Bosch study shows: More safety, more efficiency, connected mobility

With the integration of cars into the Internet, this vision is not science-fiction but becoming reality.

The study “Connected Car Effect 2025) by Bosch and the consulting firm Prognos investigated more closely what this trend will mean specifically for the US, Germany, and the major cities of China.

The result: Safety systems and cloud-based functions can prevent around 260,000 injury accidents, save 390,000 tons of CO2 emissions and offer drivers many hours of more time for other activities. “Connected mobility will mean fewer accidents, less fuel consumption, less stress,” said Dr. Dirk Hoheisel, member of the Bosch board of management, summarizing the results of the model calculations. “The hidden heroes of the connection revolution are assistance and comfort systems, which we are often already familiar with.”

According to the model calculations, the Electric Stability Program (ESP), for example, will be available in up to 90% of all vehicles in the three countries covered by the study by 2025, with sensor-based automatic emergency braking and lane assists in up to 40% of the car fleet. Systems for more comfort and connectivity will also be found in the majority of cars: In 2015, smartphones will be integrated into approximately every other vehicle’s infotainment system.

The increasing number of such systems and their increasing connection to the Internet make them far more than the sum of their parts – for everyone involved. ESP sensors will report upcoming sections of icy road, cameras will collect data on speed restriction and fog, functions such as Internet-based parking solutions and wrong-way driver warnings in virtually real-time will be in widespread use.

“Our study shows that the effects of connectivity will have a perceptible impact on every driver in 2025,” says Hoheisel. For the study, Bosch and Prognos have produced calculations for the US, China and Germany. Here is a selection of the findings:

• Over 260,000 accidents involving personal injuries (US: 210,000, China: 20,000, Germany: 30,000) will be avoided annually – as many accidents as occur within two years in Germany’s capital city of Berlin.

• 350,000 fewer people injured by traffic accidents – the same as 12 years without traffic injuries in Los Angeles. In the US alone, there will be 290,000 fewer (China: 25,000, Germany: 37,000). • About 11,000 people could be saved through connected assistance systems, 4,000 of whom in the US (China: 7,000, Germany: 300).

• Up to EUR 4.3 billion in material and damage costs will be saved by connected assistance systems

• Nearly 400,000 tons of CO² will be spared thanks to connected mobility functions.

• Approximately 70 million driving hours will be shed by connected parking functions in the US, China and Germany. That is as many hours as 40,000 employees work in a year.

• 31 hours of free time on the highway: US citizens spend 43 hours per year on interstates (China: 26 hours on expressways, Germany: 39.5 hours on highways).