E-vehicle wonderland

Manufacturing Engineering, Dec 2000

That's what the German consulting firm Roland Berger expects by 2004. "Telematics will lead the electronics systems growth parade, and consumer demand will drive creation of an incredible array of e-vehicle features," says Michael Heidingsfelder, who heads Roland Berger's Detroit-- area office. "Many consumers want the same computing flexibility in their vehicles that they have in the office and at home," he says. In the e-vehicle wonderland of tomorrow, drivers and passengers will send and receive e-mail, access the Internet, make and receive phone calls, shop and bank, and call up traffic and navigation data.

Telematics, a new term, blends the words "telecommunications" and "informatics" (informatics comes from the German word for computer science, Informatik). Roland Berger's new study predicts that automotive telematics subscribers in the US will grow from about 820,000 today to over 11 million by 2004, most of them banking, shopping, and telephoning from the car.

Researchers at Allied Business Intelligence are equally optimistic. They predict that by 2005 telematics systems sales will soar from $1 billion in 2000 to over $8 billion by 2005. Global sales of fleet management systems alone should grow to $3 billion by 2005, according to Frank Viquez of ABI.

ABI's estimate of the enormous jump in revenue by 2005 is based on the growing popularity of these systems, the entry of new players to the market, and the expectation that services to be introduced in the next year or so, like hands-free speech recognition, satellite radio, and Web-based services like weather, news, and stock quotes, will further boost revenue in 2001.

These estimates seem reasonable. After all, General Motors' OnStar wireless in-vehicle unit and ATX together already have 1 million subscribers, and GM and Sun Microsystems have agreed to use Java 2 software to build an in-vehicle platform that will be totally open, so that OEMs can choose the in-vehicle hardware and operating systems they like. Thanks to this effort to expand the market for mobile devices, OnStar president Chet Huber predicts OnStar will be on four million vehicles by 2003. Honda and Toyota are using OnStar, as are GM affiliates Suzuki, Isuzu, and Fiat.

Ford Motor Co. recently counterattacked with Wingcast, which its CEO, Jac Nasser, calls "Ford's vehicle for redefining the future of mobile communications." According to Brian Kelley of Ford's ConsumerConnect division, Ford will put Wingcast in a million new Ford cars and trucks by the end of 2002, three million by 2003, and virtually all its vehicles by the end of 2004.

"We plan to have a thin layer of hardware in the vehicle, and to focus on upgrade-ability and scalability between brands," says Kelley. The goal is to "de-couple the vehicle development cycle from the fastmoving wireless electronics cycle, so that consumers don't get caught with old technology." Nissan will also install Wingcast in some of its luxury vehicles. According to Ron D'Amico, Nissan Technical Center North America vice president, "It offers users security, information, and entertainment applications that they can access anytime, not only from within the car but from a variety of wireless devices."

Mercedes-Benz USA, however, is the first automaker to make in-vehicle telematics a standard feature in grams coast to coast without changing the dial.

A new system from TRW Automotive Electronics (Farmington Hills, MI) and Michelin monitors tire pressure and warns the driver when inflation levels are hazardous. A sensor mounted on the tire valve stem monitors air pressure and temperature inside the tire, sends data via a radio signal to a control unit in the car, and alerts the driver to a problem in a particular wheel. Michelin's new tire/wheel assembly prevents the tire from coming off the wheel when it goes flat. Johnson Controls (Plymouth, MI) says its HomeLink system, a universal transceiver that links vehicles to home security and lighting, now also receives tire pressure data from a radio-frequency transmitter in each tire and alerts the driver to loss of pressure via a visual or audible signal.

And it's not just cars and trucks getting in the telematics act. A company called Cosworth Technology (Novi, MD has developed a "black box" for the transit industry. The box, a data recorder with a motherboard fitted with different circuit boards, can track just about anything the customer wants tracked. On a bus, sensors record everything that happens, from engine performance and the fuel system to the use of the farebox or the number of times the hydraulic door opens on a all its 2001 vehicles. Its Tele Aid system was developed with Motorola, which formed a Telematics Communications Group in 1998 to exploit advanced wireless applications in the auto industry. Tele Aid incorporates a GPS receiver and wireless communications technology, combined with cellular voice and data-transmission capabilities.

The best configuration remains to be seen. GM's OnStar and Daimler-Chrysler's Tele Aid are fixed in-vehicle systems, while Ford's Wingcast uses a portable wireless hand