The absurd bill comes from United Statesmore specifically from West Virginia, where a trade association of auto salesmen would have proposed a law for prohibit OTA updates (Over The Air), forcing motorists to go to dealership or in the workshop to perform software updates that can be easily done remotely.
It goes without saying that the local institutions were immediately activated, especially the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an association that indicates in its very name its mission: to safeguard and encourage innovation in the automotive field. According to the AAI, this law would seriously harm motorists, on the other hand, favoring the network of dealerships and workshops that could benefit from a greater coming and going of customers, who would inevitably also spend money they would not normally have spent.
“This bill could drastically change the rights and obligations of West Virginia automakers and the sales network. Many of these changes would give dealerships an advantage, instead imposing greater costs and inconvenience on customers.”This is what we read in the letter that AAI sent on the issue.
After years of back and forth, almost all car companies have finally updated and are copying the “Tesla model”, As it was the company of Elon Musk to offer OTA updates on their cars: now that everyone else is adapting too, it would be madness to ban them.
By better analyzing the request made by the West Virginia dealers, one realizes even more how out of place it is: the bill would oblige all motorists who need assistance, software updates, or even to buy an accessory for their car, to go to the dealer to carry out these operations. In addition to the possible economic damage and ai disservices imposed on customers forced to deal with unprepared dealerships, there is a problem of safety: going to the workshop is often uncomfortable and messes up the daily routine, and no doubt many customers would end up not even going there, skipping the update which could potentially be very important for driving safety.
