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There Will Be Blood — Peter Mertens, Former Head of Audi R&D: “We All Did Sleep”
Clean Technica ^ | 13 June 2020 | Alex Voigt

Posted on 06/14/2020 10:17:22 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT

Consider the octopus arms in my analogy to be different functionality segments and sub-systems in a vehicle. ... industry has grown up and real new innovation does not happen anymore, each of these sub-systems has been outsourced to suppliers who offer it better, faster, and with lower costs. 90% of all Volkswagen software today is outsourced. A true win-win situation. Welcome to the world of low vertical integration and low pace of innovation.

...all systems are working just in their own little box and do not communicate with a central computer or, to use my analogy again, the central brain of our octopus.

...undisturbed, until Tesla released its first BEV. Tesla was the first company to release a vehicle custom designed with high vertical integration around a central computer managing all core and side functionality. You cannot see that from the outside, and that’s why people do still not understand why a Tesla is so different. They do typically learn it in the moment they press the accelerator.

10 years later, the largest and best R&D department in the auto industry has revealed vehicles that are nowhere near the 2012 Tesla Model S.

...reasoning for that decision was simple: revenue and profits.

...“Even today, hardly a line of software code comes from us.”...

...They will not even understand the problem if a software engineer tries to explain it to them...

Run a job assessment with all top managers at VW, Audi, Porsche, BMW, and Daimler tomorrow and ask them to code a small game or a simple but working virus. If they are not able to do so, fire them immediately, because they are not fit for the job. How many will be left?

...With 12 years of age in 1984, Elon Musk programmed BlaStar...

(Excerpt) Read more at cleantechnica.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: octopus
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To: neverevergiveup; TexasGator

Variable Gear Ratio steering:
https://www.autozine.org/technical_school/traction/Steering_2.html

Infiniti produced an actual steer by wire system for a year or two?


21 posted on 06/14/2020 11:50:59 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
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To: TexasGator

I traded by older care that had dial controls for heating/cooling. They were easy to find and use. Minimum time with eyes off the road. My new car has touch screen controls. Now I must look to make sure I hit the right places to change the temp or fan. Eyes must come off the road. I like the old knobs better.


22 posted on 06/14/2020 11:54:33 AM PDT by Stevenfo
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Nissan introduced it in 2012 but a clutch would engage the mechanical linkage in a Failure of the electronic system.


23 posted on 06/14/2020 11:58:35 AM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
1966 Pontiac Bonneville

My parents bought a 1966 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, white with luggage rack, and took nine of us on a grand tour from coast to coast.   The Vista Dome was great to have among the giant redwoods and canyon streets of the big cities.   Almost 20 years later I bought my Father-in-Law's very low mileage 1972 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser.   He had only used it to tow his camping trailer to the mountains once a year.   That was a true land yacht.

24 posted on 06/14/2020 12:05:43 PM PDT by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken)
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To: Stevenfo

“I traded by older care that had dial controls for heating/cooling. They were easy to find and use.”

Mine has automatic temp/fan control. Convenient buttons with red/blue labels but rarely need to use. Big Button for MAX centrally located.


25 posted on 06/14/2020 12:13:07 PM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: higgmeister

“nine of us “

Close family?


26 posted on 06/14/2020 12:27:21 PM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: DUMBGRUNT
Having worked 20 years of my life in the software industry, I can confirm that software is not magic, just a technology. To manage software, you need software engineers and a software organization. If you allow hardware managers in a hardware organization to manage your software, how could you possibly expect success?

Quick, Volkswagen! Hire some Indians before quarter-end and tell the CEO all that ugly computer stuff is solved...cheap! /s

27 posted on 06/14/2020 12:31:36 PM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ([CTRL]-[GALT]-[DELETE])
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I remember those. I had a ‘66 Pontiac for a while, too.


28 posted on 06/14/2020 12:31:52 PM PDT by Disambiguator
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
I knew this thread would bring out the old codgers reminiscing about their trusty old knobs and dials from the cars of the 1960s!

I rent cars often when traveling for work and vacation so I've driven a lot of different makes. I find them intuitive enough to drive without having to stress out too much about where a particular control is located. I recently purchased a 2020 Outback with all the bells and whistles and the center display looks like somebody just stuck an extra large iPad in there and you have to swipe for this and swipe for that. The car in general probably has more electronics than the Space Shuttle. Even the parking brake is electronic. But that doesn't concern me much and I haven't had to consult my owner's manual once.

Funny story about the owner's manuals, which these days are about six inches thick and won't easily fit in your glove compartment. I sold my 2014 Nissan Murano with 140,000 miles on it and the new owner asked if I still had the manuals. I rummaged around for them and realized that there was an upper shelf in the glove compartment that held them. I pulled them out and there they were in pristine condition, with the business card of my 2014 Nissan salesperson neatly tucked into the little plastic insert. I had literally never touched the things in six years of ownership.

