PR Vibes?: Connected Cars Drive New Paths to Tech Innovation

Connected cars are in the driver’s seat when it comes to modern automaking, with most models rolling off the assembly line with some kind of advanced comms functionality on board. In fact, Statistica predicts that 96 percent of shipped vehicles will have built-in connectivity by 2030.

Connected-car services for the end user run the gamut: There’s the ability to subscribe to premium features over the air (enabling seat warmers, enhanced navigation, or entertainment options); vehicle anti-theft tracking and sensor-based telematics for fleet management; in-vehicle Wi-Fi; remote performance data monitoring and check-engine diagnostics; and the ability to on-board a range of third-party applications.

All of this offers a cool factor for owners, market differentiation for car manufacturers, and new business cases for stakeholders across the ecosystem. This latter group includes mobile network operators, cloud and internet service providers, applications developers, telematics specialists, IoT security companies, insurance companies, and many, many others – all of whom are looking to snag a piece of a market that Ericsson predicts could be worth $750 billion within five years.

A Technology Tide Ignites Innovation A range of advanced networking technologies hold the key to starting up true innovation in the connected car space, and it’s important to understand what they are. Here’s a rundown of the growing markets that are underpinning the connected car revolution:

5G Wireless: 5G is a game-changing technology for connected cars, allowing data to efficiently be collected from sensors and other endpoints, and sent on in real time with very low latency.

Edge Processing: This is a distributed computing model that moves data storage and processing closer to the source of that data, speeding up processing and allowing users to act on it in real time.

Public & Private Cloud: Moving to the cloud allows companies to process all of that collected data at scale, with the ability to access it from anywhere.

Generative AI: GenAI has quickly become the most important emerging technology in the world, thanks to its ability to use large language models (LLMs) to glean insights from vast amounts of data quickly and flexibly and then make them available to systems and people in actionable ways.

All of these are coming together to enable new use cases based on the “vehicle-to-everything” (V2E) communications concept. These deliver additional revenue across the ecosystem, and they offer a raft of value-added benefits for drivers. Here are just a few specific examples of how this landscape can work together to create new offerings:

“Safe Driver” packages. Automakers can access a vast array of telematics, including driver location and speed, fuel consumption, systems integrity, time-to-scheduled-maintenance, idling time, and more. All of that data, collected by on-board IoT sensors, can be compressed and sent to partnering insurance companies for real-time handling of rate adjustments, upsell offers, driver warnings and more.

Predictive Maintenance:?The scalability and processing efficiency of the cloud can support a subscription-based, GenAI-driven predictive maintenance program, based on sensor data. The AI can analyze vehicle data and cross-referencing past repair and failure data across tens of thousands of vehicles, forecast potential failures before they occur. This opens the door to offering personalized vehicle recommendations and optimized repair services.

In-Car Chatbot Assistance: GenAI can also enable voice-activated chatbots, so drivers can simply ask them to search for information on the internet, find the nearest gas station with under-$3 per gallon fuel, turn on in-vehicle applications, report information from vehicle diagnostics systems and make personalized recommendations for repairs or maintenance, or find something in the user manual, and more.

Third-party API Integrations: Carmakers can implement a connected app store, with integrations available for social features, car repair scheduling, the ability to compare nearby gas prices, feature-rich trip log recording, and much, much more – all potentially accessible via chatbot, of course. All of this can be integrated into an AI-driven, personalized infotainment experience too, that uses algorithmic learning to anticipate driver preferences.

Smart Cities: Another potential use case is partnering with cities to identify and communicate information about traffic light malfunctions, accidents, and other road hazards. Some of this reporting out to municipalities can be automated, such as when a vehicle experiences a pothole (on-board systems can log the “bump”). The data, gathered from thousands of cars every day, can also be fed in real-time into on-board infotainment systems for enhanced navigation.

Smart Home Integration: One final use case takes the “V2E” concept even further. Connected cars can tap into a home’s smart devices, including lights, thermostats, door locks, garage doors, etc. A car’s sensors can automatically trigger actions in the home, such as turning on the lights or bumping up the heat inside the house when pulling into the driveway; or, when leaving, the integration can trigger a security system to arm itself, or a thermostat to go into energy-saving mode. Other features are more whimsical, such as using the in-car chatbot to query a smart fridge and compile a shopping list, so a driver can stop at the grocery store on the way home. Or, asking the coffeemaker to start.

When it comes to the connected cars, there is an enormous opportunity for every corner of the tech market, and the automakers themselves, to harness innovation and drive fast-growing new revenue. It’s worth understanding this ecosystem, and communicating to partners, customers and suppliers how you’re positioning for opportunities to participate in its evolution.

Need help telling your Connected-Car story? Contact?Calysto today, we can help!

Calysto CEO, Laura Borgstede will be at the IoT Evolution Conference and Expo. Email her now to set up a time to meet at the show!