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Electric mobility will not only change the habits of motorists but also the main components of cars. If until now the engine was the heart of the car, software will be the cornerstone in the coming years. The car, understood as a hardware object, takes a back seat because it aims to become a supplier of software and services, emulating the ancient path of great hi-tech companies such as IBM.
The software is the backbone, indeed the chassis of the car of the future and of mobility. So far, the houses have relied on external suppliers, as if the hardware, chips, and software were a foreign body and for too long they have considered information technology an element to be managed and integrated but not to be governed and owned. Going into the specifics of the various manufacturers, the first point of Volkswagen’s new “Accelerate” strategy stands out the software development to be integrated with the digital experience. Already this summer, every 12 months, “over the air” software updates for ID electric vehicles will be available through the ID.Digital division. In two years, according to the group, the connected ID models in circulation will be more than 500 thousand . Mercedes has launched an ambitious program for “in house” development while Renault has formed Software Republique, inviting big names in hi-tech such as Dassault Systèmes, ST, Athos and Thales to participate in the consortium.
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Stellantis has instead signed an agreement with the Taiwanese Foxconn, a third party manufacturer known for being the assembler of Apple’s iPhones, an agreement aimed at setting up a 50/50 joint venture, baptized for the establishment of Mobile Drive. In the memorandum of understanding, the task of the new structure will be the development of innovative systems for connected 5G infotainment. telematics solutions for the Internet of vehicles (IoV), cloud platforms for the distribution of Over the Air (Ota) software services such as updates to on-board vehicle software. Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) is strongly interested in the automotive sector.
In the first part of the year, it announced the creation of an “open source” platform for connected electricity. It is a smart car architecture that includes hardware, powertrain and software. Another fundamental point comes from the connectivity between cars and the cloud, a key point of the agreement between Bosch and Microsoft. The two giants want to work together to simplify and accelerate software development and implementation in compliance with automotive quality standards to make over-the-air updates faster. The collaboration will benefit from Bosch’s knowledge of electrical and electronic architectures, control units and vehicle computers required for over-the-air vehicle upgrades. In addition, the company will contribute to the creation of software-based products and development tools for automobiles. This includes core software and middleware for vehicle computers and control units, as well as cloud-based software modules to bring over-the-air updates to entire fleets of vehicles. The pre-integrated platform will greatly reduce the complexity of over-the-air updates, thanks to the fact that vehicle software architectures and the cloud will now fit together seamlessly by sharing the same code.