Car Software Patches Are Over 20% of Recalls, Study Finds
Software fixes are now responsible for more than 1 in 5 automotive recalls. That's the key finding from a decade's worth of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recall data.
While that's a sign of growing inconvenience for drivers, the silver lining is that a software patch is usually a much quicker fix than something requiring hardware replacement.
"Our analysis suggests we're witnessing a shift in how automotive recalls are handled. The growing number of software-related recalls, coupled with the ability to address issues remotely, could revolutionize the recall process for both manufacturers and vehicle owners," said a spokesperson for DeMayo Law.
Mobilisights Turns Data into Cash for Fleets
Stellantis created Mobilisights to harness the data collected from over 14 million connected vehicles worldwide, a number that they’re looking to increase to 34 million by 2030.
Mobilisights represents the exclusive licensing partner for Stellantis’ 14 vehicle brands, including Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and others in Europe and North America.
“Upon user consent, we extract connected vehicle data from those vehicles,” says Eddie Nath, Head of North America Sales, and Vice President for Mobilisights. “We bring them into a single platform... and make the data as a subscription feature available to our customers, which include large fleets, fleet management companies, telematics service providers, rental car companies...”
ABM Expands Charger Portfolio with Samsung C&T Charging Solutions Partnership
ABM, a leading provider of integrated facility services, infrastructure solutions, and parking management, announced a distributorship agreement with Samsung C&T Charging Solutions.
Samsung's EVSIS chargers integrate seamlessly with cloud-based ABM EV OS platform – enabling scalable expansion, intelligent monitoring, remote operation management, comprehensive reporting, and automatic infrastructure diagnostics.
“As EV charging technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, we’re thrilled to be partnering with Samsung C&T Charging Solutions, an innovation leader and major player throughout the eMobility infrastructure industry,” said Mark Hawkinson, President of ABM’s Technical Solutions segment.
Typical EVs Can Be Powerful. That’s Raising Insurance Costs.
Engineers can more easily achieve high horsepower and torque numbers with EV designs than with gas-powered cars. To add power to gasoline cars, engineers must give them powerful engines, turbochargers or superchargers, and more robust driveline components to handle the power. But they can add power to many electric cars with a few lines of code.
But putting all that power in more driveways may also lead to more accidents. LexisNexis data shows that EVs have 17% more claims than gas-powered cars, and 34% higher claim severity. Insurers are starting to treat higher-powered trim levels of some EVs as riskier.
Drivers Quickly Learn to Skirt Limits Set by Partial Automation Systems
image: IIHS
Drivers are more likely to multitask when using partial automation, and some manage to do so even while playing by the rules of the systems’ attention requirements, new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows.
“These results are a good reminder of the way people learn,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “If you train them to think that paying attention means nudging the steering wheel every few seconds, then that’s exactly what they’ll do.”
Drivers were much more likely to check their phones, eat a sandwich or do other visual-manual activities while using partial automation system than when driving unassisted, a monthlong study of driver behavior that IIHS conducted with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab showed.
