Speaking of "OTA upgrade", new energy car owners may know better, this technology is like we flash mobile phone upgrades, you can automatically download OTA upgrade packages through the network, automatic upgrades, so as to achieve the purpose of upgrading, which is the OTA upgrade we use every day. So what about OTA upgrades in cars?
As we all know, the integration of new energy pure electric vehicles is higher, and OTA upgrades can not only achieve basic vehicle upgrades, driving assistance and other functions, but also peripheral projects such as batteries, motors, and electronic control management systems can be remotely upgraded through OTAs. As a result, many new car-making forces are vigorously promoting the powerful use scenarios and upgrade benefits of OTAs for electric vehicles.
However, the development of digitalization and intelligence of automobiles is often accompanied by new security challenges. In fact, as consumers, in addition to enjoying a series of dividends brought by OTA upgrades, have we ever thought that this remote upgrade will also have certain limitations, and there may be a possibility of "reverse upgrade". For example, some new energy pure electric vehicle owners have exploded, and after their cars are upgraded by OTA, the vehicle has a reduced mileage, slower charging speed, and limited engine power.
(Network information: the version number provided by the owner is a screenshot of the available battery capacity diagnostic report)
OTA upgrade secretly locks the power? Vehicle endurance plummeted
In the first half of this year, the owner complained that GAC Toyota's new energy vehicle iA5 remotely "locked the power" of the vehicle through OTA upgrades. It is reported that GAC Toyota iA5 is equipped with the NCM811 ternary lithium battery pack of the Ningde era, with an energy density of 170Wh/kg, a battery capacity of 58.8kWh, and an official mileage of 510km.
However, after GAC Toyota's "OTA upgrade" operation of the BMS battery management system program for the iA5 model, the usable battery capacity of the original 58.8 kWh of the vehicle was reduced by nearly 10 kWh, and the actual cruising range was shortened by nearly 100 km. At the same time, the 135 kW drive motor output power is limited to less than 60% (81 kW), resulting in poor vehicle performance.
(Network information: Screenshot of the update provided by the owner with the version number "2510015ARD0000C.9")
After the OTA upgrade and locking incident of GAC Toyota iA5, car owners spontaneously organized a rights protection group and complained to 12315, the State Administration of Market Regulation and other channels. In the owner's report letter, while clearly pointing out the problem, it is also suspected that GAC Toyota's OTA upgrade was after a spontaneous combustion accident in Xiamen in July, and the purpose of "locking the power" was to cover up the vehicle defects and avoid the recall responsibility.
(Picture data from the network: owner report letter)
There are also car owners on social platforms posted "replies on the clues of GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.'s suspected violations of laws and regulations.". According to the reply letter, the State Administration of Market Supervision has intervened in the investigation in response to the fact that GAC Toyota has previously carried out OTA remote upgrades to a large number of iA5 models without informing the owners, resulting in a reduction in the usable capacity of the battery.
With the wave of new energy, the term "OTA upgrade" has begun to appear often in the publicity of major car companies. The use of OTA upgrades in cars is still a new thing, and there is naturally some negative news about OTAs for the emergence of new things. Of course, GAC Toyota is not the only one that has carried out such operations.
Network source: Reply on the Clues of Gagac Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.'s Suspected Violations of Laws and Regulations
From the case of gac toyota iA5 car owners, people can't help but think of tesla owners' rights protection incident at this year's Shanghai Auto Show. As early as 2019, Tesla also carried out 30% of the operation of locking electricity, and it was impossible to carry out system degradation recovery after locking the power. Similarly, other new energy and other automobile brands have also carried out similar operations in different periods.
Why "lock the power"? What part of electricity is locked?
It is reported that GAC Toyota iA5 is equipped with the NCM811 ternary lithium battery pack of the Ningde era, with an energy density of 170Wh/kg and a battery capacity of 58.8kWh, using the NCM 811 battery of the Ningde era. 811 batteries refer to ternary lithium batteries with a nickel-cobalt-manganese content ratio of 8:1:1 in cathode materials.
Of course, the advantages and disadvantages of this battery are also obvious, 811 battery as the highest nickel content of the battery, its energy density is also the largest, the unit weight volume of the battery can allow the vehicle to obtain a greater range. However, the greater activity of nickel also makes it more unstable, so the safety of high-nickel batteries needs to be supported by strong production and application technology.
