OH and I burst out laughing on reading this headline… but, of course, it’s not funny at all for those concerned…
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Not so bloody fast Johnboy! That can happen to all cars with over the air updates for their software which is a modern thing that happens.
500 complaints out of 1.5 million cars.
Our nearly new diesel Skoda went mad a couple of weeks ago, and by itself decided to turn the heat/fan on overnight and completely discharge the battery.
Unfortunately we were in a chambre d’hôtes down a long farm track, and about 500km from home on 1st Nov which is a holiday.
It was not hilarious! Luckily the proprietors were lovely and fetched the garagiste who had got lost…
I’m being serious about Apps… which are more and more in demand/in control of certain aspects of life…
They have some good uses, able to turn the heating off if we are not home. Turn it on 30mins before getting home. Lights on and off so it looks like we are home.
SatNav app, handy.
Music apps for entertainment.
Good uses… I have no quibble with… it’s when they become essential, or pushed on the Public as essential… that I have doubts.
eg: There is no need to have the banking App, being pushed again and again by my bank. I’ve been in touch, told them I do not wish to download it as I don’t have a smartphone… and they’ve given me “paper” instead for use when buying on-line…
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I agree that a sat nav is very useful and makes travelling to unknown places much less stressful but I was always taught to switch lights off when not in use and as for switching heating on remotely to warm the house before getting home surely a timer does that?
If a person is serious about saving the planet then just stop and think how much energy is wasted by leaving lights and heating on when not at home!!
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The onward march of apps and connected devices is irrevocable IMO. Until the climate driven constant electric storms disrupt all 5G networks and we’re all locked out of our Teslas, houses, fridges and Xboxes.
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They are all LED lights and 9watts isn’t going to effect the planet, in S London better to make it look like someone’s home than face the misery of a burglary.
Yes of course a timer does that, if you are seriously robotic around the time you get home and don’t ever stay a bit longer for a drink or go shopping on your way home every now and them or called to a meeting etc etc. All the time the heating is not on you are saving money and lowering carbon footprint.
Not just Teslas, plenty of other manufacturers use the same smart tech on ICE cars. Still in France you do get more outages although they do seem to have reduced or maybe I am just not in France as often.
One advantage of a smart plug, if the power goes out for more than 30 mins you get a message.
And of course the remote car starting in cold climates.
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With an EV you can pre heat without having to run a noisy fuming engine 
Just had to add that bit!
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I completely agree with you as you may well have deduced from my comments elsewhere about smartphones and on-line banking. However, I think we are relatively lucky in France as I can’t imagine the government making the use of smartphones compulsory when such an act will exclude a significant number of its citizens.
Other countries may not be as careful as a few of them have the attitude that, if you are poor or disabled or sick or whatever and don’t have or can’t use a smartphone then that’s your fault and it’s tough.
I don’t (yet) fit into any of these categories but do not want a smartphone. I have given my reasons before and I know that the majority of people disagree with me but ho hum that’s nothing new 
After a lifetime in IT and a continuing interest, in fact passion, in the area I sometimes wonder how those that haven’t manage.
I too have a lifetime in IT and a continuing interest. However, there is IT and then there is IT 
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Me too - which I why I don’t use apps - especially banking apps.
Far too easy to hack, and what happens if your smartphone gets lost or stolen?
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Every bit of power adds to the overall usage how can you say it has no effect?
It is largely technology that prompts burglaries as that is what they want to steal, it’s a vicious circle.
And the energy now used for our digital lives is actually worse that the whole of the aviation industry in terms of climate change….
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Powering down our PC’s when not actually using them?
Using my smart phone to stay connected uses a lot less than the PC, about 80w on the monitor and similar for the system unit, even in sleep mode its around 12w.
Some leave them on 24/7.