‘Software problems at Volkswagen ID.3 are bigger than expected’

The problems surrounding the software for Volkswagen’s electric ID.3 car would be much bigger than initially thought. The company would therefore talk to other automakers such as Daimler and BMW to develop a joint operating system for its cars.

Volkswagen has long been troubled by problems in the software of the ID.3, the company’s first all-electric car. However, sources tell the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the problems are bigger than expected. The company planned to deliver the first vehicles this summer. 100,000 models should be delivered by the end of the year. According to the sources of the German newspaper, there are serious concerns within the company whether that target is being achieved. “If the first cars are there in the summer it won’t be mass production,” says someone from the company. “We’ll have to make them by hand.” The company is currently considering launching a “radically slimmed down” version of the car. In doing so, “one planned function after another” would be removed from the car, which should be added later with software updates. In particular, Volkswagen would have difficulty finding new programmers to build the software. Last year it turned out that Volkswagen was suffering from problems. More than 10,000 cars would have been parked in a parking lot before engineers would manually update the software.

Earlier this week, it appeared that Volkswagen was in talks with Daimler and BMW to discuss a joint collaboration in the field of software for electric cars. Volkswagen would benefit a lot from that. The company has to deliver a large number of cars by the end of the year to meet EU requirements for CO₂ emissions. If the company does not meet this target, it can be fined.