However, even if there is a problem with the vehicle's power battery, it cannot all be "backed" by the Ningde era. Electric vehicle safety is a systematic design issue, not a single cell problem, which tests the professional performance of each oem. In order to make the cost and parameters better, car companies must want to leave as little electricity as possible and squeeze the potential of the battery as much as possible.
GAC Toyota locks the SOC (capacity) upper limit of the IA5's Cataline Era 811 battery, so that the DOD (discharge depth) of the power battery is limited to less than 90%. Thus, the maximum output power of the motor is also constrained to avoid the heating of the 811 battery due to excessive output power, and to avoid the fire problem caused by thermal runaway during driving.
In other words, it is not allowed to fully charge the battery during use, leaving a margin for the maximum capacity of the battery to avoid the risk of being overcharged. In the actual experience, it is that the owners find that the charging speed has become slower and the acceleration performance has also weakened.
So far, although the results of the survey of "GAC Toyota iA5OTA Upgrade Power Locking Incident" have not yet been released, "power locking" and "power restriction" have become new topic keywords in the field of new energy. In addition to the rationality of the use of the technical level, issues such as the responsibility of enterprises to inform and the consumer's right to know are slowly fermenting.
In terms of sales, GAC Toyota iA5 did not get good results because of Toyota's "golden signboard". According to incomplete statistics, gagac Toyota iA5 cumulative sales from January to October this year were only more than 3,000 units, which had a more obvious downward trend compared with last year.
Secondly, on the platform of the automobile complaint website, GAC Toyota upgraded the battery management system of iA5, which caused the vehicle to have the phenomenon of "locking power" and "locking power", which led to the shrinkage of vehicle endurance and poor performance, which triggered complaints from car owners.
What is even more embarrassing about the GAC Toyota iA5 is that although this model hangs the GAC LOGO, it is marked with GAC Toyota on the rear of the car, and its sales channel is also IN GAC Toyota. Perhaps, the "power lock" of GAC Toyota iA5 may trigger a series of chain reactions. Of course, the above is only an inference based on the existing situation, and the specific situation needs to be further investigated by the relevant departments.
"Pros and Cons" of OTA "Power Locking" Operations
As far as the "GAC Toyota iA5" case is concerned, it is believed that the starting point of the car company is actually good, and the safety hazards of the vehicle can be eliminated through OTA upgrades, and the purpose is also to ensure the safety of consumers' cars. However, in this incident, the installation package pushed hid these project notifications, invisibly infringing the owner's right to know and choose as a consumer.
Suppose, the car company can clearly inform before the vehicle upgrade that there may be a mileage reduction, but the safety performance of the vehicle is guaranteed. Perhaps some car owners will still choose to upgrade at the expense of mileage for safety reasons, of course, this is also a hypothesis. At least it will win the trust of some car owners, and the pros and cons of this still need to be measured by car companies.
(The internet circulated that the iA5 owner took a photo of the vehicle "secretly upgrading OTA")
In addition, over time, electric vehicle batteries will also face problems such as attenuation and aging. In order to ensure safety, adjusting the battery management strategy through OTAs and locking the power has become the choice of some manufacturers. Manufacturers achieve so-called power locking by updating the BMS battery management system software to limit the voltage of the monomer cell, battery charging and discharging currents.
The case of GAC Toyota iA5, for whatever reason, has brought extremely bad effects, and the covert operation has undoubtedly hurt the user's experience and rights. Not only has it lost the good brand image of car companies, but also lost the trust of consumers, and the gains are not worth the losses.
In recent years, new energy models occupy the market, vehicle acceleration performance, endurance and fast charging technology has also become the key indicators of major car companies to chase, but now the successive power locking incidents, car companies by sacrificing the car experience of car owners and then changing back to the safety of the car, but also proved that there are still many hidden dangers in the technology of many car companies.
When designing the battery system, in order to avoid the problem of overcharge and over-discharge during the use of electric vehicles, car companies generally set DOD (discharge depth) for power batteries. Reducing DOD is indeed conducive to battery safety and prolonging battery life, but when leaving the factory, car companies have considered the situation that the battery SOC (state of charge) is too high or too low, and generally calibrates the usable capacity of the battery to about 90% of the actual installed capacity, and under normal circumstances, it should not be reduced on this basis.
In the first half of this year, "1000 km endurance" has become a key word in the field of new energy vehicle power batteries, and a number of car companies have also set up a flag of "1000 km endurance". But the ensuing safety problem has also become the next key word, "battery does not fire", "fire does not explode" and other key technologies have become the "1000 km" endurance of the new technical target. Of course, front-end technologies such as "fast charging" and "high performance", which lay the foundation for long endurance, are also facing market tests.
