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Cars Are Rolling Computers Now. So What Happens When They Stop Getting Updates?


Phones are supported well beyond their average ownership lifetime. In stark contrast, automakers are struggling to work out how long their “smartphones on wheels” can be kept on the road.

Just this year, some 3,000 Nissan Leaf owners in the United Kingdom were notified by the company that they would lose access to connected services and a related app after the nation shut down its 2G network. But the public has balked at other subscriptions, including a 2022 offering from BMW that would have charged South Korean drivers a monthly fee to turn on their heated seats. And if vehicles lose the ability to update well before they make it to the junkyard, “whoever’s holding the bag gets a big hit in resale value,” says Philip Koopman, who studies transportation software and safety as an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

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