Incident: Fisker Karma Software Failure Incident during Consumer Reports Testing.

Published Date: 2012-03-23

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident with the Fisker Karma happened in early March 2012 as mentioned in Article [10776]. Therefore, the estimated timeline for the software failure incident is March 2012.
System 1. Battery and its associated inverter carrier in the Fisker Karma [10776].
Responsible Organization 1. The software failure incident in the Fisker Karma was caused by a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier, which were both replaced as a unit by technicians [10776].
Impacted Organization 1. Consumer Reports [10776]
Software Causes 1. The software cause of the failure incident in the Fisker Karma reported by Consumer Reports was a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier, which were both replaced as a unit [10776].
Non-software Causes 1. Fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier [10776]
Impacts 1. The Fisker Karma experienced a fault on the dashboard during testing, rendering it immobile and unable to shift into neutral, with less than 200 miles on the odometer [10776]. 2. Consumer Reports had to ship the car off to the nearest Fisker dealer for service, causing a delay in their testing process [10776]. 3. Technicians found a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier, which had to be replaced as a unit, leading to repair costs and potential reputation damage for Fisker [10776].
Preventions 1. Implementing thorough software testing procedures before releasing the product to consumers could have potentially prevented the software failure incident experienced by Consumer Reports with the Fisker Karma [10776]. 2. Conducting more extensive quality assurance checks specifically targeting the battery and inverter carrier systems could have helped identify and address the fault before it caused the car to become immobile [10776].
Fixes 1. Replacing the fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier as a unit [10776].
References 1. Consumer Reports' blog [10776] 2. Tom Mutchler [10776]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring one_organization (a) The software failure incident related to the Fisker Karma happened at the same organization, Fisker. Consumer Reports experienced a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier in the Fisker Karma they were testing, which rendered the car immobile [10776]. This incident indicates a software failure within Fisker's product.
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident in the article was related to the design phase. Consumer Reports experienced a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier in the Fisker Karma during their initial testing, which rendered the car immobile and unable to shift into neutral [10776]. The technicians found a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier, which were both replaced as a unit to address the issue [10776]. This indicates that the failure was due to contributing factors introduced during the system development or manufacturing process. (b) There is no specific information in the article indicating that the software failure incident was related to the operation phase or misuse of the system.
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) The software failure incident with the Fisker Karma reported by Consumer Reports was within the system. The fault was found in the battery and its associated inverter carrier, which were both replaced as a unit by technicians after the car displayed a fault on the dashboard and became immobile [10776].
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions (a) The software failure incident in the Fisker Karma, as reported by Consumer Reports, was due to a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier. This fault was identified as a contributing factor to the car becoming immobile and unable to shift into neutral, with less than 200 miles on the odometer. Technicians found the fault in the battery and inverter carrier, which were then replaced as a unit [10776]. This indicates a non-human_actions related software failure incident.
Dimension (Hardware/Software) hardware (a) The software failure incident in the article was related to hardware. The Fisker Karma experienced a fault on the dashboard, which was eventually traced back to a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier. Technicians found the fault in the hardware components and replaced both the battery and the inverter carrier as a unit to address the issue [10776].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident in the article does not indicate any malicious intent. It was a non-malicious failure related to a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier, which were replaced as a unit to resolve the issue [10776].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) accidental_decisions (a) The software failure incident related to the Fisker Karma mentioned in the article does not seem to be directly related to poor decisions. The incident was described as a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier, which were replaced as a unit by technicians after the issue was reproduced [10776]. There is no indication in the article that the failure was caused by poor decisions. (b) The software failure incident appears to be more aligned with accidental decisions or unintended issues rather than poor decisions. The fault in the battery and inverter carrier was not something deliberately introduced but rather a technical issue that arose during the testing process [10776].
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is not explicitly mentioned in the provided article [10776]. (b) The software failure incident in the article seems to be more related to an accidental fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier of the Fisker Karma during Consumer Reports' testing. The fault caused the car to be rendered immobile and unable to shift into neutral, leading to the car being sent for service and the components being replaced [10776].
Duration temporary The software failure incident related to the Fisker Karma mentioned in Article 10776 was temporary. The incident involved a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier, which were both replaced as a unit by technicians. The car was rendered immobile initially but was eventually repaired and returned to Consumer Reports' testing facility after two days of service [10776].
Behaviour crash, omission, value, other (a) crash: The software failure incident in the article resulted in the Fisker Karma being rendered immobile and unable to shift into neutral, indicating a crash of the system [10776]. (b) omission: The software failure incident led to the car displaying a fault on the dashboard and eventually becoming undriveable with less than 200 miles on the odometer, indicating an omission of performing its intended functions [10776]. (c) timing: The software failure incident did not specifically mention any timing-related issues where the system performed its intended functions too late or too early. (d) value: The software failure incident involved a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier, which were replaced as a unit due to incorrect performance of the system [10776]. (e) byzantine: The software failure incident did not exhibit behaviors of inconsistent responses or interactions that would classify it as a byzantine failure. (f) other: The software failure incident also involved the system being unable to complete the check-in process before becoming undriveable, which could be classified as a failure due to an interruption in the system's intended functions.

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence delay (a) death: People lost their lives due to the software failure (b) harm: People were physically harmed due to the software failure (c) basic: People's access to food or shelter was impacted because of the software failure (d) property: People's material goods, money, or data was impacted due to the software failure (e) delay: People had to postpone an activity due to the software failure (f) non-human: Non-human entities were impacted due to the software failure (g) no_consequence: There were no real observed consequences of the software failure (h) theoretical_consequence: There were potential consequences discussed of the software failure that did not occur (i) other: Was there consequence(s) of the software failure not described in the (a to h) options? What is the other consequence(s)? The consequence of the software failure incident in the provided article is that the Fisker Karma, a plug-in hybrid vehicle being tested by Consumer Reports, displayed a fault on the dashboard and eventually became immobile, unable to shift into neutral with less than 200 miles on the odometer. This incident led to the car being sent to a Fisker dealer for service, where technicians identified a fault in the battery and its associated inverter carrier, both of which had to be replaced [10776]. This incident caused a delay in the testing process and required the car to undergo repairs before it could be returned to the testing facility.
Domain information (a) The failed system was related to the industry of information as it was Consumer Reports testing the Fisker Karma, a plug-in hybrid vehicle, and reporting on the software failure incident encountered during their testing process [10776].

Sources

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