Vehicles are evolving quite rapidly, powered by technologies that enable newer in-car and on-road experiences offering greater convenience and safety.
By: Rajen Vagadia, VP and President, Qualcomm India
In the automotive industry, vehicles are evolving quite rapidly, powered by technologies that enable newer in-car and on-road experiences offering greater convenience and safety. We are on the cusp of an era of connected and intelligent transportation. Various research agencies estimate the global connected car market will be worth $121 billion to $255 billion between the years 2025 and 2027. Although the projections vary, they all indicate a double-digit CAGR growth for connected cars in the coming years. Moreover, analysts estimate that almost 75% of all vehicles sold in 2027 will have embedded cellular connectivity, up from 20% of vehicles in 2015.
Automobile manufacturers and technology providers will integrate 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud, and artificial intelligence (AI) into their products. We are seeing the emergence of a digital chassis—a set of solutions, platforms, and cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technologies that will enable auto makers to build highly connected, highly intelligent vehicles, leveraging ready-to-implement solutions. 5G will be the unifying fabric on which many of the next-gen technologies are being built.
There will be vehicle-to-vehicle communication technologies that will help avoid collisions and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication that can reduce or avoid traffic congestion. Inside a connected car, cloud-based security and firmware updates will happen quietly and efficiently in the background, while information, entertainment, and other in-vehicle features will be enabled at the touch of a button or through simple voice commands.
Imagine an ambulance carrying a critical patient, gets to send across all the necessary details, of the health of the patient, measured and witnessed in real-time by the equipment and staff, while on way to the hospital, so that the hospital is ready, with the right medical attention and treatment, gaining crucial response time, which cannot be in any manner be measured for criticality to save the patient. Or conversing with and through your car, taking calls, making appointments, engaging socially, getting recommendations or simply invoking your playlist from a streaming platform. How we wish that our car could find a parking spot rather than us going through the hassle!
Such technologies are the building blocks of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) that will become a reality for the coming generation of cars. The 5G-enabled in-vehicle experience will have intuitive touch screens, high-definition maps, smart navigation systems, and augmented reality (AR) displays. Drivers will benefit from easy, on-the-move access to important information and diagnostics while passengers can enjoy streaming video on multiple screens and playing online games. Meanwhile, maintaining and repairing a vehicle will become easier and timely with the help of data insights and analytics. By monitoring things like mileage, fuel level, tire pressure, ambient air temperature, oil temperature, engine temperature, and RPM, the car itself will predict when a certain component needs replacement or servicing and will notify the owner accordingly, with options of nearby locations and deals.
When choosing between cars, most Indian buyers have traditionally compared and evaluated aspects like mileage, storage, comfort, safety, and brand image. In recent years, digital features and intelligent capabilities have been added to this list. Soon enough, the smart capabilities of vehicles will become a very important contributor in the decision-making process. Driving is going to be a very different experience in this era of smart auto technologies.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the original author. These views and opinions do not represent those of The Indian Express Group or its employees.
