At the beginning of the new year, Tesla recalled 1.6 million vehicles, almost its total global annual sales, and almost all of Tesla's vehicles sold in China.
On January 5th, the State Administration for Market Regulation announced a Tesla recall, stating that vehicles within the scope of this recall may mistakenly use the Level 2 combination driving assistance function when the automatic steering assist function is activated, increasing the risk of vehicle collision and posing a safety hazard.
In May 2023, Tesla had just launched a large-scale recall of 1.1 million vehicles, and less than a year later, it recalled 1.6 million vehicles again. The wide scope of the recall, the reasons for the recall involving assisted driving, and the innovative recall method all made this recall highly anticipated.
On that day, Tesla made a rare public response to the recall, stating, "Some people believe that the recall is negative. In fact, actively recalling is a meaningful thing, a strict requirement of the company for its own products, and a responsible attitude."
The reporter noticed that whether it was the previous 1.1 million vehicles or the current 1.6 million vehicles, Tesla has chosen to use OTA (remote car upgrades) for recall. Industry experts told reporters that although OTA technology is widely used in the automotive industry, there are also some safety hazards. While consumers feel the convenience of upgrading due to OTA, some are also concerned whether this "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 vehicle quality lightly?
Recall almost all vehicles sold in China
Tesla owners have recently learned of a recall that some imported Model S, Model X, Model 3, and domestically produced Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles produced between August 26, 2014 and December 20, 2023 will be recalled, totaling over 1.61 million vehicles.
However, this does not mean that all 1.61 million car owners need to transport their cars back to the store.
Tesla will use OTA technology to promote newly developed features for vehicles within the recall range, including adding additional automatic assisted steering control and related reminders, further encouraging drivers to fulfill their driving responsibilities and comply with driving regulations when activating this feature, in order to reduce the risk of collisions caused by misuse of assisted steering.
Regarding this recall method, Tesla officially stated that with technological innovation, recalling through OTA is not as convenient as requiring consumers to replace parts in the store in the past. It only requires remote software upgrades. "I believe this innovative approach can help car companies better improve product safety, after all, the pursuit of safety is endless."
Zhang Xiaorong, the director of the Deep Technology Research Institute, introduced to reporters that OTA technology, also known as Over The Air technology, refers to over the air download technology. This technology was first widely used in the mobile phone industry, ending the complex operation of connecting to a computer, downloading software, and then installing updates for mobile software upgrades. The emergence of automotive OTA technology is in the context of the popularization of intelligent vehicles and the development of vehicle networking technology. It can achieve remote management of automotive software through mobile communication interfaces.
"The automotive industry began to use OTA technology, which can be traced back to 2012, when Tesla first adopted OTA technology in its Mode S," recalled Zhang Xiaorong. Subsequently, domestic models such as NIO, Ideal, Xiaopeng, and BYD also successively launched OTA capable models. Nowadays, OTA technology is no longer exclusive to new energy vehicle models, and some traditional fuel vehicles can also achieve OTA upgrades.
However, the widely used OTA technology also has a B-side, which may lead to vulnerabilities in practical applications.
OTA or potential safety hazards
Zhang Xiaorong stated that a previous OTA upgrade by a certain brand caused problems with the battery management system of some vehicles, resulting in reduced battery capacity, reduced range, and slower charging speed.
In addition, the OTA upgrade of a certain brand has also sparked controversy over "battery locking", which limits the charging limit and total discharge capacity of the battery through OTA upgrades, in order to reduce the probability of thermal runaway of the battery and thus reduce the incidence of spontaneous combustion accidents. This practice is carried out without the knowledge of the car owner, resulting in a significant impact on the car owner's range.
Zhang Xiang, Dean of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute at 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, conducting strict verification and testing on OTA updates to ensure data transmission security and integrity, adopting powerful authentication and authorization mechanisms, and promptly fixing known vulnerabilities. In addition, car owners should also pay attention to protecting personal information and vehicle security, avoiding downloading and installing suspicious software or links.
Zhang Xiang stated that with the digitalization and intelligent development of the automotive industry, the development trend of OTA technology in the automotive industry is on the rise. With more vehicles equipped with networking capabilities, the application of OTA technology will become more widespread. 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, with the popularization of OTA technology, regulatory and security issues will also become 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 making efforts in OTA. Recently, FAW Motor applied for a patent for a project called "Marking Method, Device, Equipment and Media for Remote Software Upgrade Process of Vehicles". Recently, BYD has also reported OTA upgrades in the market.
Zhang Xiang stated that through OTA technology, car companies can provide personalized customization services for car owners, such as customizing in car information and entertainment systems, driving modes, seat positions, etc. Car companies can also use OTA technology to push advertisements and promotional information to car owners, such as in car music, radio programs, navigation services, etc. These services can be provided as paid items to car owners.
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 owner satisfaction and loyalty, and thereby increase the profitability of car companies.
Car companies can also provide third-party app stores for car owners through OTA technology, where they can choose and install the software and services they need. Car companies can receive a share from the revenue of third-party app stores.
In his view, OTA technology provides multiple ways for car companies to make profits, which can help them increase revenue and market share. But 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 noticed that as early as July 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Management of Intelligent Connected Vehicle Production Enterprises and Product Access", which emphasized the need to strengthen enterprise management capabilities. Enterprises producing automotive products with online upgrade (also known as OTA upgrade) capabilities should establish management capabilities that are suitable for automotive products and upgrade activities. They should have the ability to evaluate the safety impact of online upgrades, conduct testing and verification, ensure the implementation process, and record information to ensure that vehicles are in a safe state during online upgrades. They should also inform vehicle users of the purpose, content, required duration, and precautions of online upgrades Upgrade results and other information.
In April 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Notice on Carrying out Online Upgrade Filing of Automotive Software", which pointed out that automobile production enterprises that have obtained road motor vehicle production access permits and their automobile products with OTA upgrade functions and the OTA upgrade activities implemented will be filed. The applicant should be an automobile manufacturing enterprise.
Zhang Xiang suggested that in the future, China still needs to establish a sound regulatory and standard system, clarify the requirements for the use and management of OTA technology, and ensure that it complies with relevant laws, regulations, and industry norms.