Media-Insert Communications

Will Driverless Cars Need Remote Human Supervisors?

Will driverless cars need remote human supervisors? Over the last few years autonomous vehicle start-ups have raised tens of billions of dollars based on their cars being truly self-driving. Yet, international news agency Reuters reported in September 2022 that they may not in the end be totally autonomous.

Read the complete article to learn about the role of remote human supervisors. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive on 20th February 2023. Journalist/Author: Graham Jarvis.

Why Smart Cities need More Than Just Autonomous Vehicles

Cities aren’t just about one thing. There are many aspects of life in the city, and transport is but one of them. That’s why it’s suggested that smart cities need more than just autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the same way that traditional transport modes don’t make a city in itself.

Discover why smart cities need more than autonomous vehicles (AVs), read the complete article. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive on 17th February 2023. Journalist/Author: Graham Jarvis.

Connected Autonomous Vehicles will Evolve the Digital Economy

With a growing data influx from connected and autonomous vehicles, automakers their partners and third-party organisations are looking to develop connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) as a key platform for evolving the digital economy.

They will use artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as cloud platforms, to offer new services from the value data emanating from each vehicle. The key consideration is about how to extract enhanced value for the data, and to understand the impact of siloed development approaches to the software-defined vehicle, as well as the need for standards across in-car media systems. There is also a need to comprehend how aggregators, content providers and operating systems (OS) suppliers can work with automakers to monetize the vehicle through new consumer experiences.

Find out how autonomous vehicles will evolve the digital economy, read the complete article. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive on 13th January 2023. Journalist/Author: Graham Jarvis.

Connected car’s direction — mission-critical or infotainment?

Over the years, automotive vehicles have become increasingly connected, and so connectivity will increasingly underpin the future of the industry.

At least that’s the view that was discussed by Steve Bell, chief analyst – connectivity, Informa Tech Automotive Group at September’s WardsAuto Intelligence Outlook Conference at The Townsend Hotel, Birmingham, Michigan. It also suggests that there is an evolution in vehicle architecture, and a transition to software-defined vehicles that will depend on connectivity to ensure they are up-to-data and cyber-secure. The executive summary of his presentation adds: “The rapid evolution of BEVs means the traditional vehicle business model of profit on initial sales is being replaced by lifetime earnings that rely on over-the-air (OTA) upgrades to enhance the vehicle value to consumers.”

Read the complete article. 

Client: InformaTech Published by Urgent Communications on 22nd December 2022.

Connected Car’s Direction Mission Critical or Infotainment?

Over the years automotive vehicles have become increasingly connected, and so connectivity will increasingly underpin the future of the industry.

At least that’s the view that was discussed by Steve Bell, chief analyst – connectivity, Informa Tech Automotive Group at September’s WardsAuto Intelligence Outlook Conference at The Townsend Hotel, Birmingham, Michigan. It also suggests that there is an evolution in vehicle architecture, and a transition to software-defined vehicles that will depend on connectivity to ensure they are up-to-data and cyber-secure. The executive summary of his presentation adds: “The rapid evolution of BEVs means the traditional vehicle business model of profit on initial sales is being replaced by lifetime earnings that rely on over-the-air (OTA) upgrades to enhance the vehicle value to consumers.”

Read the complete article. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive. Author: Graham Jarvis. Published on 20th December 2023. 

Is 5G C-V2X really paving the road to autonomy?

At AutoTech Europe, TU-Automotive took a step back to look back at last year’s conference in which it was claimed that 5G C-V2X is paving the way for fully autonomous vehicles.

Key to the discussion is whether 5G as well as 5G C-V2X are sufficient for creating a fully autonomous vehicle future. Niels Peter Skov Andersen, chair of ETSI Intelligent Transport Systems Technical Committee of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), begins by saying V2X and C-V2X are basically the same things. ‘C-V2X’ is a term used by the telecommunications companies.

He adds: “What has to be understood is that we are operating with different forms of communication. We have short-range direct communication for communicating directly between vehicles and vehicles as well as directly between vehicles and road infrastructure. We would typically use that for tactical information, to communicate things drivers can see out of the window or around corners. It covers all of the things you need to do to avoid crashing.

“Then you have long-range communications where you can, for example, update the map which is not necessarily a fixed map but a dynamic map with roadworks and other road event updates,” he explains. C-V2X is a communications technology they propose for short and long-range communications, and he says there are more than 20.000 km of roads covered by ITS-G5 and believes it’s up to the industry to implement the standards.

