Connectivity and EVs steal the show
‘Internet of cars’ age is firmly upon us
Amazing, the Consumer Electronics Show ( CES) will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this week in Las Vegas. That means it has seen world debuts of stuff such as the videocassette recorder, camcorder, CD player and Xbox. And while we’ll see more modern gadgets here this year, a more recent trend has had carmakers make a larger footprint on the floor. No wonder, really, as cars get more and more computerdriven. Here is a rundown of some of the more notable car companies at CES this year.
HONDA
By April 2018, e ver y new car in Europe will be equipped with eCall, an emergency service that automatically dials 112 — the continental version of 911 — in the case of an accident.
Of course, this connectivity requires telematics communications. Honda plans to start a lineup-wide rollout of something called MyHonda in 2017. Honda Europe’s general manager, Jean-Marc Streng explains.
“The dongle ( required by the eCall system) will give us many more applications we can provide for the customer,” he said.
“This will include vehicle information, data streamed from the car and the ability to call directly into dealerships in the event of an emergency so we will be able to understand exactly what has happened to the vehicle. This will also allow us to communicate with the customer in terms of maintenance.”
Most importantly, says Streng, is that MyHonda will allow a bespoke customerdealer relationship “where we can have a tailored approach with communications for every individual customer.”
AUDI
Audi’s Traffic Light Information ( TLI) feature, North America’s first vehicle- to-infrastructure ( V2I) system, was launched in Las Vegas just in time for the show. Sin City’s municipal traffic management centre will transmit traffic-light data to Traffic Technology Services, Audi’s communications supplier. From there, information will be sent via Audi’s 4G network to A4 and Q7 onboard computers, where it is displayed on the company’s latest Virtual Cockpit display, relaying the info to the driver in real time.
Although basic, TLI is just the beginning of the “Internet of cars” age, as more automobiles are able to communicate with the infrastructure ( V2I) and each other (vehicleto- vehicle or V2V). Audi’s “time-to-green” information is just the tip of the iceberg, as V2I systems will soon be recommending alternate routing based on green lights.
BMW
The German luxury brand debuted its touchless gesture control at CES in 2014, which allows the driver six different functions — such as adjusting the radio volume — with a simple wave of a hand or twirl of a finger. Now it takes that a step further with the HoloActive Touch system, which combines the gesture control with a free- floating display that seems to hover in the air. The commands are confirmed to the driver with tactile feedback.
Faraday Future finally debuted a real car, promising it will be the fastest electric car in the world. With 1,050 hp, it should be! But with recent struggles — such as the exit of two of FF’s top executives — it’s a wonder the company itself has any future.
On the more mainstream front, Chrysler has chosen to make the reveal of its fully electric Pacifica minivan at CES, rather than at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next week.
Both Hyundai and Volkswagen are also at CES to showcase their future EVs, which will also focus on autonomous driving and more connectivity.
Ford revealed the latest version of its Fusion Hybrid at CES. It says the car will have a more developed autonomous driving system, with better sensors and more processing power.