This is all tremendously frustrating to me because electric cars don't have to be this complicated. I've enjoyed the restoration work on my electric-converted minitruck because it's all very simple. Sure, there is software, running in the motor controller and the instrument cluster. Both are fairly straightforward to work with, though, and have small functionality scopes that makes it unlikely you'd want to change anything besides configuration. The user interface is mostly just 12v through switches to GPIOs on the motor controller, though the instrument cluster receives data via CANOpen which of course greatly simplifies the wiring.

What I'm saying is that I don't think there's really any connection between these software problems and electric vehicles... the problem is that electric vehicles are being introduced at the same time that the auto industry has bet on advanced software features, touchscreen interfaces, and sophisticated infotainment as the way to win customers. Since the EVs are broadly new designs, they're often getting all these new features first. Major examples like Tesla have caused consumers to conflate "electric drivetrain" and "huge touchscreen, no buttons," when one does not need to imply the other.

Look at the hobby EV community, they can be built in very straightforward ways that are easier to diagnose than combustion engines. The industry just doesn't want to.