(This article was originally published on Forbes.com)
Imagine a world where cars actually get better after leaving the showroom — not just through software updates, but through in-vehicle AI that learns and improves with every mile.
With connected vehicles expected to make up 95% of all cars and trucks on the roads by 2030, that vision isn’t so far-fetched. In fact, with consumers already anticipating receiving up to six feature and functionality over-the-air (OTA) updates by 2025, automakers and suppliers are stepping on the OTA gas.
But they may not be going fast enough.
The truth is that while consumer demand for feature and functionality updates keeps growing, and automakers are increasingly differentiating themselves with OTA updates, the technology itself is in its early stages. Today, only a few leading edge automakers are offering frequent updates and feature changes, but most are infrequent or make only minor updates.
Seizing OTA opportunities
That’s not for a lack of desire or imagination by automotive and tech hubs like Detroit, Tokyo, Munich, or Silicon Valley. They know they can differentiate around OTA feature updates and realize consumers are willing to pay more to download premium services that might improve their driving experiences. Increasingly, that differentiation is AI-driven, with OEMs deploying intelligent models directly to vehicles to enable new capabilities, improve performance, and resolve issues before drivers notice them. At the same time, they see an opportunity to save an estimated $1.5 billion per year by addressing recalls digitally, enabling drivers to avoid the annoyance of taking their vehicles to the shop to repair defects (86% of consumers prefer to have updates succeed without a visit to the service center).
Desire and vision is not the problem. The issue with OTA updates is that the technology is in its infancy and fraught with complex challenges. Bandwidth is an obvious one. Moving large packets of code from one place to another, safely and smoothly, involves considerable time and expense. That’s one reason why updates currently only happen a few times a year and contain more fixes than features.
OTA updates are also notoriously difficult for automakers to manage, in large part because so many different software developers are involved in writing programs that control vehicle features like infotainment systems, seats, and environmental systems. In fact, Ford CEO Jim Farley, during an interview on the Fully Charged Podcast last year, complained the software in his company’s vehicles is all written by 150 different companies, so managing software updates can be challenging
All of this tends to add costs and delays to the OTA update process because anytime an automaker wants to upgrade or patch a piece of firmware, software, or component, they have to negotiate with someone to develop a working modification, and that someone will likely charge a hefty fee to do it. By some estimates, automakers are spending between $2 billion and $2.7 billion per year to distribute OTA updates.
Finding answers
Part of the solution is for OEMs to take more control of their electric architecture for upcoming vehicles. And automakers like Tesla seem to be moving in that direction as well. However, insourcing only solves part of the challenge because for OTA updates to be more regular and meaningful, automakers still need to overcome numerous software development and management issues that are hindering deployment.
Fortunately, AI-powered platforms are emerging to address these issues. Sonatus Fastlane™ Edge combines OTA capabilities with edge AI management, purpose-built for the complexity of today’s connected vehicles. It allows automakers to better manage the increasing variety of vehicle software assets from a single pane of glass with predictability and end-to-end traceability. This means manufacturers get a single solution to conduct updates for all vehicle software elements and ECU firmware. Fastlane Edge also enables them to manage virtual containers, network and storage configurations, variant coding, and security policy updates – while deploying and orchestrating the AI models that make vehicles smarter over time.
Because OTA costs and complexity can be unpredictable, Sonatus Updater additionally lets automakers and equipment manufacturers perform proactive dry runs of OTA campaigns to see how they might perform and make important adjustments to streamline processes.
Finally, as the frequency and complexity of vehicle software updates increase, Updater can help automakers and suppliers resolve issues if OTA update campaigns veer off-the-beaten-path by providing fine-grained visibility and tracing capabilities to track individual processes from the cloud to target ECUs.
Down the road
As the automotive industry continues to evolve, AI-powered vehicle platforms will be as critical as the connected technologies that enabled them, turning OTA updates from a logistics challenge into a continuous improvement engine.