The connected car

Road te st

18

/ executive cars

Pow to co BUSINESS CLASS • March 2014

executive cars

W

/ Road te st

e want to live joined-up lives, and

we demand continuous connectivity.

It’s perhaps no surprise then, that

the connected car has become one of the fastestgrowing segments in the ‘connected’ market.

Real-time traffic reports, in-car Internet access, and even pay-as-you-drive insurance is gaining traction in some countries. In a world where every device or appliance can be wirelessly connected to the Internet - providing swathes of real-time information, whether it’s in the form of Smartphone integration or car-specific apps - the Internet is definitely coming to your car.

Connected car services are divided into three categories. Telematics, being remote diagnostics, breakdown help, stolen vehicle tracking and toll payment; Infotainment, like cloud based in-vehicle services, on demand video and radio, and Navigation, for traffic assistance, journey times, parking, and fuel.

Expect connected cars to make our journeys more convenient, greener and much safer. For example, driving while using your Smartphone is still not as negatively stigmatised as driving whilst inebriated, but driving whilst texting is six times more hazardous than driving drunk, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association of America. A recent survey by an ISP also revealed that while 98 percent of people agree texting or emailing while driving is unsafe, 49 percent go ahead and do it anyway.

This may be one of the reasons why the European Union recently announced that all new

Cars that anticipate where you want to go and what music you may want to listen to are closer to reality than you think, writes Richard Webb

wered onnect

cars sold in Europe from 2015 will have network connectivity - a network-connected tracking device that uses sensors – that will, among other things, call the nearest emergency centre if you have a crash. This will save up to 2,500 lives a year in the EU alone and will form the backbone of car connectivity for the digital future.

Our acceptance of the connected car is currently being driven by SatNav and incar entertainment and this will drive the take-up of even more connected car apps and services coming to market, like dynamic parking information and route advice. The likes of BMW, Volvo, Mazda, Ford, MINI, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and others are currently working with firms like Inrix and Parkopedia to help their customers with real-time parking information, ensuring you get parked with the minimum of fuss.

But there are still loads of debate to be had around connecting cars to each other.

Given the amount of latent time we spend in cars, it’s a fast-growing and lucrative field to

March 2014 • BUSINESS CLASS

19

Road te st

/ executive cars Mercedes GLA

caption for this image needed

marketers if they know where you are going.

Car companies, as well as Google and Apple are grappling with finding the right mix of features and how to monetise them. Certainly, streaming commercial messages into cars would not be attractive. After all, carmakers want customers to get useful information fast, but they also want us to focus on driving.

Future revenue to fund our apps may come by leveraging driver data to provide value added functions, thereby increasing carmakers revenue streams through adding new app features.

But future connected cars will need to tell the difference between a streaming video and a vehicle warning, and to prioritise them accordingly. That kind of power is likely to need 5G network capabilities - enough to download a 800MB file in just one second.

5G is still about six years or more away, but there is still a lot of potential to develop access to cloud services via 3G/4G connectivity, as an increasing number of cars available in South Africa amply demonstrate.

While high-end, high-price cars normally have the best gadgets, Smartphone’s have

20

BUSINESS CLASS • March 2014

“Features like adapted speed and braking technologies are emerging now, along with controlled steering and better GPS systems, which will soon enable hands-free driving.

Longer-term, the technological advances behind the connected car will eventually lead to selfdriving vehicles” Jaguar’s C-X17

equalised our access to the goodies. Ford is growing its range of connected vehicles with all of its models, starting with the inexpensive Figo Ambiente. With Bluetooth connectivity, it allows you to switch between radio, CD or MP3 player and to connect your Smartphone to the audio system, thereby managing calls through the in-car system, and streaming music from your phone. Ford Marketing Manager Gavin Golightly says customers value the ability to stay connected in their vehicles. “Ford will introduce another smart connectivity feature when it launches AppLink in South Africa soon, which allows you to use voice commands to control select apps on your Smartphone,” says Golightly.

BMW’s ConnectedDrive enables you to link up with Concierge Services, Internet or Real Time Traffic Information. There are even 3D city models available for selected cities. The Bluetooth Office via the vCards function brings all of your contacts to the Control Display and can also sync with your mailbox, where emails can arrive immediately – not just at any old time. Another Internet option enables users to access the Web at will via

executive cars their Smartphones, using the iDrive controller functions as the mouse and scroll wheel.

/ Road te st

Mercedes-Benz’s GLA

The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class has won the 2013 Connected Car of The Year Award – as well as three more prizes in the infotainment category, with its Digital DriveStyle App winning ‘Best Navigation’, the Command online system winning ‘Best Internet Integration’ and the ‘Best Entertainment/Multimedia’ categories. Their Intelligent Drive continues the their vision of accident-free mobility and thanks to networking, their new SUV, the GLA employs ‘sensor fusion’ to analyse complex situations and recognise potential traffic dangers by using sensors positioned all round the vehicle. Equipped with a hard-drivebased navigation system with a map display

nav and multimedia data, as Thomas Weber,

and surrounding infrastructure – creating

and an internet-browser, a colour 17.8cm

Mercedes-Benz’s research and development

a comfortable and safe drive by obtaining

central media display becomes the interface

boss, asserts. “You get in the car in the

road friction information, advance warnings

for all telematics components, like navigation,

morning on a cold winter weekday, and your

and detour options to avoid queues and even

telephone, audio, video, and, of course, internet.

vehicle already knows that you want to drive

for finding those open parking spots.

Their mbrace2 map function finds any place

to work, and has the fastest route for you

on a map using your Smartphone, and then

based on real-time weather and traffic data,

offers the latest in live, 24-hour navigation

shares the destination to the satnav in the car.

having automatically switched the seat,

assistance and emergency services at the

steering wheel and armrest heating on to

press of a button. Integration of popular

your preferred settings”. Google Glass could

mobile apps and up-to-date traffic and

be aligned with a car’s sat-nav system to offer

weather information are voice -controlled.

Soon, ‘Predictive User Experience’ will learn from the owner’s driving habits using sat-

“Since self-driving cars are still some years from general sale, companies need to balance our desire to do more things with our car and the need to keep our focus on driving”

‘door-to-door’ guidance, so that when the driver

The next-generation Lexus Enform

Jaguar’s first ever sports crossover concept

exits his car, Google’s eyepiece device takes

vehicle – the C-X17 – is a design study to

over guidance to their final destination.

introduce Jaguar’s all-new advanced aluminium

Hyundai and Kia are known to be working on

monocoque architecture. To be launched in

safety, security, diagnostics and infotainment

2016, it’s packed with premium technology,

connected services to enhance the driving

like the unique ‘Interactive Surface Console’

experience for their customers. Called Blue Link,

that runs the length of the car’s centre. Made

it features voice navigation, media management,

up of a series of interconnecting touch screens,

remote capabilities and Google Glass

it connects rear passengers with the driver

integration, all accessed through a Smartphone.

and front seat passengers via a secure in-car

Scalable Product Architecture (SPA)

Wi-Fi network, to upload pictures, video and

is a wider application of Volvo’s safety

sound files from their mobile devices and

strategy, where cameras, radars and sensor

share them with their fellow passengers, as

capabilities are linked to Adaptive Cruise

well as on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and

Control and steer assist to extend the driver’s

other social media channels. The touchscreens

theoretical field of vision. With Car2Car and

allow information to be ‘flicked’ forwards

Car2Infrastructure technology, vital information

and rearwards between all four passengers

is shared and exchanged with other vehicles

in a unified multisensory experience. BC

Jaguar’s C-X17

March 2014 • BUSINESS CLASS

21