of fighting with the lane keeping assist when it wants to follow the seams in the concrete rather than the painted lines... Fortunately that "feature" can be disabled.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It doesn't help that they also just have the one screen.

They could easily have had a secondary display behind the steering wheel that shows only the important info... but no... they followed Tesla's model to cut costs with one screen that does most everything.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are analog gauges more expensive or they just cannot show ads while the driver is idling?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yes.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Your honor, a software bug prevented me from realizing i was speeding.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

EX30 is a rebadged Zeekr X which has a normal separate speedometer cluster in front of the driver, Volvo deleted that and put everything on the center screen like a Tesla.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I remember back when the Citroen C1/Peugeot 107 had just a speedo and the tachometer was an optional extra you could buy if you wanted to.

Entirely removing them all and not even offering them as an option - when you clearly have them available - is just mental.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

In a statement released today, the Sweden-based car manufacturer says EX30 vehicles can accidentally throw up a "test screen" on the center monitor, obscuring the normal driving statistics shown there including the speedometer and infotainment features.

"Due to a software error, the infotainment unit screen may enter a test mode during startup of the vehicle.

"Failure to display key information may potentially increase the risk of injury or death to vehicle occupants and other road users."

When that test screen error occurs, drivers are left in the dark about exactly how fast they're going, and that could lead to driving that's too reckless or too cautious, neither of which are great.

The higher-end EX90 actually got delayed by half a year purely to focus on software development, according to Volvo's public declarations.

That update was a direct response to an incident where a Cruise robo-taxi drove over a pedestrian who was already on the road after having been hit by a different vehicle, instead of just stopping after the collision happened.

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