Crowdfunding for chip upgrades: A dilemma for car owners and automakers
On November 24th, Zeekr officially launched a user crowdfunding project for the intelligent hardware and software replacement of specific models. The window period for this project is one month, and Zeekr said that it will not open crowdfunding again in the future.
According to the announcement released by Zeekr, owners of the 2024 Zeekr 001 and Zeekr 009 models equipped with lidar but not the Qianli Haohan assisted driving system can participate in this crowdfunding. The replacement of the hardware and software this time involves a large - scale project, which requires a major overhaul of the original system to the Qianli Haohan H7 hardware and software solution developed based on the NVIDIA DRIVE Thor - U platform. According to the official list, 53 components of the Zeekr 001 need to be replaced.
Zeekr 001 owners actually need to pay 13,500 yuan, with a target of 3,000 participants; Zeekr 009 owners need to pay 18,500 yuan, with a target of 1,500 participants. If the number of participants in the crowdfunding reaches the target, Zeekr will start the development and verification work for the replacement of the hardware and software systems of the corresponding models. Such a large - scale upgrade is rare, and the price range has been praised as "sincere", but many owners are still not convinced.
A 2024 Zeekr 001 owner named "Ali" posted on Xiaohongshu, saying bluntly that Zeekr promoted urban intelligent driving as a selling point at the product launch, but now owners have to pay extra for the upgrade to make it happen. "This is asking consumers to make up for the mistakes of the manufacturer."
As the replacement of car models accelerates, such disputes have become very common in the automotive industry. If there is no update, the dissatisfaction of old owners will grow. The purchase time of new and old models may only differ by one year or even a few months, but new models are not only cheaper but also have more powerful intelligent functions. Especially for functions such as intelligent cockpits and assisted driving, due to high hardware requirements, old models often find it difficult to catch up through software OTA because of hardware limitations.
If there is an update, more contradictions will arise. For example, on October 6th, AITO announced that owners of the 2024 AITO M9 could pay 7,500 yuan to upgrade to the Huawei ADS small blue light. Many owners thought this was a blatant "money - grabbing" move. Before that, XPeng crowdfunded to replace the cockpit chips for old owners, but the experience after the replacement was also disappointing.
Whether to upgrade, how to upgrade, how to set the price, and whether owners will be satisfied after the upgrade... These have almost become common problems in the hardware upgrade of intelligent vehicles. The core of the contradiction is that both owners and car manufacturers have their own grievances, but they are calculating completely different economic accounts.
A series of contradictions from "whether to upgrade" to "whether to be satisfied"
"I think you owners of the 001 and 009 should be content. At least Zeekr is willing to offer you a paid hardware upgrade. Look at us owners of the 7X. Do we have a chance to upgrade the hardware? Maybe we can't even spend the money if we want to." This was a comment left by a Zeekr 7X owner under "Ali"'s post. Compared with owners who are dissatisfied with the upgrade plan, more people are in the dilemma of being unable to upgrade their hardware.
According to statistics from the Auto Quality Network, in the first half of October this year alone, there were 30 complaints about "car infotainment system lag", covering models such as the Audi A6L, Geely Boyue L, Hongqi HS5, BYD Song Pro, Li L7, and Tesla Model Y. During the same period, there were as many as 194 complaints about "system upgrade problems", mostly concentrated on "failure to fulfill promises" and "no system upgrade".
Hardware limitations are the root of the problem. Netizen "Daxianlin Life Circle" shared that his AITO M7 had its car infotainment system chip restricted after only being used for a little over a year. He couldn't use the enhanced automatic emergency steering assist function, and the central control SR was also not supported. This kind of situation is not uncommon in the AITO M5 and M7 models.
Even when some car manufacturers launch intelligent hardware upgrades for certain batches of models, the prices are often controversial. For example, in this large - scale replacement of hardware and software for the 001 and 009 by Zeekr, although the price of the upgrade plan is reasonable, owners also have to bear an additional cost of several thousand yuan for replacing the car wrap and window film; the 7,500 - yuan small blue light of AITO and the 6,580 - yuan ultra - clear wide - angle electronic interior rear - view mirror of Avita... These products have received negative reviews from owners. Due to the opaque cost, these seemingly over - priced figures are difficult for consumers to accept.
Compared with spending a large amount of money on a new car, some owners who value experience are willing to pay for hardware upgrades. XPeng completed the crowdfunding for the "old - owner chip replacement" of the intelligent cockpit chip in November last year. After several months of R & D and testing, the replacement began to be implemented gradually in October this year, but the experience after the replacement did not meet the owners' expectations.
Gao Xiang (a pseudonym), an owner of an XPeng P7, told "Power Plant" that although the car infotainment system became a little smoother after the replacement, when he participated in the crowdfunding, he thought the system would be updated together with that of new cars after the upgrade. However, it turned out to be a special adaptation without integrating the desktop, and there were also many restrictions on the Xpad. The experience was quite different from that of new cars.
Zeekr also clearly stated in its latest announcement that due to the differences in the vehicle's electronic and electrical, chassis, and other hardware and software architectures, the assisted driving system after the replacement will be different from that of the refreshed Zeekr 001 in terms of system functions and user experience. Subsequent software OTA will be developed separately based on the replaced hardware system, and the OTA rhythm will not be the same as that of the refreshed Zeekr 001.
Moreover, some XPeng P7 owners who replaced the chips compiled the problems they encountered, including malfunctioning steering wheel buttons, fluctuating navigation volume, inability to close the electric tailgate via the large screen or voice, inaccurate parking time on the app, and some personalized tasks not taking effect. There were more than 20 problems in total.
