cts | Volt a Day | No CAB for Toyota November 04, 2010

As the delays for delivery of the test Volts continue, I thought it was important to point out that this is not a program that other manufacturers would be running better. Or at all. At this point in development and manufacturing, the car company has a large (several hundred vehicles) captured test fleet (CTF). When something goes wrong, the CTF cars are all retrofitted with a fix and the testing continues. Obviously, releasing fifteen cars ahead of time doesn't fit well with this process, so the CAB members are in an odd position where GM wants the cars perfect, but knows they can't be if they are released at this point in the manufacturing process.

Personally, I wish the software update for the car was a lot simpler. The cars need to be at a real service center to be "re-flashed." That means the Read Only Memory (ROM) module, which provides some sort of Basic Input Output System (BIOS) and apparently ten million lines of code, is wiped and re-written with the new version of the programming.

There's a USB port in the car as part of the audio system. What about having a thumb drive sent to the owners ($10 with shipping), and letting the car read and install the new software itself? Garmin does a similar thing with their advanced avionic systems. It's not that difficult.

Since I am getting to drive a new car for the next three months, I wondered about the Toyota Rav4 Electric that my wife is driving. Might Toyota have a program similar to CAB where they gained some real-world experience for their new Rav4 Electric? I wrote to them and got this polite, and terse, reply:

Dear Mr. Summers,

Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A, Inc.

We appreciate your interest in the environmental technologies used by Toyota.

Specific information on the electric RAV4 is currently unavailable, this program and technology is not yet available to the general public. Toyota would like to ensure that any vehicle brought to the retail market exceeds our customer’s expectations. Please visit the following link for information on Toyota’s commitment to environment, safety and quality.

We have also attached a link about Toyota's Advanced Technologies, which you might find interesting.

Additionally, you may subscribe to receive updates as they become available.

If you are soliciting or offering to test our vehicle then we apologize; due to the possibility of conflict between developments from within the Toyota organizations and ideas submitted by interested persons, it is our policy not to accept unsolicited suggestions for new products, inventions, patents, testimonials, proposals, marketing or advertising ideas.

Sincerely,

Toyota Customer Experience