Open-source electric cars-pros and cons

When it comes to software, open-source is definitely something users and developers are happy about as it offers the possibility to tweak and improve certain pieces of software. Well, it’s not that much of a good idea when we talk about electric cars. Though open-source electrics cars would allow their built-in software to be tweaked and changed, it’s still debatable whether this is a good idea or not.

Think of Google and Apple and you’ll get a better understanding of what the concept of open-source electric cars would mean. While Google supports open-source and thus allows developers all over the world to come up with tweaks and improvements to its systems, Apple is dedicated to closed-systems. We all know that everything works just fine with Apple products until you introduce a third-party software. It’s then that issues occur and you are very likely to deal with bug-ridden or prone to crashing software.

Imagine that this happens with an electric car. Does open-source still sound that appealing? Think of finding yourself in the middle of the highway with your car shutting down. Improving and changing an electric car isn’t that easy. Carmakers like Fisker agree with that.

Still, the open-source electric car concept may not be that bad. There’s no doubt that there are people able to improve the car in ways we’ve never thought of. Moreover, these tweaks released on the internet in order for all users to benefit from.

Even so, the open-source concept doesn’t work for a mainstream car. The vehicles need a stable platform if companies are to make money from them. Take Tesla for instance and you’ll see why a closed-system is better when we talk about electric cars. Resembling Apple in many ways, the electric car company is representative of the merits of a closed system in the automotive environment.

Source: Greencarreports