Volkswagen’s Cariad woes—is there a clear way forward?

The move to electric vehicles (EVs) requires a fundamental shift in the way in which cars are designed, developed and produced. Some vehicle companies, such as Stellantis have found a way of making EVs on the same platform as their internal combustion engine (ICE) powered ancestors, albeit as an interim measure. Others have chosen all-new pure electric platforms. BMW and Volkswagen are prominent amongst the latter, but while BMW—which had trialled EVs with the i3 and i8—has been able to launch the iX3, iX and i4 without many issues, and has many more EVs on the way, Volkswagen’s EV push has been stymied by problems at Cariad, the in-house software unit charged with developing software underpinning its new EVs.