The use of OTA technology to "lock electricity" is not the first time that it has appeared in car companies. For example, in 2019, the Tesla Model S had several spontaneous combustion accidents around the world. Afterwards, Tesla upgraded through the OTA software to control the available power, control the charging speed, increase the hidden power, and strengthen the parking temperature control of some models with a long age.
Although it was implemented for security reasons, it also triggered consumer rights protection. In May, Tesla was punished in Norway for this, and the local government asked to pay a fine to the 30 affected owners.
Locking the power will inevitably reduce battery performance, affect the user experience, and cause product performance to be inconsistent with calibration, as a producer of car companies should inform users before OTA.
The State Administration for Market Regulation has explored the establishment of a new energy vehicle OTA filing and evaluation system
It can be seen that OTA upgrades have become a major shortcut for car companies to eliminate vehicle safety hazards and continuously improve the user experience, but at the same time, it has also created a possibility for enterprises to conceal vehicle defects and evade responsibility. The problem behind the phenomenon is that the current market is caused by the imperfect legal system related to the intelligent vehicle regulatory authorities.
On November 25, 2020, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the Notice on Further Strengthening the Supervision of Remote Upgrade (OTA) Technology Recalls of Vehicles, which has now been officially implemented. According to the regulations, every OTA upgrade for a vehicle, whether it involves eliminating product defects or not, must be filed with the General Administration.
Remotely upgrading vehicles through OTAs was originally an experience way for car companies to update vehicle software and provide better services, but in the "power lock" incident, this has become a double-edged sword.
While providing convenience, OTA technology still has a certain degree of non-compliance in certain situations. Some car companies refer to the "recall" as a "hardware upgrade", but do not escalate the software problem to the "recall" level.
Therefore, in June this year, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the Supplementary Notice on the Filing of Remote Upgrade (OTA) Technology Recalls of Vehicles, requiring the submission of the "Vehicle Remote Upgrade (OTA) Safety Technology Assessment Information Form" at the time of filing. The information table contains detailed content requirements such as the type of OTA upgrade, the purpose of the upgrade, and the upgrade push strategy.
Subsequently, on July 30 this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Management of Intelligent and Connected Vehicle Manufacturers and Product Access", which clearly put forward more specifications for software online upgrades, stipulating that enterprises need to inform vehicle users of the purpose, content, duration and other information required for online upgrades, and ensure product production consistency.
On August 12 this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Management of Intelligent and Connected Vehicle Manufacturers and Product Access", proposing to standardize software online upgrades, strengthen enterprise management capabilities and ensure product production consistency. Specifically, enterprises must file with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology before implementing online upgrade activities, and also inform vehicle users of specific information about online upgrades.
In view of the phenomenon of new energy vehicle fires and collision accidents, the market supervision department has further established a vehicle accident reporting system to enhance the pertinence of quality defect investigation. In view of the new security problems caused by the remote upgrading of OTA technology in automobiles, an OTA filing and evaluation system has been explored.
In addition, the market supervision department will also contact relevant departments to timely interview and guide relevant enterprises on the safety of new energy vehicles. The GAC Toyota iA5 power lock incident, what kind of treatment will the relevant departments eventually make, will also become a milestone in the development of new energy in China.
As consumers, we should also understand more about the principle and knowledge of batteries in daily car life, develop good car habits, and avoid irreversible damage to batteries caused by overcharge and over-discharge. If you encounter similar situations where your rights and interests are damaged, you must also have a sense of rights protection, actively communicate with car companies to respond to problems, and use legal weapons to protect your rights and interests.
Written in the end: To return the automotive OTA industry to rationality, regulations are still needed to ensure the healthy development of the OTA ecosystem
To be sure, the OTA upgrade has indeed brought us a lot of convenience, but the current OTA supervision still exposes many problems. As a new thing in the automotive market, electric vehicles are a major key to preventing the benign development of OTAs by car companies, such as the neglect of user rights and the lack of supervision.
It is believed that the national regulatory authorities will strengthen supervision and management in the follow-up and can delineate the norms for the behavior of car companies from the formulation of rules. As for whether the follow-up negative events similar to OTA will still occur, we are not sure, and we are not sure that we call on enterprises, car owners and regulatory authorities to actively take action to promote more standardized relevant behaviors, and truly make good use of OTAs to be able to use the car to live more intelligently.