Validation partner for the future of mobility

The most expensive place to find a defect is at your customer.

Every vehicle programme creates defects. You cannot avoid that. You can only decide where you find them.

Start with one ECU →See the three routes

Two-wheelersThree-wheelersPassenger vehiclesCommercial vehiclesBuses

The same defect, found at different stagesIn the lab → In the field

This chart shows the direction, not exact numbers. We do not publish a cost multiplier, because published studies do not agree on one. But one point is clear. Changing the software is the cheap part. Everything that follows a failure in the field is not.

The shift

The vehicle is becoming a software system.

What used to be mechanical is now written in software. And it has to work correctly before the customer ever uses it.

65.1%of three-wheelers retailed in July 2026 were electric

11.2%of two-wheelers. More than 2 lakh units in one month, for the first time

7.9%of passenger vehicles

3.57%of commercial vehicles. This is where software is growing next

FADA vehicle retail data, July 2026. 3,27,901 EVs were registered, more than 66% up on the year before. This was India's highest month so far.

Regulation

Software is moving into type approval.

MoRTH has proposed new rules. They would make cyber security and software updates part of type approval.

Rule 125-T (AIS-189) would apply to passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles and tractors that have at least one ECU. Rule 125-U (AIS-190) would also cover trailers and semi-trailers.

Oct 2026New models with Level-3+ automated driving

Apr 2027Existing Level-3+ models

Apr – Oct 2028Vehicles that can receive over-the-air updates

Oct 2029All other vehicles that can update their software

Draft CMVR amendment, reported by Autocar India in June 2026 and Autocar Professional in July 2026. These rules are still a draft. The scope and the dates can still change.

These new rules would be added to what already applies today. AIS-156 for battery safety, from December 2022 and March 2023. BS-VI Phase 2 with OBD-II, from April 2023. AIS-140 for telematics. Software behaviour is becoming something you must show to ARAI, ICAT or GARC.

The cost

Warranty is where a quality problem reaches your accounts.

New manufacturers pay more for warranty than established ones. This is true for two-wheelers and for cars.

Two-wheelers · EV-only manufacturers · warranty provision as % of revenue · FY25 · range 2.0–7.9%

Manufacturer A7.9%

Manufacturer B4.0%

Manufacturer C2.0%

Two-wheelers · established manufacturers · same basis · range 0.5–1.2%

Manufacturer D1.2%

Manufacturer E1.0%

Manufacturer F0.5%

Passenger & commercial vehicles · warranty accrual rate as % of revenue · FY24 · range 0.73–4.03%

Manufacturer G4.03%

Manufacturer H0.73%

Two-wheelers: Angel One, October 2025, citing an Economic Times report. Two of the six figures are estimates. Cars and commercial vehicles: Warranty Week, September 2025, taken from annual reports — one of the two is a global figure that includes a premium subsidiary, the other covers all of that manufacturer’s segments. The groups use different years and different methods, so please read each group on its own and do not compare a letter in one against a letter in another. Electric batteries also carry longer warranty periods, which explains part of the difference between the two two-wheeler groups.

$1,932set aside for warranty per vehicle sold, in FY24, by one manufacturer with global operations. That is 80% more than the year beforeWarranty Week, from annual reports

$58Bwarranty costs worldwide in 2024, about double the 2012 level. At some manufacturers, warranty now costs more than 4% of revenue. That is close to what they spend on R&DMcKinsey & Company, June 2026

In the field

Cars and SUVs are 69% of all vehicles recalled in India.

Between July 2012 and April 2024, 23 manufacturers recalled 56.7 lakh vehicles. And in India, a recall is no longer voluntary.

Software-related recall1,380 vehiclesA software update for the charging control unit. It was not charging the 12V battery correctly

Electronic-control recall7,698 vehiclesA faulty electronic oil pump controller inside the CVT gearbox. February 2024

Instrument-cluster recall~40,000 vehiclesA fault in the fuel-level indicator and the instrument cluster. 2025

SIAM data, via Autocar Professional, May 2024. Under Section 110A of the Motor Vehicles Act and Rule 127C of the CMVR, the government can order a recall. Recall reporting via Autocar Professional, Autocar India and MotorBeam.

India · complaints to regulator

A service problem can become a regulatory problem.

An Indian electric two-wheeler manufacturer recalled 1,441 vehicles in April 2022, following a field incident. Within two years, 10,644 consumer complaints had reached the national consumer-protection system, and in October 2024 the Central Consumer Protection Authority acted on them.

