Photo: Great Wall
The Chinese electric car Ora Good Cat was advertised as having the latest-generation Qualcomm chip to power its infotainment system. Instead, it was delivered to customers with an Intel processor inside, and drama ensued.
Times are hard for everyone and the automotive industry feels it too. Besides the international health crisis and the supply chain problems, there’s a computer chip problem out there and everyone is addressing it as they see fit. It sometimes means car makers have to repurpose older chips to fit new jobs or make do with new components that were never used in production before.
In such harsh times, it is no surprise Great Wall’s Ora got caught red-handed after it switched the SoCs inside the infotainment system of the Good Cat cars to an older Intel model. Disgruntled customers found out that instead of the promised octa-core Qualcomm chip, their cars are powered by vintage Intel processors released in 2016.
Although it seems like a misdemeanor on Ora’s part, it is a big deal, as the older chip means newer apps will not run inside the multimedia system, including the popular (in China) navigation app Gaode. Some of these apps are not even compatible with the Intel chip, as it uses a different architecture from Qualcomm’s ARM processors.
According to The Straights Times, the deceived owners of Ora Good Cat cars banded together on WeChat and are now considering legal action. They accuse the car manufacturer owned by Great Wall of consumer fraud no less. Ora tried to appease them by offering subsidized charging, free software updates, and app memberships but not all of them backed off. Those who refused to accept want new chips installed and if this is not possible (full disclosure, it isn’t) they demand refunds and compensations.
We don’t know what made Ora advertise the chip inside their cars, but sure it was silly and is a good reason why we don’t see this kind of information revealed from other carmakers. Especially these days, they use whatever is available. Ora admitted to customers it will be difficult to replace the Intel chips and could not guarantee future Good Cat cars will be delivered with Qualcomm chips.
In such harsh times, it is no surprise Great Wall’s Ora got caught red-handed after it switched the SoCs inside the infotainment system of the Good Cat cars to an older Intel model. Disgruntled customers found out that instead of the promised octa-core Qualcomm chip, their cars are powered by vintage Intel processors released in 2016.
Although it seems like a misdemeanor on Ora’s part, it is a big deal, as the older chip means newer apps will not run inside the multimedia system, including the popular (in China) navigation app Gaode. Some of these apps are not even compatible with the Intel chip, as it uses a different architecture from Qualcomm’s ARM processors.
According to The Straights Times, the deceived owners of Ora Good Cat cars banded together on WeChat and are now considering legal action. They accuse the car manufacturer owned by Great Wall of consumer fraud no less. Ora tried to appease them by offering subsidized charging, free software updates, and app memberships but not all of them backed off. Those who refused to accept want new chips installed and if this is not possible (full disclosure, it isn’t) they demand refunds and compensations.
We don’t know what made Ora advertise the chip inside their cars, but sure it was silly and is a good reason why we don’t see this kind of information revealed from other carmakers. Especially these days, they use whatever is available. Ora admitted to customers it will be difficult to replace the Intel chips and could not guarantee future Good Cat cars will be delivered with Qualcomm chips.
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