Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Ford plans to radically overhaul its vehicle software strategy to switch to a vertically integrated approach, CEO Jim Farley said at the ‘Everything Electric Show’ citing challenges of the current fragmented supplier network.
Farley said the company has outsourced the development of about 150 control modules in its vehicles to various suppliers, including Bosch and others. However, the result is a patchwork of software systems that do not communicate seamlessly, according to the chief executive.
“The problem is the software [is] all written by, you know, 150 different companies and they don’t talk to each other,” Farley said. “Even though it says Ford on the front, I actually have to go to Bosch to get permission to change their seat control software.”
Farley described the current system as a “loose confederation of software providers,” with disparate programming languages and structures making it difficult for Ford to manage or update the software comprehensively.
In the second-generation, the automaker will take control of its electric architecture by writing its own software, Farley said while noting that “car companies have never written software like this, ever.”
“That’s why at Ford we’ve decided in the second generation product to completely insource electric architecture,” Farley said. “To do that you need to write all the software yourself, but just remember car companies have never written software like this, ever, so we’re literally writing how the vehicle operates the software to operate the vehicle for the first time ever.”
Last October, Ford reported its third quarter earnings results, revealing a $1.2 billion loss in its electric vehicle (EV) unit. Sales for its Model e division declined by 11% during the quarter.
In early December, the carmaker unveiled its new fully electric Puma Gen-E, with orders now open and deliveries set to begin this spring.
The Puma Gen-E will be built at Ford’s Craiova, Romania, factory, alongside the E-Transit Courier and ICE Puma models.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
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