Firmware updates aren’t enough to tackle worn-out memory
The US Department of Transport has recommended Tesla recall 158,000 Model S and Model X vehicles after an investigation found worn-out NAND flash memory can cause the cars’ rearview cameras to fail. The dept’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a probe into Tesla’s failing digital storage in June. In November, it concluded Model S and Model X vehicles built between 2012 and 2018, are at risk of several issues, ranging from the rearview cameras blacking out and an inability to defog windshields, as well as the loss of turn signal chimes and other audio alerts. The problems all stem from the hardware that powers the car’s infotainment system, also known as the media control unit (MCU): it includes an Nvidia Tegra 3 system-on-chip with 8GB of eMMC NAND storage. Over the course of five or six years, according to the NHTSA, this consumer-grade flash reaches its program-erase cycle limit. They will be unable to reliably store data, and this renders some of the car’s functions inoperable when the MCU fails.
