Next-generation E/E architectures will create new business models for automakers and suppliers. But a Wards Intelligence survey shows few see themselves as pacesetters, and there’s some uncertainty about where the best monetization opportunities are. The massive change in operations, and the associated costs, will put constraints on the timeframe and depth of the changes in infrastructure and vehicle architectures that OEMs will be able to address.

A consequence of a software defined environment, driven by data, is that process digitalization and model engineering are becoming essential assets at various levels in the automotive industry: from the vehicles to OEMs´ back-end and the mobility infrastructure.

 A look at the evolution to the software-defined vehicle and its impact on electrical/electronic architectures.

Lately, cybersecurity has dramatically grown in importance in the automotive industry, although in Wards´ opinion it has not been properly addressed yet. In the past 5 years, the several “accidents,” where hackers have been able to take full, or partial, control of vehicles´ functions, are an evident and worrying indicator.

Glenn Sanders, Principal Analyst-Autonomous Vehicles at Wards Intelligence, will cut through the hype on where the industry stands with autonomous-vehicle development and the likely path ahead for commercialization, and Luca DeAmbroggi, Chief Analyst-Technologies and E/E Architectures at Wards Intelligence will discuss the transformation to the Software Defined Vehicle that’s required to make it all happen.

Across the supply chain, software-defined approaches appear to be the clear path to ensure flexible and future-proof architectures. In the past five years, we have observed that software has dramatically developed in new and disruptive directions, enabled by the advancement of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms which are strongly depending on high-quality data.