In addition, the "AI Intelligent Driving Small Blue Light Crowdfunding Project" launched by XPeng in March this year was also questioned by owners for the significant discrepancy between the actual effect and the promotion. More than a hundred owners collectively complained that the small blue light was almost invisible on cloudy days or in direct sunlight.
Nowadays, although car manufacturers are accelerating the technological iteration, the corresponding hardware maintenance is difficult to keep up with the pace. Owners pay money but cannot get satisfactory services; car manufacturers spend money and effort but cannot get the approval of owners. The series of contradictions caused by hardware upgrades actually stem from the different calculations and considerations of both parties regarding this economic account.
Why is it a "lose - lose" situation for car manufacturers and owners?
When it comes to intelligent technology, the replacement of hardware is not as simple as just removing and reinstalling. The cost is much higher than consumers think.
Zeekr mentioned that replacing the Qianli Haohan H7 for the 001 and 009 models, which is a cross - generation replacement of the assisted driving system's hardware and software solution, is the first of its kind in the industry. It will involve a comprehensive replacement of the underlying chips, system layout, and wiring harness layout. The technical complexity is high, the R & D investment is large, many components need to be replaced, and the after - sales replacement takes a long time. The crowdfunding fee that users need to bear is already the result of Zeekr bearing the R & D cost and part of the hardware cost.
Chip replacement not only involves the chip itself. The surrounding components and circuits, the relevant complete set of parts, and the adaptation with software all need to be re - adjusted. XPeng also mentioned during the crowdfunding that for the chip replacement activity, it would cost about 9 million yuan in R & D expenses and take 10 months.
Although some car manufacturers have previously carried out free chip replacement activities, they were basically only for a small number of models. If it is a large - scale chip replacement, in 2022, Li Bin said bluntly in the NIO APP's car owners' group that it would cost 2 billion yuan to upgrade and replace the chips of 200,000 cars, which was really unaffordable.
Behind the seemingly simple "small blue light", there are also complex procedures. Relevant personnel explained that installing the intelligent driving small blue light requires modifying the underlying vehicle control system, connecting to the original wiring harness. If the controller has no interface, an additional communication module needs to be added, and the software also needs to be updated synchronously for the vehicle control unit.
The cost of upgrading is not only in R & D and hardware. In March this year, AITO announced that it would provide an optional original - factory hardware upgrade plan for owners of the current AITO M9 models, including upgrades to the intelligent driving system, sensors, in - vehicle communication, and intelligent cockpit modules. The announcement mentioned that detailed rules would be given in May, but the subsequent plan has not been announced yet.
Automobile blogger "Chatty Steven" posted that SERES has been promoting the hardware upgrade of the 2024 M9. Now the factory has completed the modification of the first batch of internal vehicles, and the upgrade is okay, with both the hardware and software "OK". However, the complexity lies in that it can only be done in the factory, which involves processes such as logistics transportation, factory modification, and redelivery of vehicles to users. This requires a brand - new team to be specifically responsible. For nearly 200,000 units of the 2024 AITO M9, the project volume should be anticipated.
In June this year, a Beijing - based owner named "Beiye" said on a social platform that when she inquired about the hardware upgrade at a 4S store, she was told that initially, AITO planned to tow the cars to be upgraded back to the factory in Chongqing. However, the cost of towing all the cars back was too high, and there were not enough staff at the factory. It would take more than a year to complete all the upgrades. Now the new plan is to select several large cities across the country, and then select capable user centers in these cities. After training the staff, the upgrades will be carried out in nearby cities.
The regulatory aspect also adds to the time cost. Although the law does not explicitly prohibit the installation of intelligent driving hardware, if it involves the adjustment of sensor positions, it may be regarded as an appearance modification and requires prior filing. Against the background of stricter supervision, the approval process is more cumbersome.
From the perspective of owners, it is also difficult to calculate the economic account. Many upgrades only stay at the L2 level, and the actual experience difference is not significant; while the L3 function, which can truly reflect the value, has not been implemented yet. Owners generally worry that if they spend a high price on an upgrade now, will the hardware still be usable when the L3 function is implemented? By then, it may be more cost - effective to directly buy a new car with more powerful functions.
In addition, the hardware upgrade is expensive. Some owners think that instead of paying tens of thousands of yuan for an upgrade, it is more cost - effective to buy a new car. Take the XPeng P7 as an example. According to the used - car information on Autohome, a 2023 XPeng G6 Pro with a mileage of 19,200 kilometers is worth about 119,800 yuan, and the cost of upgrading the intelligent driving chip is 19,999 yuan; a 2022 XPeng P7 is worth about 99,000 yuan, and the cost of upgrading the car infotainment system chip is 4,999 yuan. Moreover, once a car has its components disassembled and replaced, its second - hand residual value will decline. Owners have different criteria for judging whether it is worth replacing the hardware.
The existence of third - party accessories also reduces owners' enthusiasm for original - factory hardware. For example, a third - party streaming rear - view mirror may only cost 2,000 yuan, while the original - factory one costs more than 6,000 yuan. However, third - party hardware also has problems such as incomplete adaptation and potential warranty issues.
"Thankless" and "losing money to gain popularity" are the evaluations of many manufacturers regarding hardware upgrades. This is also the reason why many brands choose to remain silent when facing owners' upgrade requests. Similarly, problems such as long - overdue fulfillment of promotional promises, opaque upgrade costs, and unmet upgrade expectations have eroded owners' trust, making them often suspect that they are being exploited.
It is foreseeable that during this transitional period of ever - increasing hardware demand, such contradictions will persist for a long time. For car manufacturers, the challenge is to find a balance between cost control and user experience; for owners, the challenge is to make a choice between upgrading and buying a new car. These are inevitable questions that need to be answered before the intelligent vehicle industry enters the next stage of development.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Power Plant", author: Zhai Fangxue. Republished by 36Kr with permission.