After the barbaric growth, it is time to stir up turbulence and clearness.
On April 15, the Equipment Industry Development Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the Notice on Carrying Out online upgrade filing of automotive software.
According to the content of the notice, car companies should complete the filing of enterprise management capabilities, the filing of models and functions and the filing of specific upgrade activities in turn as required before they can implement OTA upgrade activities.
In fact, this should be roughly the third regulatory order of the relevant departments in the past two years.
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.
In June 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) once again issued the Supplementary Notice on the Filing of Remote Upgrade (OTA) Technology Recalls of Automobiles, which further regulates the filing of automotive OTAs by car companies.
It's not like OTA, you can OTA
Over the past few years, smart trams have leveraged OTAs to keep cars growing. However, no matter how prosperous it is, it cannot hide the fact that some car companies use OTAs to carry private goods.
For example, the locking of electric doors of a certain brand that is still pending.
Without the user's knowledge, the car company re-determines the voltage range of the power battery by rewriting the battery management system to limit the upper charging limit and the total discharge charge of the battery, thereby reducing the probability of thermal runaway of the battery.
What needs to be borne by users is that it costs 400KM of endurance money, because the power lock + winter endurance is discounted, and the actual endurance is even less than 200KM.
Therefore, the power lock is to improve the safety factor, but it is the user who pays the bill.
Another example is that in September last year, the overlord of a certain brand was upgraded.
After the brand's car and machine upgrade, it attempted to collect private data such as personal navigation and music playback history, and there was only an option to agree on the interface.
Today, with the promulgation and implementation of regulatory regulations, car companies will have fewer and fewer things to make trouble in the name of OTAs.
In the past, despite the filing system, in the end, car companies wanted to rise, they could rise. Now, not only for the record, but also for the announcement, the user must be informed, and the choice is reserved.
At the same time, the relevant upgrade activities involving the L3 level and above of the automotive autonomous driving function must be approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
In a word, it's not that you want OTA, you can OTA.
One to fight, one to hide
The promulgation of the three regulatory orders has also played a basic role in curbing the current OTA chaos, but there are also some places where there is no catch.
For example, in the name of OTA, whitewash product defects, and secretly recall the truth.
In 2021, 8.73 million vehicles were recalled, and 2.92 million defective vehicles were recalled by OTA, accounting for about one-third of the total recalls in the whole year.
But the side also reflects that if there is no regulatory system, these recalls are not very likely to be whitewashed in the form of OTAs without the user's knowledge.
Even, it has become a word of mouth for product upgrades in a timely manner, but it does not mean that there are no fish that have slipped through the net.
I remember that in November last year, there was a case of a brand that intended to use OTA upgrades to solve vehicle design defects.
At present, how to correctly determine the OTA upgrade as a standard, or use the name of OTA instead of recall, the entire industry is still being discussed.
Since it cannot be clarified at this stage, it is forced to give an amplitude and become a gray area that the OTA tacitly agrees.
In August 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the Opinions of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Strengthening the Management of Access to Intelligent and Connected Vehicle Manufacturers and Products, which put forward clear requirements for strengthening automotive data security, network security, software upgrades, functional safety and expected functional safety management, and ensuring product quality and production consistency.
To put it simply, the certification of automotive software upgrade management system is equivalent to the star rating system of scenic spots and hotels. Through the evaluation of the established dimension, three, six, nine and so on are divided.
The rank is also not a lifetime system, and once violated, it may be demoted. If the bottom line standard is not met, the upgrade activity is suspended.
If an OTA is actually stopped for a violation, it will directly affect the user experience, product sales, and even brand value.
Access management can be seen as a prelude to system certification. It is hard to imagine that there will really be car companies that dare to touch such a high-voltage line.
As a beneficiary of the technology dividend, we should also be a participant in promoting the healthy development of automotive software upgrades.
OTAs are on the rise, and we love it, which is both a trend and a future. With the improvement of relevant laws and regulations, I believe that all this will definitely become better.