Published Date: 2020-10-22
| Postmortem Analysis | |
|---|---|
| Timeline | 1. The software failure incident with Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle happened on October 8, as mentioned in the article [106604]. 2. Published on 2020-10-22 07:00:00+00:00. 3. The software failure incident with the LiveWire electric motorcycle occurred in October 2020. |
| System | 1. Onboard charging system of Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle [106604]. |
| Responsible Organization | 1. The software failure incident in the Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle was caused by an issue with the onboard charging system, leading to sudden power loss and potential safety risks [106604]. |
| Impacted Organization | 1. Owners of Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle [106604]. |
| Software Causes | 1. The software cause of the failure incident in the Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle recall was related to a problem with the onboard charging system, leading to sudden power loss and inability to restart the bike [106604]. |
| Non-software Causes | 1. The failure incident was caused by a problem with the onboard charging system in Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle, leading to sudden power loss and inability to restart the bike [106604]. |
| Impacts | 1. Some owners of Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle experienced sudden power loss due to a problem with the onboard charging system, potentially leading to dangerous situations if the bike is leaned over in a corner [106604]. |
| Preventions | 1. Regular software testing and quality assurance procedures during the development phase could have potentially identified the issue with the onboard charging system software before it reached the customers [106604]. |
| Fixes | 1. Dealers updating the onboard charger's software [106604] | References | 1. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) [106604] |
| Category | Option | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Recurring | unknown | (a) The software failure incident related to the Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle's onboard charging system issue does not indicate a similar incident happening again within the same organization or with its products and services. Therefore, there is no information available to suggest a recurrence of this specific software failure incident at Harley-Davidson. (b) The article does not mention any similar incident happening at other organizations or with their products and services related to the software failure incident with the LiveWire electric motorcycle's onboard charging system. Hence, there is no information provided to indicate a recurrence of this specific issue at other organizations. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) | design | (a) The software failure incident in Article 106604 occurred during the design phase. The issue with the onboard charging system of Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle was identified as a problem that required updating the software of the onboard charger. This indicates that the failure was due to contributing factors introduced during the system development or updates process. (b) The software failure incident in Article 106604 did not specifically mention any failure due to operation or misuse of the system. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) | within_system | (a) The software failure incident related to the Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle recall seems to be within the system. The issue with the onboard charging system causing the motorcycle to suddenly lose power and not be restarted is being addressed by updating the onboard charger's software [106604]. This indicates that the root cause of the failure lies within the system itself. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) | non-human_actions | (a) The software failure incident in the article is related to non-human actions. The issue with the onboard charging system of Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle causing sudden power loss and inability to restart is attributed to a problem with the software that requires updating by dealers. This indicates that the failure was due to factors introduced without human participation [106604]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) | hardware, software | (a) The software failure incident in Article 106604 occurred due to a hardware issue with the onboard charging system of Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle. The problem with the charging system led to situations where the motorcycle suddenly lost power and couldn't be restarted, posing potential dangers especially if the bike was leaned over in a corner. The solution to this issue involved updating the software of the onboard charger, indicating that the root cause of the failure originated in the hardware component of the motorcycle [106604]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) | non-malicious | (a) The software failure incident described in Article 106604 is non-malicious. The issue with Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle's onboard charging system causing sudden power loss and inability to restart is attributed to a technical fault that necessitates a software update by dealers. This indicates that the failure was not due to any malicious intent but rather a technical flaw that needs rectification [106604]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) | (a) The software failure incident related to the Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle recall does not indicate any poor decisions as the cause of the issue. The incident seems to be related to a problem with the onboard charging system that could lead to power loss and potential safety hazards. The fix for the issue involves updating the onboard charger's software, which appears to be a proactive and appropriate response to address the problem [106604]. (b) The software failure incident does not suggest any accidental decisions as the cause of the issue. The recall was initiated due to a specific problem with the onboard charging system that could result in sudden power loss, potentially causing safety risks for riders. The solution involves updating the software of the onboard charger to rectify the issue, indicating a deliberate and targeted response to address the problem [106604]. | |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) | accidental | (a) The software failure incident related to the Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle recall does not indicate any development incompetence as the issue with the onboard charging system leading to power loss was addressed through a software update, which is described as a relatively simple fix [106604]. (b) The software failure incident related to the LiveWire recall was accidental, as it was not intentional but rather a problem that arose with the onboard charging system affecting the power delivery of the motorcycle [106604]. |
