- Car companies have big dreams for software features, connected services and more as they aim to make “smartphones on wheels.”
- But the bankruptcy of one such automaker in China is showing what can go wrong when software support evaporates.
- How do car companies ensure their products will work for the long haul?
Last year, ahead of leasing a Kia EV6, I sold a 2002 Toyota 4Runner I had owned for several years to a friend. I had barely been driving the old truck by the end of my time with it; it was slow, it was thirsty and it was good for Home Depot runs and snow days but not much else. Still, there was one thing I truly loved about it: I could fix almost everything that broke on that truck (which didn’t happen often) pretty much by myself.
That’s definitely not going to be the case in the new era of driving we find ourselves approaching. Car companies envision a near future where they sell “smartphones on wheels”—vehicles more defined by their software features than anything else, full of tech that gets upgraded and updated on the fly. (And features they can charge you monthly and annually for, of course.)
But since software now plays such a significant role in not just features like streaming music but in key functions like battery management and recalls, what happens if those car companies close up shop or no longer support their “legacy” products? Will any of these modern SDVs be as viable on the road as my old 4Runner still is?
That doesn’t seem to be the case. And we’re seeing one example of that looming disaster play out right now in China.
Rest of World, the nonprofit outlet that covers global tech news, has an alarming dispatch about Shanghai-based WM Motor. The automaker filed for bankruptcy last year as China’s crowded EV market plays “survival of the fittest” with the scores of car brands in that country. But now, WM Motor is reportedly failing to keep up with even basic software functions that underpin these cars:
Richard Qian didn’t know what to expect when he heard that WM Motor, a Shanghai-based EV maker popular for its low prices, filed for bankruptcy in October 2023. He tried to drive his compact EX5 SUV as he normally would, but discovered that he could no longer log into WM Motor’s smartphone app, which remotely controlled the car lock and air conditioner. He also couldn’t see his car’s mileage and charging status on the dashboard.
Qian was not alone. Other WM Motor owners reported that the smartphone app was unusable, and the built-in car stereo, which required an internet connection, had stopped working. Multiple WM Motor owners filed complaints on 12365auto, a Chinese automobile review site.
“The car system is paralyzed and I can’t log in. The entire entertainment system is unusable, and the vehicle status cannot be checked,” one owner wrote. “The car has become a huge safety hazard!”
WM Motor later apologized for the server downtime and temporarily resolved the issues. But some owners still have difficulties accessing basic features, such as in-car entertainment, according to Chinese media reports. The company has not updated its firmware since the bankruptcy filing, and the WM Motor app is currently not available on Chinese app stores.
This story sounds a bit familiar here in the U.S. to anyone who followed the demise of Fisker Inc. Those EVs are just as software-driven as any on the market, and indeed, shipped with key features missing that Fisker promised to deliver with updates later on. But now Fisker has declared bankruptcy and is facing insolvency, so owners are banding together to figure out what software functions they can demand for long-term support—or even develop themselves.
But by our estimation, Fisker sold maybe 20,000 Ocean EVs globally before throwing in the towel. According to Rest of World, WM Motor sold approximately 100,000 vehicles between 2019 and 2022—many of which could lose key functions without the company’s ongoing tech support. And as that story notes, while China does require a decade of hardware parts and after-sales service after a car is discontinued, but that does not include software support. Things people paid for—in-car entertainment, remote access, charging support and even the ability to fix problems via updates—could go up in smoke if the company behind the car does too.
The story correctly frames this around a bigger problem in China as more and more of these brands call it quits or consolidate with others. Indeed, most analysts expect China’s vast array of automakers and brands to shrink and coalesce around the strongest and biggest players over time, just as happened in the U.S. auto industry in the 20th century. As a result, more and more buyers are moving to bigger brands like BYD and Geely, both out of necessity and out of fear that their car from a scrappy startup will end up like WM Motor.
But that doesn’t solve the crisis facing potentially hundreds of thousands of drivers whose automakers could fail, or the fact that nothing prevents this from happening again and elsewhere. What happens long-term if a major automaker in the West fails and discontinues support for its EVs? What happens if you want to drive a Tesla or an electric Kia 20 or 30 years from now, just as you can for a gas-powered car? What level of support will that car get for its key functions, if any at all?
The auto industry, generally speaking, isn’t great at supporting its long-term customers beyond parts sales as a revenue stream. They’d rather you just lease or finance one of their new models. On top of that, the car business just hasn’t been great at software, period. But when you consider the average car in the U.S. alone is now almost 13 years old, and trends indicate people want to keep their cars longer than ever, something has to give here—some kind of industry mindset needs shifting.
That, or the U.S. and other countries need to regulate this problem and legally guarantee some kind of longer-term software support safeguards before countless drivers end up with their cars bricked someday too.
All of a sudden, I’m beginning to think I took that 4Runner for granted.
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