Basically when I have a question about my car, I just do a web search and the answer comes right up along with links to YouTube videos and such.

29 posted on 06/14/2020 12:35:26 PM PDT by SamAdams76
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity
I don’t even care as long as my car is reasonably reliable and any bugs are not too annoying. As for these golf-carts, I’m not buying one—EVER. I’ll be dead before gas cars go away, so I don’t care about any of this EV crap.”

You are entitled to your opinion but battery technology advances, even though they are way overhyped, are advancing steadily and will surpass the distance gasoline offers. Perhaps the future will be not be batteries but fuel cells. Whichever way technology advances to provide electricity power to cars the internal combustion engine is going to be put aside for electric dive trains. Electric drive trains are much simpler, controllable, powerful, durable, and adaptable to many driving needs from cruising, off-road, and racing.

The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones.

30 posted on 06/14/2020 12:35:29 PM PDT by wildcard_redneck ("Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither.")
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To: TexasGator
That's not the gay one. This one is:


31 posted on 06/14/2020 12:42:42 PM PDT by Fresh Wind (China kills over 400,000 and the sheeple sleep. Cops kill one person, and cities burn.)
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To: Moltke
”Thanks, but I don’t want a PlayStation on wheels. I find all that stuff distracting and annoying. Just give the car enough electronics to keep it going. (Oh, and SatNav...:))”

Because the interface is delivered by screens controlled by software what is displayed can be simplified to suit anyone’s tastes and mental abilities. Totally customizable and I am sure cars of the future will offer a ‘Jitterbug’ option without “all those confusing buttons and features.”

32 posted on 06/14/2020 12:44:09 PM PDT by wildcard_redneck ("Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither.")
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To: Fresh Wind

Yep, the i3 is so gay...

The i8, on the other hand, gets in the $200k range. 0-60 around 4 sec.


33 posted on 06/14/2020 12:48:08 PM PDT by jjotto (“Blessed are You LORD, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.”)
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To: wildcard_redneck
In my recent car buying cycles I seriously looked at some hybrid models. But I'm of the same mindset as you, I believe that battery advancements are improving rapidly and it's only a matter of time before gas-powered engines are obsolete.

Not because the "green" movement wants it - just the natural progression of technology. I think a lot of Freepers are hostile towards electric cars because they associate them with Bernie Sanders and Al Gore, etc.

I'm thinking my new Outback will perhaps be the last all-gas car I ever own.

34 posted on 06/14/2020 12:48:51 PM PDT by SamAdams76
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To: DUMBGRUNT

It cuts the other way too.

Great contributors may not be able to teach and lead. Good leaders might not be able to do the same work.

That is the problem. Few can do both.


35 posted on 06/14/2020 12:54:41 PM PDT by redgolum (If this culture today is civilization, I will be the barbarian)
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To: SamAdams76

Problem is energy efficiency. As a whole, battery vehicles are pretty horrible on efficiency from source energy. Gas is better.

Then there is the fact that there are not enough rare earth metals to build the batteries, or electrical infrastructure to charge them (that takes a large 3 phase transformer for starters).

Not saying it can’t be done, but the engineering problems are pretty big. A better path would be nat gas or hydrogen.


36 posted on 06/14/2020 12:58:07 PM PDT by redgolum (If this culture today is civilization, I will be the barbarian)
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To: redgolum

Where does the energy needed to mine the material for the batteries come from?


37 posted on 06/14/2020 1:00:20 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator

Right now?

Rice.

As in child labor for a portion of it.


38 posted on 06/14/2020 1:01:09 PM PDT by redgolum (If this culture today is civilization, I will be the barbarian)
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To: neverevergiveup

The bottom line, though, is that with everything being electronically controlled, software engineering in a car has become very important.

________________

The real question is WHY?


39 posted on 06/14/2020 1:04:18 PM PDT by Chickensoup (Voter ID for 2020!! Leftists totalitarian fascists appear to be planning to eradicate conservatives)
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To: redgolum
I remember the early days of personal computing and the Internet (actually just 30 years ago) when PCs chugged along on 640K of Ram and had clunky 40MB hard drives that filled up so fast you stored most of your files on floppies. You had to load like 30 floppy disks just to install Word or Excel (remember the days of "insert disk 4 (of 31)"?

The internet was no great shakes either. In the early days of Free Republic, you would get hollered at for linking images. People at home were still using 9600 or 14.4k baud rate modems and it would take a few minutes to fully raster a simple JPEG.

So think of battery vehicles in that context. They are still in their "early 1990s" mode, but great advances are on the horizon.

40 posted on 06/14/2020 1:07:45 PM PDT by SamAdams76
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