Over-the-Air Updates, a Comparison – CleanTechnica

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When is a car not just a car? When it is an EV with over-the-air updates. Electric vehicles are not just transport from A to B, they are connected computers on wheels. As new electric vehicles enter the Australian market, consumers need to be aware of more than just drivetrain warranty, but also connectivity and ease of updates. Is your car “future proof?” I thought it might be worth looking at the three top selling EVs currently on the market in Australia — Tesla, BYD, and MG.

Connectivity and over-the-air (OTA) updates are becoming as important as air conditioning and access to music. Some of us can remember when most cars did not have AC or a radio!

I bought my Tesla Model 3 with the idea that I would keep it till I stopped driving. We had previously owned 3 cars at the same time, an automatic Hyundai Sonata, a manual 4-speed Hyundai Accent, and my toy car, a 1964 Wolseley (George). I found it stressful to change between the cars and was happy to reduce to one car in retirement. Then, I discovered over-the-air updates! After some of these annoying interruptions, I feel like I am driving a different car all over again.

Most of the updates, which download when the car is parked in the garage or our driveway, only make minor adjustments — adjustments to problems we didn’t know we had. Others make significant improvements. Like an early update to our battery management software which increased out range from 320 km to 340 km. Sounded like a lot of range 5 years ago.

Majella is enamoured with the infotainment updates supplying karaoke to sing along with the grandkids and Spotify so they can listen to songs we have never heard before by artists we didn’t know existed. They get sick of Abba and the Beatles. Our latest update has even given us access to local weather information on the screen and parent controls for those who have young drivers. No longer a problem for us. We can also see non-Tesla chargers when we navigate to parts unknown.

She likes the fact that traffic lights now show up in the improved animation on the right side of the screen. The enlarged fonts make it easier for old eyes to read. She finds it annoying when a screen icon disappears into the menu — like the tyre information. The regen information has moved also, and is harder to read. It migrated from the top of the screen to the side of the screen.

As I don’t own or drive Australia’s second highest selling electric vehicle brand, BYD, I reached out to one of my correspondents for his take.

“Over-the-air updates are an interesting part of the ownership of the BYD products. In the early stages these updates were managed and completed at selected service centres, with some of the MyCar service centres also able to complete the updates. As the brand has grown, so too has the support offered by BYD with ‘Over the Air’ updates accessible for owner installation.

“BYD will notify owners of the upcoming update and then it is a simple matter of waiting for your vehicle to be issued with the update notice, giving access to the update. Updates are rolled out progressively, meaning sometimes you have to be patient and wait your turn. When the update is ready for your vehicle, easy to follow instructions are displayed on the information screen when you start the car.

“Convenience is the key here, so if it is not a suitable time to complete the download, the option to delay and re-schedule the download makes the process available at a time to suit the owner. These instructions will provide the update identifier as well as a brief description of what will be included, time required for the update to download, and simple to follow instructions. Updates may be completed at home or whilst the car is securely parked. As long as there is a sound Wi-Fi connection and sufficient time, you’re good to go.

“There have been plenty of reports on social media platforms regarding updates, and some owners have experienced a few minor issues with the downloads. However, the updates are an efficient and convenient means to address minor issues. Occasionally a function you like may be replaced with one that isn’t quite the same as you were used to. One of these is the pedestrian warning sound. That function was silenced but has since (or will soon be) re-activated in a menu selection in another update.

“BYD does listen to customer concerns with their vehicles, and where possible, will address these (where justified) through over the air updates. It does take time to address these concerns and to develop and test the updates before releasing to the owners. No point resolving one issue and creating another in the process. If an owner has ongoing issues with or from an update, they should contact their local BYD Service Centre.”

My friend who drives an MG4 loves the car, but finds the dealer backup for updates quite frustrating. He has to take his vehicle to the dealer in a regional Queensland city where he lives. However, there are no notifications re: updates. He tells me that on the Facebook MG groups there has been “quite the discussion” about updates, with mixed views on dealers’ abilities and interest in providing them. He tells me that he has heard of a recent update regarding one-pedal driving, safe-distance driving, and navigation. It is proposed that this update be done at the 40,000 km “first service.” He expects that there will be many updates waiting for his car by then — in about a couple of years!

Another Tesla driver took his daughter’s MG4 in for its update and service. He had to drive 150 km to another city to take it back to the dealership and wait all day. The MG was not plugged in during the update process and at the time of pick up did not have enough charge to get him home. He had to stay overnight in Gladstone. “The inconvenience of going to a dealer is the main issue plus lack of notification,” he tells me.

Another diver in regional Queensland has just purchased a Volvo EX30 in Brisbane. “He can get OTA updates. Good thing. as the nearest Volvo dealer is very distant … I had to encourage him to turn on one pedal driving!”

Looking for further responses, I reached out to the EV community via the Australian Electric Vehicle Queensland Facebook page. “I can tell you about Kona. None.” The 2019 Ioniq owner agreed. A 2024 Hyundai Kona owner chipped in: “We have had a couple of OTA updates already in the first month for the 2024 Kona over the 4G SIM.”

From an experienced Polestar driver via email: “Polestar includes 4yrs (I think) of 4g connectivity with the car in Australia so the OTAs are delivered over the mobile network (some people do connect their cars to home wifi when parked but personally I don’t think it makes much of a difference). There is no cost for the OTA updates. It downloads in the background, usually when you go for a decent drive. You get the ‘angry cloud’ icon in the notification area of the screen. Once you get that, you choose when to install it. You can choose immediately (which will then install when you park up and lock the car — you’re advised not to use the car for 90 minutes), or since an upgrade late last year, you can schedule it. I usually schedule for overnight, 2am or something.”

“Sometimes when a new update is released, it is only available through a dealership visit initially. I think this is their way of monitoring the early updaters before releasing it to the masses. This especially happens with a major version release.

“You can view the software update change log here. If you look at the log, you can see some significant updates, including delivering Apple CarPlay, updates to cruise control and Pilot Assist functionality, improvements to heat pump efficiency, updates to pre-conditioning including switching on the steering wheel heater when the temp gets below 10°C (I was glad of this one recently, even in QLD), improvements to controlling charging (scheduling, setting the current limit from the app, etc.), efficiency improvements, and making driving at low speeds smoother.

“Generally, the Polestar community is always keen to see updates. They get announced and usually are already available at the dealerships (as much as Polestar has dealerships) and Volvo, then we’re usually waiting for the first OTAs to land.”

Because of this large range of options across vehicle brands, first time EV buyers need to ask the right questions when they purchase their car. And hope the salespeople have the right information. As our EVs get incrementally better every few months, the future is looking bright, electric, and connected.