Before answering these questions, let me tell you a short story.
A friend of mine bought an excavator with a loan and paid back 10 thousand every month, which was also stressful. There was a lot of work at first, and I was very happy. Suddenly one day, the manufacturer called and said that your car had reached the maintenance cycle, so do it quickly. My friend thinks it is very strange: How does the manufacturer know that my car needs maintenance? Is it a guess? But the running time and maintenance cycle of the vehicle are exactly the same, so I quickly give the car maintenance, and at the same time sigh: This manufacturer is really tall and experienced, you can guess when your car will be maintained, and you will call to remind me that the service is really in place!
After a while, my friends' jobs became less and less, and my income became lower and lower, which made it difficult to repay. Finally, one day, my supply was cut off! When he got a job the next day, his car couldn't get on. Several repairmen came to see it, but they didn't fix it, so he had to call the manufacturer for advice. The manufacturer told him: your car is out of stock, and we locked your car remotely, and we can't unlock it until we pay the money. Only then did my friend know that his car had been under the supervision of the manufacturer.
Did you get a look at him? In fact, car companies can completely monitor their own vehicles. Nowadays, excavators have a set of GPS system, which can send the driving data of vehicles, including real-time position, starting time, idle time, working time, engine speed, engine working time, working mode and so on. , real-time feedback to car companies, car companies can check your running data at any time, and even control your running. So they can remind you to do maintenance, or they can ban your car from starting.
This GPS system is not only available in the car purchased by loan, but also in the car purchased in full. Car companies can also monitor your vehicle at any time. Some people say I can't tear down this system? So the car company can't find me? Sorry, that's impossible. Now all cars are electronically controlled, and this system has embedded the engine control program. Without this system, or if this system fails, the vehicle will not be able to run.
Some people say this is an excavator, which has nothing to do with our private car. In fact, this example can be applied to all vehicles, including construction machinery, commercial vehicles and private cars. Car companies can install this system in their cars if they want to get your vehicle running data.
So what is the vehicle running data? The so-called vehicle operation data refers to a series of parameters in the process of vehicle operation, including the real-time position of the vehicle, driving trajectory, engine start-stop time, engine temperature, engine speed, throttle opening, idle time, continuous working time of the engine, battery voltage, whether to turn on the air conditioner, gear information of the gearbox, gear shifting mode of the gearbox, driving speed of the vehicle, driver's operating habits and so on. It can be said that all parameters related to vehicle operation can be regarded as vehicle operation data.
Someone asked where these data are? I do not see any at all. In fact, these data are stored in the electronic control unit of the car. Nowadays cars are all electronically controlled. A car has several electronic control units, such as engine electronic control unit, gearbox electronic control unit, body electronic control unit, etc. They communicate with each other, share information with each other, form a network, and output through the same port? This is the interface of automobile diagnosis. When we connect the car fault diagnosis instrument to this interface, we can see all kinds of running data of the car, including fault records. It's like the mobile phone or computer we use will record our network access records, and some programs or software will secretly scan our computer hard disk, look through the files stored in our computer, and analyze our hobbies and habits. , and then push information to us in a targeted manner to increase reading. In a tall word, it is "algorithm".
So what's the use of these data? For our car owners, the biggest use is to diagnose car faults. When there are some faults in the operation of the car, the electronic control unit will record and store them, and the diagnosis computer can see them, so as to quickly judge the fault location. For car companies, these data are valuable wealth, from which we can find and find bugs in vehicle operation and make improvements in subsequent production, so as to continuously improve products and make cars run more smoothly; At the same time, users' driving habits and personal information can be obtained, so as to serve customers more pertinently and improve service quality.
For example, Volkswagen's dual-clutch gearbox has a very high failure rate in the initial stage of listing, such as gear shifting frustration, abnormal sound, power transmission interruption and so on. But look at the current dual-clutch gearbox, the failure rate is very low, the shift logic is more reasonable, and the sense of frustration is obviously reduced. These improvements are that after collecting a large number of vehicle operation data, Volkswagen discovered the bugs in the original operation program and modified it in the subsequent production, so that the dual-clutch gearbox can be gradually improved. There are many other examples, for example, some models are not perfect at the initial stage of listing, and the version of the vehicle electronic control unit will be upgraded irregularly in the later stage, that is, the defects in the original program will be found from the operation of the vehicle, and then the vehicle will be corrected to continuously improve. Just like the mobile phone or computer we use, we need to upgrade the system regularly.
So how do car companies get our vehicle operation data? It should be said that most car companies are not very glorious in this respect, and generally adopt the method of "stealing" data. For example, if your car goes to a 4s shop for maintenance, they can take the opportunity to check the fault and get your vehicle running data. In addition, many cars can now realize remote control and use APP to control cars. This control method will leave a back door in the car control program, through which car companies can check your vehicle operation data. In fact, some models have already had these functions, but car companies generally strongly deny them in order to avoid suspicion.
Two years ago, a Mercedes-Benz lost control of its constant-speed cruise on the highway, and the vehicle was unable to slow down and stop, running wildly on the highway at the speed of 120 km per hour. So how did the car finally stop? Until today, there is no clear statement. But someone once asked Mercedes-Benz if you have the ability to control the car in the background. Mercedes-Benz's answer was noncommittal, neither denying nor admitting. Personally, I highly doubt that this car was finally stopped backstage by Mercedes-Benz. Think about it, since they can control your car in the background, it is not easy to get your vehicle running data. They don't even need your permission. They did it secretly backstage, and you have no idea.
Nowadays, both electric vehicles and new energy vehicles are famous for their technology, and the function of vehicle-machine interconnection is almost standard. They can realize remote door opening, startup and other functions. , you can use the APP to control the car and bring your own traffic, so it is very easy for them to get your vehicle running data in the background. Even some models have the OTC function of the late remote update program. Isn't it easy to get your vehicle running data while updating the vehicle program? There is also a domestic electric vehicle, and even a microphone and camera are installed in the car, so that the conversation records of the occupants in the car can be heard and seen by the backstage staff of the car company. Do you think this is a terrible thing? We have almost no privacy in front of car companies! In a car like this, we can only keep our mouths shut, otherwise you will realize the meaning of "disaster comes from the mouth"
Some people say that car companies do not have test drivers? They can test the faults on their own cars, so why steal our data? In fact, the personnel, energy and financial resources of car companies are limited. It is impossible for every car to go through rigorous experiments before leaving the factory. Many cars are sold in the state of semi-finished products. In this case, many problems will be exposed later. If you expect car companies to discover and upgrade themselves, this process is very long. Using the vehicle operation data of real owners, a large number of parameters with practical value will be obtained, which will prompt car companies to improve the defects and deficiencies of vehicles faster and better.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.