Among those that make up this type of firmwares are: electric cars, more seeing that these are formed by a set of systems in which the technology is shown in great representation in each of the corners of the vehicle itself. Then yes; electrified, hybrid and plug-in cars use this system (even the most modern conventional ones).
What is it about
But let’s go to the beginning. In the first instance we can say that this component is just as important in common devices as in this series of vehicles. They are necessary in all sights, in the same way that in these it is necessary to have an engine that delivers power to the wheels, or that the batteries have enough capacity to provide that energy.
Anyway, it is convenient to know what these firmwares really are beyond their use and function in electric cars, that too. Given this, the term was implemented for the first time by Ascher Opler, in an article in Datamation magazine in 1967. It should be noted that by expanding so much, it is no longer as strange as it could be a few or several years ago. .
In this sense, it represents a midpoint between hardware and softwareHence its terminology that translated means firm, ‘solid or fixed’ software. At the same time, you may have also heard of him by the name of Unalterable Logical Support.
As we said, it can be said that it is a computer program that allows a device to work as the creator has designed it, which is responsible for physically managing the hardware. This is why it is said that without the firmware the different electronic equipment would not work. It is often stored in a specific type of memory, such as ROM. And what does this have to do with electric cars? The truth is that quite a lot.
Its role in vehicles
In relation to this, in recent years, the mobile technology and the automotive industry they are experiencing a strong convergence. So much so that companies like Google or Apple have developed their own Android or iOS systems to use in cars through their central console.
But, although wireless automatic updates are very common in mobiles, in the automotive industry it is a not so common phenomenon, with the exception of some manufacturers such as Tesla. So, if until now, the usual thing had been to keep the car with the same benefits that it had when it left the dealership, currently, the vehicles can be greatly improved.
With technology at stake, there is some scope to make them advance widely. For example, get your lifespan increase by upgrading your software, and that’s where this type of system comes in. Because yes, in these cars the typical figure of the mechanic stained with oil and with a key in hand is being left behind that we resorted to when the car had to undergo an overhaul.
Now things are different. Because that mechanic on duty now carries a tablet that connects via USB (very simply) to the glove compartment of our vehicle, touches a couple of specifications that they can do to solve the problem and the vehicle feels as alive as ever. Much of this ‘magic’ resolution goes through the firmwares for these vehicles, as they focus mainly on offer updates for multimedia systems and browser mapping.
Formats and operability
Bearing this in mind, each manufacturer usually presents a series of its own techniques and, although the vast majority of brands are quite close to each other, there are others that skyrocket, both in terms of quantity and quality. An example of this is Tesla itself, where a priori in this matter makes are unreachable, for the moment, for the others, more similar to the software paradigm of a technology company such as IBM, Intel, NVidia or AMD.
It is not new to discover how developed they are with their models, but the reality is that they also do it being one of the most advanced by far in this of complete the functionality of a vehicle via software. Or what is the same; It is becoming more and more common to acquire a Tesla with depending on what functionalities, and in a few years the same model will receive free updates that have made it have better tools to help us on the road. That will make it better. All with the firmwares that work in this way in this type of electric car.
In this regard, and due to this, the firmware is always installed before we can buy the same device or vehicle, so it is already incorporated from the factory. From there it is possible to find various formats and functionalities that will have a direct impact on it.
Power electronics
Among the most important aspects of this type of software is the power electronics, or control. This is a provision that we will also know how to find in other electromobility vehicles, as it happens in electric scooters and bicycles (e-bikes) that integrate batteries and the electric motor.
In this field, the capacity in batteries is often talked about, but the electric car encompasses many subsystems that involve power electronics: the investor engine, charger batteries, etc. In an electric car, the power electronics appear in a good part of the various subsystems.
Also, with the change in the energy model, renewables will be essential. It is precisely in this field that power electronics are what allows to convert or transform energy efficiently, not only in the generation but also in the storage of this energy.
Charge conversion
Another of its great characteristics has to do with the load, more specifically with the one that has to do with the conversion. And it is that, although the simplest way to charge an electric vehicle is simply to connect it to the electrical network. But, given the limited power of a single-phase connection, such as the home connection, this type of load is also known as slow charging.
So, although this electrical network is the one that provides an alternating current (AC) voltage, the vehicle’s batteries do so with a direct current (DC). This is why on these occasions the electric they need these firmwares, which is complemented by the internal charger itself, which also allows the conversion of AC voltage from the network into a DC voltage for charging the batteries.
Autonomy reading
The current systems to determine the autonomy that remains in our electric car is made by the computer, the same one that usually includes most of the vehicles in multimedia systems, digital screens or others. This also has to do with the aforementioned firmwares, where that of electric cars are based on the collection both from previous data of the driver and vehicle as well as future data according to the forecasts of different systems.
Once the driver has determined the destination in the car’s GPS, this type of software begins to collect information on the state of the traffic or speed limits (including the time it will be during the trip, as configured by Tesla) to adjust the kilometers that we can do as much as possible.
Batteries status
Parallel to the previous reading of autonomy, this type of computer program that is installed in new generation cars also makes it possible to know the state of the batteries. In fact, before the data collection itself to know the route, the system must place In what conditions these units are given.
And it is that their batteries, like those of mobile phones, go losing capacity with the passage of time, which reduces its autonomy. If, for example, the battery conserves 80% of its initial capacity, it means that the vehicle will have 20% less autonomy.
What the technique does is build on the situation and the use they have faced over time, collect the information and present it at the onboard counter. For example, there are vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf that allow these checks to be made just by looking at the instruments panel. In your case, it shows an icon of twelve bars, each of which corresponds to a percentage of capacity. That is, as the battery degrades, each of these bars is erased.