overthe software updates are now very
much an expected feature for any new EV
not only can your car learn new tips and
tricks as are developed by your
automaker but if there's a particular
issue with your vehicle that would
traditionally require an in-person
recall visit to a dealership to have
your vehicle reprogrammed you can often
have that same issue fixed via an
overthe a software update recall
campaign I'm not going to get into the
ins and outs of this
okay technically we can use software
update or recall but recall is to fix
something that is in violation of
official safety standards for the
country where the vehicle is in let's
just leave it there and let legislators
and Regulators battle out if and when
changes to that definition are required
while Tesla wasn't the first automaker
to offer remote telematics and
connectivity for its Vehicles
Mercedes-Benz Cadillac and a few others
were doing that in the late 1990s Tesla
was the first to offer overthe a
software update in a large volume
production vehicle if you own a Tesla
made since 2012 and in the case of some
older Teslas you opted to have the modem
upgraded to an LTE version so you could
still make use of onboard telematics
when its respective 3G network was
deactivated your car can still get OTA
updates since Tesla first started otaa
it's been joined by most rival
automakers in the EV space with everyone
from rivan and Lucid to GM and Ford
offering over theair software updates
for the most part otaa updates take
place seamlessly often at night when
you're not using the vehicle although
the specifics of how each update is
applied does depend on the exact vehicle
you have any preferences pertaining to
OTA updates you may have set up and who
it was who made your car but over the
recent holiday period we heard of the
ultimate Horror Story for anyone whose
car is capable of OTA a failed update
that left an owner's car in an
undrivable state so today I'm going to
examine this particular update one of a
Ford Mustang Mark E examine some of the
past software updates that have caused
glitches for various automakers and ask
if there's anything you can do to help
avoid becoming someone whose car breaks
itself
[Music]
otaa updates are all the rage these days
everyone's doing it and they can help
both automakers and owners reduce the
number of service visits and improve
overall vehicle operability without otaa
for example many EV owners today won't
be able to look forward to a future
where they could with the help of an
adapter make use of any Tesla
superchargers as seamlessly as they
might use other charging stations from
other providers don't worry Kate's doing
a video All About That very spoon I mean
soon without overthe a update they may
not be able to pull the switch on some
feature or other that shipped with their
cars but was deactivated at the point of
sale something like Tesla FSD beta or
perhaps as in the case of my truck
adaptive headlights and without otaa
updates we wouldn't so easily or quickly
get improved charging curves or tweaked
battery management software all designed
to let our cars drive further charge
more quickly and have a longer happier
life and it's here that we turn our
attention to Ford and it's over theair
software update system A system that
allows customers cars to receive Ford
power up software updates through either
the vehicles built in data modem or by
connecting your car to a local Wi-Fi
networ Network Ford has been offering
power up for some of its vehicles for
some time and both its current electric
vehicle lineup as well as some of its
newer internal combustion engine
Vehicles can receive them just about two
weeks ago we started to hear stories of
Ford Mustang mark ease that effectively
became bricks meaning they couldn't move
under their own power after Ford's
PowerUp software version 6.8 not failed
to properly finish loading in infected
cars and that meant the center
touchscreen display showed a warning
message that read quote unfortunately a
recent software update was not
successful your vehicle cannot be driven
end quote it then gave the telephone
number for Ford's customer relationship
Center and displayed onscreen
instructions designed to instruct tow
truck operators on how to properly and
safely put the car onto a flatbed tow
truck for transportation to a local
dealership because Ford pushes its
updates in waves to its credit Ford was
able to Halt the process of pushing
updates to any more vehicles and we are
actually filming this the first day back
after the New Year break and as at the
time of filming and editing haven't yet
heard back from Ford as to what exactly
happened but Ford is pretty responsive
to Media inquiries so when we do hear
back we'll let you know browse forums
like Mark E forum
and you'll see a few people affected by
the story but for any issue like this
there are also going to be owners who
aren't Forum members who are likely
having the same issue according to
secondhand evidence posted on some
forums and on Facebook it appears other
Ford models also had some recent issues
with software updates Ford Broncos and
F150s all appear to have been affected
to some extent and Ford is working to
get all affected vehicles fixed and back
on the road what does that look like
well after being towed to a local
dealership Ford technicians have to
manually connect the onboard computer to
a laptop reset some software fail codes
set by the failed update codes which are
setting error conditions and prevent
further attempted over theair updates
until cleared and then manually update
the vehicle system using fdrs Ford's
system that allows mechanics to repr
program modules in Ford vehicles using a
laptop and a special dongle both ones
with and overthe a software update
capabilities run the same
software we don't know how many vehicles
were affected by the issue I did ask
Ford but again we haven't heard back yet
but one thing that does confuse me is
how I was originally told Ford's Mustang
Mark E onboard update system would work
back in
2019 at that point I seem to recall Ford
told journalists that the Mustang Mark E
would use a system similar to The Dual
bios systems found in some high-end
gaming computers downloading the
software update in the background and
then flashing it to the car's computer
system but then and only when you turn
the car back on would it switch to using
the new software update which seamlessly
ensured that even if there was a failed
update you could go back to the previous
version and you'd not be left with a
bricked vehicle now that's clearly not
what we got in the production vehicle
and maybe it's me maybe I misunderstood
The Briefing during the car's launch or
indeed something changed with the
production vehicle which was released a
full year after the reveal event that I
attended I'm not a technician and I
don't know the differences between the
Prototype and production model but what
I should note again is that I have asked
