ICE vehicles don't get remote updates to the drivetrain software of the ECU. Why? Because the ECU is completely tailored to the mechanical components in the car. You'd have to change the components to make an update make sense.
I'm not saying it's completely impossible for this to happen to an ICE vehicle, but it's a much more pernicious problem in EV design.
Show me a single example of an ICE vehicle getting bricked by a remote update?
It looks like you're right that this is a bigger problem on post-2020 vehicles where software updates started getting normalized.
However, it is also true that an electric system is much more incrementally controllable than an ICE system. Granular levels of control are being pushed much farther on EVs for that reason.
ICE vehicles don't get remote updates to the drivetrain software of the ECU. Why? Because the ECU is completely tailored to the mechanical components in the car. You'd have to change the components to make an update make sense.
I'm not saying it's completely impossible for this to happen to an ICE vehicle, but it's a much more pernicious problem in EV design.
Show me a single example of an ICE vehicle getting bricked by a remote update?
ICE vehicles DO get computer updates which can cause them to not start, which may not specifically be the ECU, but it's
Here's a redditor saying his Range Rover won't start: https://reveddit.com/r/LandRover/comments/1iyuw0q/my_car_wont_start_after_system_update_starts/
BMW M3: https://www.justanswer.co.uk/bmw/p7xhx-car-won-t-start-software-update-hour-2023-g81-m3.html
Another Beemer: https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1884437
2018 Pacifica Hybrid: https://www.pacificaforums.com/threads/car-wont-start-scan-came-back-with-p1d3e-code-re-install-and-update-to-latest-software-to-fix-the-issue.55970/
OK, it seems it happens more frequently than I thought. Probably related to the subscription-based services with the BMWs.
TBF, I had to look it up just for that reply. I was a little curious, but I also don't own a car whose year model starts with "2".
You clearly don't understand how an ECU works
It looks like you're right that this is a bigger problem on post-2020 vehicles where software updates started getting normalized.
However, it is also true that an electric system is much more incrementally controllable than an ICE system. Granular levels of control are being pushed much farther on EVs for that reason.