Read the complete article on TU Automotive, or on Urgent Communications. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive on 30th November 2022. Author: Graham Jarvis.

What Will Be the In-Vehicle Connectivity Gold Standard for ADAS?

The automotive market is very close to adopting the MIPI A-PHY standard for CSI-2 and the DSI-2 standard for connectivity.

Daniel Shwartzberg, director of automotive system solutions at Valens hopes that is will become the connectivity solution of choice. He believes it will offer the automotive industry a standardized SerDes solution for high bandwidth, ultra-low latency, including EMI-EMC robust data links for video.

He explains: “Until this point OEMs and automotive suppliers (Tier 1s) have had to use proprietary, single source solutions for extending video within the vehicle but the A-PHY standard will enable an ecosystem of vendors supplying multiple interoperable products into the market.”

The trouble is, according to Shwartzberg, the words ‘proprietary’ and ‘single source’ aren’t words that the automotive industry enjoys. However, he suggests that a standard offers choice. Yet, there could be a counter-argument that it can restrict innovation. Putting that aside, he describes A-PHY as “a standardized solution offering multi-gigabit link speeds for sensor and display connectivity – things like cameras, radars and LiDARS”.

Read the complete article.

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive 18th October 2022.

The Need to ‘Green’ Electric Vehicles

Many people hold the perception that electric vehicles are greener and, in some respects, cheaper to run than their internal combustion engine diesel and gasoline counterparts.

However, the reality is far more complex than many would imagine. To gain a more accurate picture, it’s important to consider the complete lifecycle of each vehicle – from the sourcing of the materials to manufacture them and their batteries, fuels, or energy sources to their environmental and social governance impact from start to end of life. This includes how the materials used in them are recycled and reused.

Robert Camm, senior consultant, mobility at Frost and Sullivan, says: “The cost of electric vehicles has typically been higher than their internal combustion engine (ICE) equivalent. While this gap is closing there is still some way to go. As the cost is higher, drivers will expect additional functionality to support this investment, beyond just the powertrain and sustainability benefits.”

Read the complete article on TU Automotive. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive 4th October 2022.

Addressing Connectivity Uncertainty for the Connected Car

There are a range of factors that will be crucial for connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs).

Among them is 5G connectivity, automation and electrification. They are converging to transform the automotive industry – enabling and enhancing, for example, the connected car. An introduction to a TU-Automotive webinar, which was held in February 2022, and which was sponsored by Infovista went on to add: “From self-driving prototypes on private networks in mines and ports to connected mobility applications that enhance user experiences and enable new business models, the value potential is enormous. Wireless connectivity, however, has gaps and performance variability that, if not well managed, can impact application performance and reliability.”

So, what has changed over the last 2 years – beyond the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, which also caused disruption? To answer this question and others, we spoke to Jack Palmer, senior consultant in Frost and Sullivan’s mobility practice, and Magnus Gunnarsson, Ericsson’s head of connected vehicle portfolio. Key to the discussion were the challenges of delivering connected mobility applications in 2022, including how to avoid connectivity issues impacting customer experience and critical application performance.

Read the complete article on TU Automotive, or on Urgent Communications.

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive 16th September 2022; Also published by Urgent Communications on 20th September 2022.

 

Autonomous Insurance: How Future-Ready are insurers?

With connected and autonomous vehicles set to change the insurance liability paradigm away from human drivers, this article examines whether insurers and automakers are really ready for a driverless future.

That’s the question posed by Ulrike Deetjen, partner and co-leader of digital ecosystems for insurers, McKinsey & Co, Kersten Heineke, partner and co-leader of the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility and their co-authors in a blog post on their firm’s website. In it they discuss the future of mobility and argue that forward-thinking motor insurers can update their approaches “to serve climate-conscious, tech-savvy customers”.

They add in their article, Are insurers ready for the future of mobility?: “In the medium term, insurers can plan to jump at new business opportunities, using the insights and data they have collected from mobility insurance solutions to grow into other areas of the mobility ecosystem. Fleet management, buying and selling used cars, the electric charging market, and car servicing sectors are just a few of the many options. More diversity also provides advantages over aggregators, which tend to benefit from standardization.”

Read the complete article on TU Automotive, or on Urgent Communications. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive 9th September 2022; Also published by Urgent Communications on 12th September 2022.