Ford for clarification and you've
guessed it we'll let you know as soon as
we hear
something regulars to the channel will
also know that I've experienced my own
issues with Ford's overthe a software
update system namely a faulty 12volt
battery prevented my truck from carrying
out a particular over-the-air software
update but after I had that 12vt
accessory battery replaced under
warranty everything updated as it should
and I've not had any further problems
updates so far have taken place as
planned and I've had a few software
updates since that point that have
updated without any problems at
all but look it's obviously not
particularly good to have a car you rely
on become an expensive paperweight and
while those who've had their cars towed
to the dealerships are now starting to
get their cars back all fixed the
chances are you probably don't want to
get yourself this situation in the first
place so I'm going to give you some tips
and tricks to avoid becoming someone
with a bricked vehicle in a second but
let's just tackle the elephant in the
room OTA update failures are rare but
they happen and they happen to many
different types of car we've heard of
Tesla otaa updates fail in the past and
not so long ago rivan pushed an
over-the-air software update that caused
some pretty big headaches takes for its
customers pretty much every automaker to
date who uses OTA has at some point or
another had a failed update or something
go wrong but luckily even if an update
has the potential to cause problems it
doesn't always mean it will why do those
failures
happen it could be for any number of
reasons it could be a lack of testing at
the automaker in question or maybe an
error compiling the final update for a
particular set of vehicles or frankly
even a cosmic ray sometimes an error in
transmission can even cause the
problem sometimes it's literally just
bad luck and I'm not kidding about the
cosmic ray if you are not a super nerd
and you don't already know about cosmic
ray bit flips Google it and I'll also
leave a link to a video in the down
belowing that you can blow your mind
with it's really mindblowing you usually
if an overthe a update is foar don't
look that one up if you are with someone
of a nervous disposition it doesn't
actually cause problems because various
software protections such as check
summing will flag the problem long
before it is actually thrown into the
car as an official update but sometimes
this will happen and then you're left
calling a tow truck should you worry
about this worry about it happening to
your vehicle
not accept software updates you
shouldn't worry software updates usually
carry out just fine and dandy but just
like the occasional software update can
cause your smartphone laptop or tablet
computer to just behave a little wonky
so too can a software update cause
unexpected problems for your vehicle
especially if you happen to have
personalized settings that are a little
different or perhaps weren't tested
against by the development team
obviously if you
are 100% dependent on your vehicle for
whatever reason then yeah I I get your
concern but
also there's not a lot you can do about
it if you want to drive a newer vehicle
EV or or not most cars now have OTA
which brings me to the actual process of
keeping yourself free of problems and
hopefully making sure your vehicle
doesn't end up a brick with a failed
update but but first let me be clear
software
updates are generally good you should
generally apply them just like a
security update for your computer OTA
updates for your car should be treated
as something that you should probably
apply but just like hopefully you don't
have your computer set to automatically
update whenever there's a new operating
system update you really shouldn't set
your car to automatically update
whenever there's one available a
knowledgeable computer user knows that
it's usually a good idea to wait a few
days after an update is posted before
you click to initiate that upgrade a
knowledgeable computer user knows that
it's worth reading the software update
release notes to see what's actually
changed and why the update was needed in
the first place on the computer you
should check that the update is friendly
with the software you use on a daily
basis and keep your eye on social media
on user forums for any issues that other
people have experienced oh and keep a
known good backup just in case things go
wrong yeah sure if the update includes a
zero day exploit patch or some other
really important security update that
really is something you should apply
immediately yes go ahead but otherwise
sit and wait a while let other people be
the testers let them test the update
first as it were obviously
when it comes to an automotive update
it's not usually possible to make a
backup that you can boot from if things
go wrong but again there are some really
simple steps to avoid a heartache set
your car to carry out daily checks for
software updates and many telematic
systems will actually even notify you if
there is an update for your vehicle via
companion smartphone apps next set your
car to not update automatically when
there's an update available and in
instead to only update when you tell it
to that way you'll know that when there
is an update the car won't apply it
unless you say it's
cool then well play it cool and keep it
safe keep your eyes peeled for other
owners having issues and having read the
release notes yeah I I know Ford and
many other AIO makers really suck at
writing release notes get together Ford
set aside some time when you don't need
to use your vehicle make sure you're at
home and that your car has a good
internet connection to the update server
either using its built-in Cellular
Connection or Wi-Fi
then and only then should you follow the
update procedure and assuming everything
goes according to plan you'll get some
shiny new software to play with and if
you are someone who applies updates when
you're away from home or someone who
Gods forbid just lets the vehicle do it
when it wants
to you are playing a very dangerous and
slightly exciting game oh and there's
one more thing familiarize yourself with
your car's recommended Turing
instructions this includes how to get
the car into neutral just in case the
worst happens and you should also be
sure that you know the software update
revision number before you click update
write it down put it on your phone is if
it goes wrong you'll need that when you
call for backup there you have it
practice safe software updates for your
car don't be left out in the
cold don't take silly risks with your
pride and
joy thanks for joining me today and if
you've got thoughts make sure you leave
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see you soon and as always keep
evolving I'm not going to go into the
ins and outs of this okay software
update is to fix something that's in
violation of
official
good yeah yeah yeah I'm going to have to
go right okay