Connected cars - All you need to know

16 Jan 2023 | 4 min read

When the pandemic landed in our lives, it changed many things. This is a well-known fact.

What you (maybe) don’t know is what has changed in the automotive market since the pandemic. Here are a couple of cornerstones for you:

The tourism sector: Tourism is recovering quickly and intensively. People started traveling again, cars started rolling around. International tourism saw a 182% year-on-year increase just in January-March 2022. If we have to sum this up in a few words, 2hire would choose: keyless rental, fast, and easy.
The chain reaction: Covid was the straw that broke the camel’s back in the raw materials crisis, triggering a major chain reaction.
The lack of raw materials fuelled the microchip crisis out of all proportion. The microchip crisis has massively hampered the availability of components and the production of vehicles. In short, fewer cars are being produced.
On the one hand, we see the second-hand cars explosion (e.g. the P2P car-sharing bust) and, on the other, fewer cars being manufactured, and costing more.

The cost increase came in when the car’s quality upgrade started. That’s something that has been simmering in the pot for some time and is now peaking since the dawn of the Internet of Things.

How? With connected cars.

Connected vehicles in a nutshell (but effective)

According to the carmaker Hyundai Motor Group: “The simple-looking term (connected car) actually refers to a wide range of technologies and services. Cars are now connected to wireless networks and have become ‘mobile computers’. They are not just a means of transportation anymore, but rather a gateway to leading a super-connected intelligent lifestyle.

Data at hand, the globally connected car market has grown exponentially in recent years. The value of this market in 2021 was over $23.6 billion. By 2026 however, according to a report by MarketsandMarkets it is expected to grow to over $56 billion. That is staggering growth, highlighting how many more vehicle manufacturers are adopting connectivity in their models.

Hundred facets, thousands of opportunities

Vehicle to Everything (V2X)

It is the basin that embodies the entire communication system of the car. Connected cars add a whole big compound of comfort when it comes to the state of the art digital experiences.

According to Siemens, V2X refers to an intelligent transport system where all vehicles and infrastructure systems are interconnected with each other.

Advanced connectivity will provide higher quality traffic knowledge across the entire road network, leading to further relevant innovations such as building new services around connectivity, cutting accident numbers, minimizing emissions, and optimizing traffic.

💡 V2X encloses several use cases. Today we’re speaking about V2V and V2U.

Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V)

Vehicle communication (V2V) exploits the ability to wirelessly exchange information on the speed and position of surrounding vehicles and holds great promise for avoiding accidents, easing traffic congestion, and improving the surrounding environment.

There is only one way in which V2V can fully work: vehicles must all be connected and be able to speak a universal language with each other.

Vehicle to User (V2U)

The term refers to vehicle communication with the occupants and driver. It’s all about infotainment and a fully personalized travel experience.

The user experience is the focus of interest of OEMs who are no longer aiming at the quantity of production but the quality of production. The creation of a vehicle designed to be a home, an office, a foothold, no longer a mere means of transport but an extension of the human experience.

Car connectivity is the burning pivot that fuels this digital experience 🔥🚙📶

In this connected world, when it comes to mobility, everything that is an innovative experience revolves around connected cars. But as of now, although the connected car market predicts that by 2030, 95% of new cars will be connected.

OEMs are intensifying their work around vehicle connectivity either by acquiring, creating or looking for companies to improve vehicle software (e.g. Volkswagen’s software company, Cariad, with the aim of building a unified technology and software platform for all Volkswagen brands) or directly by intensifying the production of natively connected vehicles.

On the other hand, all the non-connected cars already on the market can become so via aftermarket devices.

We are facing a double spectrum of connectivity, 2hire knows both sides very well

We speak of connected cars when they are born with embedded connectivity provided by car manufacturers.

Non-connected cars, in turn, can become so aftermarket, through the installation of an IoT device that gives access to an infinite carousel of benefits.

It acts as an Internet of Things hub that sends data to a cloud service, where it can be processed and made accessible to the vehicle owner or fleet manager.

The evolution of the car is definitely evident. It has gone from being considered a simple fabrication to carry people from A to B, to now where it is still like that, but sends data that can be used in a multitude of ways and can lead to a more progressive view of the car.

The future still holds much in store around the connectivity of vehicles, which will soon become true service clusters.