Yeah its whole thing is that software gets outdated but like …?

A) The latest ICE vehicles are equally tech’d out the wazoo, infotainment is 1:1 and mechanically they’ve even phased out gear shifters for ones completely controlled by electronics.

B) Software doesn’t just stop working, it’s hardware that becomes obsolete. Windows XP still runs the same as it ever did on the right hardware. There are servers around from the 90s that are still running software written in programming languages that don’t exist anymore. If you always run the same software on the same hardware (as you do in automotive; most vehicles don’t require more than 1-2 OTA updates per year, purely for bug fixes, and each one has a unique build specifically made for its hardware) there’s no reason the two should ever lose compatibility.

C) Reliability is a major factor, taken into account by OEMs, that isn’t nearly as high stakes for other tech sectors. An $800 phone dies in a few years, so what, the buyer has most likely already moved on to the next generation. A $35K car dies in a few years, you’ve probably lost a good number of buyers for life and definitely screwed them over in terms of resale value. Phone OS crashes, whatever, just restart it. Automotive software fails, well people’s lives could very easily be in jeopardy.

It’s not the modular, one-size-fits-all, update-till-the-hardware-fails, move-fast-break-things approach taken in lower-stakes computing. To liken it to a smartphone is completely ridiculous.