E-mobility Technology Winter 2020

e-mobility Technology International | Vol 7 | Winter 2020
of software, which will be shaping tomorrow’s cars?
Due to the increasing amount of software that gives
the vehicle its functionality, safety, efficiency and
comfort, a conventional premium car is likely to
reach an impressive 750 million lines of code per car
by 2025. Mind you – that is just “programmed code”,
i.e., without factoring in the algorithms to come
with artificial intelligence (AI). The timing is right for
cleaning up the E/E architecture.
There is yet another rationale behind this: Car makers
traditionally perceive the engine (and sometimes
the transmission) as key unique selling propositions
for their brand. In times of digitalization, however,
the variety of functions is particularly exciting
for electromobility and its users as it is precisely
them who have a great affinity for technology.
Accordingly, the cockpit and human-machine
interface are becoming more and more important.
Drivers and users expect a “digital vehicle”. This has a
correspondingly high influence on their perception of
the vehicle and thus on the purchase decision.
Having said that, “the cockpit” means more and bigger
displays, natural language conversation, haptics
(e.g. haptic feedback with 3D shaped displays), full
connectivity, and lots of software to provide it all!
The future cockpit is fully networked, and a Digital
Assistant will be able to take on different roles
and responsibilities such as a driver’s companion
or coach. Now, this working relation is developing
into a genuine relationship as the EV becomes
fully connected and turns into a member of the
global Internet of Everything. Can that be done with
the existing E/E architecture? No. The
answer lies in centralization, and higher
integration. The answer is: in-vehicle
servers.
There is a great opportunity in the EV as a clean slate.
Freed from all the legacy traditions of conventional
vehicles, an EV is the natural choice to make a stepchange.
Why should an EV offer anything less than a
user experience (UX) that tops the expectations of an
online generation? An EV offers more space and fewer
design restraints. So why not seize this opportunity
to introduce new technologies such as pillar-to-pillar
displays? They offer maximum freedom to display
whatever content, app, service, or entertainment
to the driver and passengers. Connectivity, flexible
allocation of contents, and context-oriented user
interfaces will give any vehicle a new UX; which will
strongly influence the driver’s appreciation of his/
her car. 3D display technology and curved surfaces
will help to guide the user’s attention, help her/him
to control functions and to enjoy high-resolution
viewing quality.
What we need to make all that possible is to alter the
E/E architecture. In order to bring all the elements of
human-machine interaction together and to offer a
seamless combination of information, entertainment,
apps and services, the many strings of entertainment
and information need to come together in one
hardware.
In the cockpit domain, this trend towards a new UX
means changing over to a server-based architecture
that supports a systematic separation of hardware
e-mobility Technology International | www.e-motec.net
23