| Duration | temporary | The software failure incident related to the Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle's onboard charging system issue can be categorized as a temporary failure. The incident led to some motorcycles suddenly losing power and becoming unable to restart, potentially posing a danger, especially if the bike is leaned over in a corner. However, the article mentions that the issue can be resolved through a software update by dealers, indicating that it is a fixable problem rather than a permanent failure [106604]. |
| Behaviour | crash | (a) crash: The software failure incident described in the article is related to a crash. Owners of Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle could experience a situation where their LiveWire suddenly loses power and can't be restarted, indicating a failure due to the system losing state and not performing any of its intended functions [106604]. |
| Layer | Option | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Perception | processing_unit, embedded_software | (a) sensor: The software failure incident related to the Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle recall was not specifically mentioned to be related to a sensor error. Therefore, there is no information in the provided article to suggest that the failure was due to contributing factors introduced by a sensor error. (b) actuator: The article did not mention any issues related to an actuator error as a contributing factor to the software failure incident with the LiveWire electric motorcycle recall. (c) processing_unit: The software failure incident with the LiveWire electric motorcycle recall was related to the onboard charging system and the need for dealers to update the onboard charger's software. This indicates that the failure was due to contributing factors introduced by a processing error, specifically in the software of the charging system. (d) network_communication: The article did not mention any network communication errors as contributing factors to the software failure incident with the LiveWire electric motorcycle recall. (e) embedded_software: The software failure incident with the LiveWire electric motorcycle recall was specifically related to updating the onboard charger's software. This indicates that the failure was due to contributing factors introduced by an embedded software error in the charging system software. |
| Communication | unknown | The software failure incident reported in Article 106604 was related to the onboard charging system of Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle. The issue caused some motorcycles to suddenly lose power and be unable to restart, posing a potential danger especially if the bike was leaned over in a corner. The fix for this issue involved dealers updating the onboard charger's software. This particular failure does not seem to be related to the communication layer of the cyber-physical system, as it was specifically mentioned as a problem with the charging system rather than a network or transport layer issue. |
| Application | FALSE | The software failure incident related to the Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle recall mentioned in Article 106604 was not explicitly stated to be related to the application layer of the cyber physical system. The issue described in the article pertained to a problem with the onboard charging system that could cause the motorcycle to suddenly lose power and not be restarted, potentially posing a danger in certain situations. The fix for this issue involved updating the onboard charger's software. Therefore, based on the information provided in the article, it is unknown whether the failure was specifically related to the application layer of the cyber physical system [106604]. |
| Category | Option | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Consequence | non-human, theoretical_consequence | (a) death: There is no mention of any deaths resulting from the software failure incident in the provided article [106604]. (b) harm: The article does not mention any physical harm caused to individuals due to the software failure incident [106604]. (c) basic: The software failure incident did not impact people's access to food or shelter as per the article [106604]. (d) property: The software failure incident did not result in any impact on people's material goods, money, or data [106604]. (e) delay: There is no indication of any activity being postponed due to the software failure incident in the article [106604]. (f) non-human: The software failure incident affected the Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycles due to a problem with the onboard charging system [106604]. (g) no_consequence: The article mentions consequences of the software failure incident, such as potential power loss and safety risks for riders, indicating there were observed consequences [106604]. (h) theoretical_consequence: The article discusses potential safety risks for riders if the motorcycle suddenly loses power, especially when leaned over in a corner, but it does not mention any actual occurrences of accidents or injuries resulting from this issue [106604]. (i) other: The article does not mention any other specific consequences of the software failure incident beyond the potential power loss and safety concerns for riders [106604]. |
| Domain | transportation | (a) The failed system in the article is related to the transportation industry as it involves Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle being recalled for a problem with the onboard charging system [106604]. |
Article ID: 106604