A service problem can become a market-confidence problem.

Business Standard, April 2022 and October 2024

Global · who pays for a cell defect

A $2.0 billion recall charge.

A major global automaker booked approximately $2.0 billion in charges related to a battery recall, with the cell supplier agreeing to reimburse up to $1.9 billion.

Once a defect reaches the field, responsibility becomes expensive — regardless of where the defect originated.

CNBC, reporting company investor disclosures, October 2021

We do not claim a cause in any of these cases, and no public evidence supports one. We are not saying that any test method would have prevented them. We show them for one reason only. A defect becomes a financial and regulatory problem very quickly.

The response

Serious manufacturers test before the hardware exists.

“This shift-left in our software development process enables us to test earlier and more often at a much lower cost using virtual devices.”

Dr. Céline Laurent-Winter
Vice President, Connected Vehicle Platforms
BMW Group · 2025

“We are keenly exploring the opportunities in Software Defined Vehicles, including the enabling vehicle architecture and technology stack.”

Girish Wagh · Executive Director, Commercial Vehicles, Tata Motors

“EVs are radically different from ICE vehicles and are a relatively new technology, so it is important to thoroughly test all the components.”

Swapnil Jain · Co-founder & CTO, Ather Energy

“Software is becoming increasingly crucial in vehicles, leading us to innovate in how we develop and validate it.”

Yves Bonnefont · Chief Software Officer, Stellantis

95%of e-drive performance targets were met before the hardware was ready. General MotorsMathWorks customer story

95%agreement between virtual test results and hardware test results. Mercedes-BenzVector success story, 11/2025

45–50%less validation time, using whole-vehicle HIL and automated tests. LamborghiniMathWorks conference, 2026

54%less time to build, load and test software, using a virtual ECU. Hyundai MobisEVS37 paper, 2024

These results were published by tool vendors, or presented by the manufacturers themselves. We show them as evidence that the method works. They are not a promise of the same result for you.

That is the industry. Here is your problem.

Every one of those companies already had a validation organisation.

Tata Motors, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, GM and Lamborghini were not building a validation team. They already had one. They had test benches, tools, processes and experienced engineers. They were improving something that already existed.

You are asked for the same quality of evidence. But you are still building the vehicle, the supply chain, the factory, the service network and the team. You have a launch date. And investors are watching.

The decision

Three routes. Only one gives you validation capability without building the whole team first.

ARoute A

Build it yourself

Test benches, lab space, licences, automation and processes. And the engineers to run all of it.

You keep full control, and the knowledge stays inside
You spend the money before the first test runs
Hiring and setting up take their own time, not your programme's time
You use it least in the years when cash is tightest

The right choice later · the wrong choice first

BRoute B

Buy the tools

dSPACE, Vector, NI and MathWorks make excellent tools. That is not in question.

Mature, proven, industry-standard technology
But a tool is not a team
You still need models, test development, automation and maintenance
A test bench with nobody to run it is only a cost

You get equipment · not a team

CRoute C · recommended

Bring in a partner

We do not only provide test capacity. We take responsibility for building the validation path around your ECU.

You bring: the ECU, requirements, software, product context
We bring: infrastructure, engineers, simulation, HIL, automation, evidence
We start on your first ECU programme, not your third
We hand everything over when you want to bring it in-house

Capability now · your own team later

Our proposition

Why Validative

You are buying the ability to answer one question. Does this software behave as intended, and can you prove it?

Your vehicle programme

RequirementsECU softwareDBC & interfacesProduct knowledge

Validative

vECU / SILSimulationHILAutomationRegressionCI

Validation evidence

EngineeringManagementHomologationCustomer

Start where your programme actually is

These are capabilities, not a fixed order. Some programmes start with a virtual ECU, because the hardware does not exist yet. Others start with HIL, because the hardware is already on the bench and nothing is automated yet.

Virtual / SILTest the software before the hardware exists.

SimulationModels of the battery, motor and vehicle, so the tests mean something.

HILTest the real ECU with real signals on the bench.

Automation & regressionTest every software change again, without waiting for a bench.

Evidence & reportingA clear record for your team, your management and the test agency.

Your engineers stay on the vehicle. Our engineers stay on the testing. You can continue with us, move the work in-house, or do both together. We will not promise you a saving before we have seen your programme. Anyone who does is selling you a number, not a result.

Build your validation capability before you build production volume.

Start with one ECU, on one programme. Test the approach on real software, with a real deadline.

Talk to us about your first ECU programme →

One ECU · one programme · no commitment beyond it