Electronic systems can quite easily be far more reliable than mechanical systems.
High voltage ignition systems are a really good example. I used to own a 1973 Buick LeSabre with a stupid low-voltage ignition system for "emissions control" purposes. Any water inside the engine compartment, and your engine would stall. Put a modern high-voltage ignition system on that and you could damn near submerge the engine and it would keep going.
The problem here is a lack of interface standardization (for example: old school taillights all connected to bulbs the same way). If auto manufacturers were required to document interfaces and accept third party parts, they would have to design everything defensively and these kinds of silly issues would go away.
The problem isn't electronics--it's engineering. And the problem isn't engineers--it's management cutting every corner they can.
Another issue is the physical layer of the CAN bus system.
For something meant for automotive deployment in massive numbers I'm not particularly impressed with how the typical physical layer is implemented. There is relatively little margin for error and the topology is just designed for cost efficiency, not for reliability or redundancy.
High voltage ignition systems are a really good example. I used to own a 1973 Buick LeSabre with a stupid low-voltage ignition system for "emissions control" purposes. Any water inside the engine compartment, and your engine would stall. Put a modern high-voltage ignition system on that and you could damn near submerge the engine and it would keep going.
The problem here is a lack of interface standardization (for example: old school taillights all connected to bulbs the same way). If auto manufacturers were required to document interfaces and accept third party parts, they would have to design everything defensively and these kinds of silly issues would go away.
The problem isn't electronics--it's engineering. And the problem isn't engineers--it's management cutting every corner they can.