> If car firmwares were more open it would be possible to deploy software improvements to reduce emissions and increase performance.
Better yet - have the actual "car" layer (steering, acceleration, brakes, safety critical parts like airbags and ABS) entirely self-contained on a separate system that's written in a safety-critical language. Force all the "extras" (AC, seats, radio, windshield wipers, maybe blinkers etc.) to be controllable via a user-supplied module that might as well run on a consumer-grade electronics motherboard.
That way the part of the car that gets you from A to B gets to benefit from being self-contained and as optimised for emissions/performance as possible for the time the car was manufactured. The part of the car that merely provides comfort and convenience is something the users are free to monkey about with because it doesn't compromise any regulatory or safety standards.
Better yet - have the actual "car" layer (steering, acceleration, brakes, safety critical parts like airbags and ABS) entirely self-contained on a separate system that's written in a safety-critical language. Force all the "extras" (AC, seats, radio, windshield wipers, maybe blinkers etc.) to be controllable via a user-supplied module that might as well run on a consumer-grade electronics motherboard.
That way the part of the car that gets you from A to B gets to benefit from being self-contained and as optimised for emissions/performance as possible for the time the car was manufactured. The part of the car that merely provides comfort and convenience is something the users are free to monkey about with because it doesn't compromise any regulatory or safety standards.