While production lines are being shut down by the coronavirus epidemic, one manufacturer is apparently feeling the heat more than others, according to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Volkswagen promised to start delivering its ID.3 electric car this summer. However, software issues have plagued the all-electric car even before production lines shut down, essentially making those cars rolling off the production floor in Zwickau ‘dead’, the newspaper reported, as they do not have the necessary software to run or use them.
Volkswagen is reportedly now considering to introduce a scaled-down operating system to the ID.3 to achieve the delivery target. According to an insider source to the German newspaper, the current software has been described as an “absolute disaster” internally at VW.
The newspaper also says that the German carmaker giant is also struggling to attract software experts required to further develop or fix the current software. To make matters worse, Volkswagen Chief IT Officer of almost nine years, Martin Hoffman has also just departed the company.
The ID.3 is a crucial model for the brand – a bastion of Volkswagen’s transition to e-mobility. But more than that, the ID.3 will also be needed to help Volkswagen achieve its EU CO2 emissions targets.
Therefore it is important that the brand delivers the ID.3 in a timely manner, even if it will be a scaled-down version at first. the ID.3 is capable of updating its software over-the-air (OTA) to enable features retrospectively.
The newspaper reports that the anxiety is starting to kick in for Volkswagen, with top-level management executives from Wolfsburg reportedly meeting with Daimler – parent company to Mercedes-Benz – to develop a unified operating system to be used on electric cars from both brands.
The news was apparently an “earthquake” in the automotive industry when it became public last week, the newspaper reports, because Daimler was revealed to also have been talking to BMW at the same time for the same purpose – Oops.
