Neil Postman, the American author, critic and educator, died exactly twenty years ago from the writing of this article. “Technological change is not additive,” he scowled. “It is ecological. A new technology does not merely add something; it changes everything.” A few years after his death, iPhones hit the market and transformed everything from mobile data traffic to working styles to even (shockingly!) bubble gum sales.
And then, almost a decade after Postman’s death, the Model S hit the market and the alarm clock hit the automotive market: software would eat vehicles too. And not only the lines of embedded code (LOC), which went from 2. 5 million in its sedan in 2003 to one billion lines of code 25 years later, but car brands such as assembly software want to sell the “car as a device”.
Among the thousands of industry professionals gathered at the MOVE America ’23 convention last week in Austin, Texas, several experts, including some from Mercedes and Porsche, discussed how automakers will have to deal with software publishers.
“At this time, consumers have a selection and the phone is better. Simple and simple, “says Frank McCleary, spouse and head of automotive and monetary facilities of North America in Porsche Consulting. . Y hasta que dominen la creación de un software intuitivo, será difícil para ellos acelerarse de hecho. Hay 4-5 OEM comprometidos a generar $ 20 mil millones en ganancias anuales del software en el vehículo como servicio. Es un gran problema. Desean cambiar . . . “
“I think the greatest change is a change of mentality within the manufacturers of original teams,” says Jana Breitkopf, general director and executive director of Mercedes Pay USA LLC. “Vinir from the global analog to kiss the virtual global. And not only the copy of what exists or the copy of a PDF in an application. It is not an authentic transformation, nor is it to add a battery to a car that does not make it an electric vehicle. “
This requires some large steps for corporations to already suffer to review their tripules and business models: convert physical architectures into software networks, construction software factories and the complete landscape of knowledge science.
As Jim Farley explained, CEO of Ford, earlier this year: “We spend all the [150] modules that sell cars to our suppliers, because it is possible that we simply tender each of the others. And it worked for decades. In fact, there was some technological otherness, but most brands tried to win through style. Evolution, and suddenly, this distributed has become a challenge. ” The challenge is that the software is written through 150 companies. And they do not communicate with each other. So although he says “Ford” in the front, I have to go to Bosch to ask for permission to replace the software of his seat.
Therein, creating and owning a cloud-to-cross-vehicle software network is a massive overhaul and enabler to a manufacturer wanting to affect quick change.
“It has to be a mini knowledge center that runs on wheels,” said Siddharth Shah, vice president of engineering at Canoo.
Austin, September 2023: A panel discussion at Move America 2023 adding Jana Breitkopf (Middle) Ofarray. . [+] Mercedes Pay and Frank McCleary of Porsche Consulting (right) discussed the team in the coming years with moderator, Steve Tengler of Envorso of Envorso of Envorso (left).
For this great software, those corporations will have to expand organizations that never existed before and fill them with the cultural mindset that Breitkopf mentioned.
This is a complicated path.
“If the control team has no perception of what is in the automotive industry, it can never execute a line . . . “, explained Christoph Schroeder, vice president of software progression in Luminar Technologies, in an interview with Forbes in 2022. “But You then want other people who are not too accustomed to the automotive industry, so that they do not perceive where everyone comes from.
An entire novel could be written about the ever-changing landscape of knowledge science. Obviously, the recent evolution of synthetic intelligence (AI) and how its control of related knowledge will signal algorithms that will drive functionality, create winners and losers. Tariffs, while maintaining privacy or negatively affecting it, can trap consumers in one direction or another.
But interestingly, the discussion last week centered around the growing need to share data to learn quicker. “Currently there is no way to share data cleanly,” pronounced Shah. “You can curate it, create data lakes, and make it available, but there’s no standard that I know of where you can do it easily. There’s tremendous opportunity in that space, but it requires tremendous cooperation, which has not been a strong suit for the industry.”
“There are so many things we can do now through telematics [for expected maintenance],” said Ken Johnston, chief executive of Autonomic, a Ford subsidiary. “The challenge I have is a Big Data problem. [My advertising client’s] fleet uses the same tires as everyone else, and it’s possible that [theoretically] it’s waiting for the need for maintenance and having the right portions on site for uptime. How can we do this better, even with 16 million cars on the roads, without?knowledge of other places, that is little knowledge. “
Intelligent control and knowledge sharing will definitely turn software corporations into a device.
If you work for an automaker and think “we have this,” I recommend reexamining your pride. Last week, Stellantis recalled 273,000 Ram Trucks due to a software incompatibility between the rearview camera and the radio that “could cause an accident”. Last week, a spokesperson for Kia and Hyundai reported that “more than 760,000 cars have been upgraded so far [and] more than 280,000 guide wheels have been distributed” to solve a cybersecurity challenge course. And by the way, right now I’m driving a truck that asks me to drive in front of the tracks through the same roundabout when you’re using Apple Carplay.
Meanwhile, on the same day as the Ram recall, Tesla is conducting an over-the-air update that enables a new protective feature: automatic jump lighting fixtures after a crash. While this could save few lives, it is some other indication of the network participant-to-vehicle concept method rather than the slow cleanup of operational operators.
That is why my message for you, the leaders: not escatimen. You don’t know what you don’t know, and Tesla and others do not consider the electric vehicle. It reflects the basic vehicle and the progression itself while looking to run at the speed of Silicon Valley.
Get help . . . Right now.
A community. Many voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts.
Our network is about bringing others together through open and thoughtful conversations. We need our readers to share their reviews and exchange concepts and facts in one space.
To do so, please adhere to the posting regulations in our site’s terms of use. We’ve summarized some of those key regulations below. In other words, keep it civil.
Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:
User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:
So how can you be a rough user?
Thank you for reading our community norms. Read the complete list of publication regulations discovered in the terms of use of our site.