That translates into billions in direct costs for automotive manufacturers. Ford, GM and even Tesla are not immune to recalls. It’s a growing problem for the industry globally.
As automotive design becomes increasingly complex, industry experts anticipate that the number of recalls will continue to rise significantly. And with new standards being adopted for increasing levels of autonomy from driver assistance to fully self-driving cars, automotive firms face an even bigger potential for mandatory after-sale fixes in the coming years.
As a solution to reduce the number of recalls, the eSync platform is gaining attention from industry innovators and big-hitters. Members of the eSync Alliance now include Alps Alpine, DSA, Excelfore, Faurecia Clarion, Joynext, Hella, Mobica, Molex, R-Systems and ZF.
eSync gives the automotive industry the tools to develop the technology and standards for in-use data gathering, enabling automakers to improve future generations of their products and deploy new technologies, features and fixes more efficiently. With eSync, closed networks are a thing of the past. By implementing eSync, automotive companies can employ an efficient, secure, proven, industry-standard over-the-air (OTA) approach instead of spending millions of dollars to develop their own.
Complex software-driven systems, such as those found in today’s cars, benefit from detailed monitoring and frequent fine-tuning—and with eSync it is possible for fixes and enhancements to be made without having to call the car in for service. eSync also provides a way for OEMs to monitor and analyze how their in-car software is working on the road.
Automotive-specific OTA solutions like eSync will not only save the industry billions in recall costs, they will also help meet consumer needs and demands for increasing digital technology within the car. Tomorrow’s autos will have more autonomous driving and navigating features; more sophisticated entertainment, voice-command and active noise-control systems; more complicated emissions control or charging management features; more sensors; and more advanced communications options. The computing power required will be exponentially greater—as will be the need for fine-tuning or resolving problems after the sale, and the desire for feature updates down the road.
The eSync Alliance was formed to create a common data pipeline from the cloud to each end device in the car. eSync provides a proven data pipeline in-vehicle and cloud architecture that can reach any number of end devices in the connected car. As noted in a recent article by Alliance member Steffen Herz, director of automotive lighting and electronics at Hella, a standard data pipeline can mature faster and be shared across multiple vehicle projects, allowing next-generation development to access the learning curve faster. The automotive industry will be able to recognize and implement a broader set of use-cases. Any weaknesses in the standard can be more quickly recognized and addressed than in proprietary approaches. Standardization of the pipeline also assists in the development of more tools, validation tools and test suites.
All these improvements help the industry to minimize the number of recalls, reducing costs, and delivering a more satisfying experience for customers. It’s a logical next step that will help the automotive industry embrace and adapt to the coming wave of new digital technologies.
